1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season

Tampa Bay Rowdies
1976 indoor season
Owner United States George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General Manager United States Beau Rodgers
Manager Italy Eddie Firmani
Stadium Bayfront Center
North American Soccer League Regional: Champion
League: Champion
Top goalscorer League:
Bermuda Clyde Best
(7 goals)
All:
Bermuda Clyde Best
(11 goals)
Highest home attendance 5,787
(March 27 vs. Lancers)
Lowest home attendance 4,762
(March 12 vs. Diplomats)
Average home league attendance 5,464
← 1975 1977 →

The 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the second indoor season of the club's existence. The Rowdies were able to replicate their 1975 outdoor success by winning the North American Soccer League's 1976 indoor championship.

Club

Roster

No. Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Mausser, ArnieArnie Mausser      United States
1 Goalkeeper Stetler, BobBob Stetler      United States
2 Defender Quraishi, FarrukhFarrukh Quraishi      England
3 Defender Pringle, AlexAlex Pringle      Scotland
5 Defender Linton, MalcolmMalcolm Linton      England
7 Forward Scullion, StewartStewart Scullion      South Africa
8 Midfielder Garber, RandyRandy Garber      Canada
9 Forward Best, ClydeClyde Best      Bermuda
10 Forward Marsh, RodneyRodney Marsh      England
11 Forward Wark, DougDoug Wark      Scotland
12 Forward Smethurst (capt.), DerekDerek Smethurst (capt.)      South Africa
14 Forward Fink, JoeyJoey Fink      United States
15 Midfielder Linday, MarkMark Linday      England
16 Defender Bluem, JohnJohn Bluem      United States
17 Midfielder Austin, EddieEddie Austin      United States
18 Defender Auguste, ArsèneArsène Auguste      Haiti

Management and technical staff

Review

In October 1975 the NASL announced that the Bayfront Center would host both the 1976 Indoor Eastern Regionals and Final Four.[1][2] It was later announced that Tampa Bay would also play a pre-tournament international friendly at the Bayfront Center. This meant that all of the Rowdies indoor matches for 1976 would be played at home.[3]

Friendlies

Billed in media reports as an International Challenge Cup Match,[4] Tampa Bay’s first game was a pre-tournament international friendly versus Santos F.C. of Jamaica, and played on March 6 at the Bayfront Center. The Rowdies easily defeated their guests, who were playing indoor soccer for the very first time, by the score of 11–4.[5]

Eastern Regionals

The winner of the Eastern Regional would gain an automatic place in the Final Four. In their first tournament game the Rowdies battled back from a 4–1 deficit midway through the second period, to score eight straight goals and defeat Washington, 9–5.[6] The following evening Tampa Bay had a much easier time in defeating the Boston Minutemen, 5–3, as they dictated play until the final minutes, when Boston scored two meaningless late goals. Those two victories left the Rowdies as the only undefeated team in the group, and therefore champions of their region for the second straight year.[7] Stewart Scullion was named Regional MVP, with Rodney Marsh and Arsene Auguste joining him on the All-Regional squad.

Regional standings

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 2 0 14 8 +6 4
2 Washington Diplomats 2 1 1 14 12 +2 2
3 Miami Toros 2 1 1 9 15 -6 2
4 Boston Minutemen 2 0 2 9 11 -2 0

Final Four

In the semifinal Tampa Bay held a slim, one-goal lead in the third period over the Dallas Tornado. With less than three minutes remaining the Rowdies broke open the match the by scoring three straight goals in a span of 81 seconds to defeated Dallas, 6–2, and earn their second straight trip to the indoor finals.[8]

On March 27, 1976, the Tampa Bay Rowdies played in their third championship final out of three total competitions in their brief history. This time they would face surprise finalists Rochester Lancers. Unfortunately for Rochester, goalkeeper Jim May was severely injured late in their semi-final upset win over San Jose, and could not play in the final. The Rowdies were without Rodney Marsh for the contest, as he suffered a head injury in the semi-final. In a closely fought match Tampa Bay prevailed, 6–4, on three goals by Derek Smethurst, two by Clyde Best, and one by Mark Lindsay. Smethurst’s game winning, third goal came with 3:18 left in the match. Best was named tournament MVP, with Smethurst and Stewart Scullion joining him on the All-Tournament squad.[9]

Bracket

Semifinals Championship Final
      
M1 Rochester Lancers 6
W1 San Jose Earthquakes 4
M1 Rochester Lancers 4
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6
W2 Dallas Tornado 2

Championship standings

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 4 0 26 14 +12
2 Rochester Lancers 4 3 1 20 16 +4
3 San Jose Earthquakes 4 3 1 35 18 +17
4 Dallas Tornado 4 2 2 20 15 +5

Match reports

Statistics

Scoring

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

Player GP G A Pts
Clyde Best511527
Stewart Scullion56618
Rodney Marsh44715
Derek Smethurst4408
Mark Lindsay5306
Randy Garber5226
Doug Wark3204
Alex Pringle4113
Arsène Auguste4113
Joey Fink1102
Eddie Austin1102

Goalkeeping

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
Arnie Mausser 4 160 13 3.66 4 0
Bob Stetler 2 65 5 3.46 1 0

Honors

Individual honors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Indoor Finale Here?". Evening Independent. October 8, 1975. p. 3C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Tampa Bay Gets Indoor Finale". Evening Independent. October 9, 1975. p. 2C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Santos Rowdies' Indoor Opener". Evening Independent. February 12, 1976. p. 5C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  4. ↑ Gurney, Jack (March 6, 1976). "Rowdies Host Jamaicans Tonight At Bayfront". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1-D. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Best Scores Four To Spark Rowdies". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. March 7, 1976. p. 2-D. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ Blankenship, Ken (March 13, 1976). "Down 4–1, Rowdies dump Diplomats 9–5". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Gurney, Jack (March 14, 1976). "Rowdies Capture Indoor Regional". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 2-C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ Gulick, Phil (March 27, 1976). "Rowdie Blitz Opens Way For Indoor Title". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ Gurney, Jack (March 28, 1976). "Rowdies Win NASL Indoor Crown 6–4". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 1D. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  10. ↑ Zier, Patrick (March 28, 1976). "Rowdies Whip Rochester To Win The Indoor Title". Lakeland Ledger. p. 2C. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
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