Wikipedia

1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season

The 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the first indoor season of the club's existence. It also marked the first time the expansion Rowdies participated in any North American Soccer League sanctioned competition.

Tampa Bay Rowdies
1975 indoor season
OwnerUnited States George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General managerUnited States Beau Rodgers
ManagerItaly Eddie Firmani
StadiumBayfront Center
NASLRegional: Champion
League: Runners-up
Top goalscorer
United States Doug Wark
(10 goals)
Highest home attendance4,437
(Feb. 14 vs. Diplomats)
Lowest home attendance4,032
(Feb. 16 vs. Comets)
Average home league attendance4,235
← first season
1976 →

Original kit edit

The Rowdies' jersey used during the 1975 indoor season was different than later indoor and outdoor years in that the neckline was merely a cuff rather than the full collar style that became so familiar in all of Tampa Bay's later NASL campaigns.[1][2][3] Photographic evidence also indicates that the cuff-style jersey saw limited use during the 1975 outdoor season, but by season's end it disappeared altogether.[4][5]

Club edit

Roster edit

No. Position Player Nation
1 GK Mike Hewitt   Scotland
1 GK Bob Stetler*   United States
2 DF Farrukh Quraishi   England
3 DF Alex Pringle   Scotland
4 MF John Boyle (capt.)   Scotland
5 MF Ringo Cantillo   Costa Rica
6 DF Mike Connell   South Africa
7 MF Bernard Hartze   South Africa
8 MF Randy Garber   United States
9 DF Lima   Brazil
9 MF Nick Papadakis   Canada
10 FW Eddie Engerth   United States
11 FW Doug Wark   United States
12 FW Bob Isaacson   United States
12 FW Javier Alvarez   Mexico
13 MF Zygmunt Lezak   Poland
13 DF John Bluem   United States
15 FW Eddie Firmani   Italy

*amateur player

Management and technical staff edit

Honors edit

Individual honors edit

Review edit

In part because of the success of the spring 1974 indoor tour by the Red Army team the NASL decided to hold an indoor tournament of its own.[6] Of the 20 franchises in the league, sixteen participated. Teams were separated into four regional groups of four. The Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, was chosen as one of the Regional venues, with the Rowdies as hosts for Region 3. The San Jose Earthquakes were given the honor of hosting the championship semifinals and finals at the Cow Palace.[7]

Region 3 tournament edit

The winner of the Region 3 would gain an automatic place in the Championship tournament four weeks later in California. In their first tournament game the Rowdies had no trouble with the Washington Diplomats, winning by a score of 7–2.[8] Two nights later Tampa Bay had a tougher task in coming from behind to defeat the Baltimore Comets, 8–6. Those two victories left the Rowdies tied with the Miami Toros in the standings, however the tie-breaker was goal differential. Tampa Bay's plus-7 goal margin narrowly edged out the Toros’ plus-6, and the Rowdies advanced. Ringo Cantillo was named MVP of the Region, edging out Miami's Nico Bodonczy by one vote.[9]

Regional standings edit

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 2 0 15 8 +7 4
2 Miami Toros 2 2 0 18 12 +6 4
3 Baltimore Comets 2 0 2 14 19 -5 0
4 Washington Diplomats 2 0 2 6 14 -8 0

Championship tournament edit

Tampa Bay was paired up with the New York Cosmos in the semifinals, while the other semifinal had San Jose clashing with the Dallas Tornado. Led by Doug Wark’s record six-goal performance, the Rowdies jumped out to an early 3–0 lead, and never looked back, as they dispatched the Cosmos, 13–5, to advance to the final on Sunday.[10]

On March 16, 1975, the Tampa Bay faced a heavily favored San Jose Earthquakes team in the Rowdies first of what would be many championship finals, against. With the score 6–1 at the end of the first period, and 8,618 fans behind them, San Jose showed exactly why they were tabbed to win the tournament. From there the home team cruised to an 8–5 victory. In addition to the Rowdies’ runner-up performance, Doug Wark was named to the All-Tournament squad and was the second leading scorer in the tournament.[11]

Bracket edit

Semifinals Championship Final
      
R4 San Jose Earthquakes 8
R1 Dallas Tornado 5
R4 San Jose Earthquakes 8
R3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5
R3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 13
R2 New York Cosmos 5

Championship standings edit

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD
1 San Jose Earthquakes 4 4 0 37 17 +20
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 3 1 33 21 +11
3 Dallas Tornado 4 2 2 14 12 +2
4 New York Cosmos 4 1 3 18 27 -9
5 Miami Toros 2 2 0 18 12 +6

Match reports edit

February 14, 1975 Regional #1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–2 Washington Diplomats St. Petersburg, Florida
8:30 PM EST Engerth   10:38'
Engerth   14:55'
Wark   23:30'
Wark   29:33'
Cantillo   36:17'
Cantillo   39:15'
Connell   43:15' (Garber)		 Report on p. 5-C DeLeon   23:45'
Diane   35:25'		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 4,437
February 16, 1975 Regional #2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 8–6 Baltimore Comets St. Petersburg, Florida
8:30 PM EST Quraishi   12:17', 26:38', 39:12'
Papadakis   14:51', 24:49'
Cantillo   40:43', 40:46'
Wark   41:59'		 Report Scurti   1:24'
Kazmierski   6:12',   31:29'
Wit   12:54', 14:28', 25:28'		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 4,032
March 14, 1975 Semifinal Tampa Bay Rowdies 13–5 New York Cosmos Daly City, California
7:00 PM PDT Cantillo   2:31' (Boyle)
Wark   4:13' (Pringle)
Wark   6:34' (Quraishi)
Wark   13:50'
Wark   14:34' (Hartze)
Lezak   17:22'
Hartze   22:03'
Hartze   22:42' (Cantillo)
Wark   33:03' (Lima)
Hartze   35:34'
Lezak   35:55' (Cantillo)
Lezak   39:35' (Hartze)
Wark   59:35' (Connell)		 Report A
Report B		 Lamas   10:46' (Mărdărescu)
Mărdărescu   12:07'
Lamas   27:08' (Parades)
Lamas   44:06' (Roth)
Correa   49:36'		 Stadium: Cow Palace
Attendance: 9,113
Referee: John Davies
March 16, 1975 Final San Jose Earthquakes 8–5 Tampa Bay Rowdies Daly City, California
9:00 PM PDT Roboostoff   7:10'
Child   9:25' (Gavric)
Roboostoff   14:36' (Child)
Child   16:22' (Welch)
Roboostoff   18:38' (Moore)
Welch   19:38' (Child)
Zaczynski   50:50' (Child)
Child   52:56'		 Report A (p. 2C)
Report B		 Engerth   9:36' (Lima)
Hartze   25:14' (Quraishi)
Lezak   33:35'
Wark   50:55' (Hartze)
Quraishi   54:56' (Boyle)		 Stadium: Cow Palace
Attendance: 8,618
Referee: Henry Landuer

Statistics edit

Scoring edit

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points

Player GP G A Pts
Doug Wark 4 10 0 20
Ringo Cantillo 4 5 2 12
Bernard Hartze 3 4 3 11
Farrukh Quraishi 4 4 2 10
Zygmunt Lezak 2 4 0 8
Eddie Engerth 3 3 0 6
Nick Papadakis 3 2 0 4
Mike Connell 3 1 1 3
John Boyle 4 0 2 2
Lima 2 0 2 2
Alex Pringle 4 0 1 1
Randy Garber 1 0 1 1
Javier Alvarez - 0 0 0
Bob Isaacson - 0 0 0

Goalkeeping edit

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player GP Min GA GAA W L
Mike Hewitt 4 210 21 5.25 3 1
Bob Stetler 0 0 0 0 0 0

Player movement edit

Since Tampa Bay was a newly formed club, the entire roster was new.

In edit

No. Pos. Player Transferred from Fee/notes Date Source
3 DF   Alex Pringle   Clyde F.C. No details available December 1974 [12][13]
1 GK   Mike Hewitt   Dundee F.C. Contract purchased from Dundee December 1974 [12][13]
7 MF   Bernard Hartze   Cape Town Spurs No details available December 17, 1974 [13][14]
2 DF   Farrukh Quraishi   Oneonta State 1st overall pick of NASL college draft January 18, 1975 [15]
10 FW   Eddie Engerth   Philadelphia amateur team Former Hartwick College player January 20, 1975 [16]
6 DF   Mike Connell   Rangers Johannesburg No details available January 20, 1975 [16]
11 DF   Doug Wark   Rochester Lancers Purchased from Rochester January 27, 1975 [17]
4 DF   John Boyle   Orient Obtained release after 5-month pursuit February 6, 1975 [18]
9 MF   Nick Papadakis none Free agent February 9, 1975 [19]
8 MF   Randy Garber   Penn State 2nd round of college draft February 9, 1975 [19]
12 FW   Bob Isaacson   Hartwick College 3rd round of college draft February 9, 1975 [19]
13 DF   John Bluem   Hartwick College 4th round of college draft February 9, 1975 [19]
12 FW   Javier Alvarez   St. Petersburg Kickers Free transfer March 11, 1975 [20]
15 FW   Eddie Firmani none Added as an emergency player March 11, 1975 [20]
1 GK   Bob Stetler   East Stroudsburg State No contract, to keep amateur status January 1975 [21]

Out edit

none

Loan in edit

No. Pos. Player Loaned from Details Start Source
5 MF   Ringo Cantillo   Cincinnati Comets Indoor season loan February 9, 1975 [19]
9 MF   Lima   Club Deportivo Oro Indoor loan with option for transfer March 11, 1975 [20]
13 MF   Zygmunt Lezak   Polonia NY Indoor loan with option for transfer March 11, 1975 [20]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Rowdies image
  2. ^ Inoor Home Team image
  3. ^ "Nick Papadakis vs Comets 1975 (Image)".
  4. ^ "Stetler.JPG (Image)".
  5. ^ "Derek Smethurst, Doug Wark vs Cosmos 1975 (Image)".
  6. ^ "History of Indoor Soccer in the USA".
  7. ^ Zier, Patrick (November 6, 1974). "Preview Of Soccer Set For Bayfront". Lakeland Ledger. p. 2A. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  8. ^ Martz, Ron (February 15, 1975). "Rousing Rowdie debut: 7–2 victory all". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  9. ^ Martz, Ron (February 17, 1975). "Rowdies do it all". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. ^ Spander, Art (March 15, 1975). "Rowdies triumph". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  11. ^ Gurney, Jack (March 17, 1975). "Rowdies Shaken By Earthquake". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Pringle named Tampa coach". St. Petersburg Times. September 24, 1975. p. 2-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Martz, Ron (December 18, 1974). "Striking addition for the Rowdies". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  14. ^ "NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE: Bernard Hartze". Archived from the original on October 14, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  15. ^ Martz, Ron (January 17, 1975). "Quraishi year-round Rowdy?". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  16. ^ a b "Rowdies sign pair, have six in fold". St. Petersburg Times. January 21, 1975. p. 3-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  17. ^ Austin, Jim (January 28, 1975). "Rowdies Star-Struck". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  18. ^ Blankenship, Ken (February 7, 1975). "Rowdies sign a captain: Boyle". St. Petersburg Times. p. 8-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  19. ^ a b c d e Blankenship, Ken (February 10, 1975). "Rowdies sign four, want more". St. Petersburg Times. p. 20-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d Blankenship, Ken (March 12, 1975). "Rowdies brace for title try". St. Petersburg Times. p. 6-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  21. ^ Bubil, Harold (March 15, 1976). "Goalie Stetler Makes The Most Of First Pro Chance". Sarasota Journal. p. 3-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
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