The 2015 season was the current Tampa Bay Rowdies sixth season of existence, and fifth playing in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, the second tier of

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

. Including the original Rowdies franchise and the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

, this was the 28th season of professional soccer in the Tampa Bay area.

Summary

The Tampa Bay Rowdies' new manager was Thomas Rongen, replacing Ricky Hill, who was dismissed after the 2014 season. Rongen had a prior connection to soccer in the area, as he was the first manager of the MLS

during their inaugural season of 1996. The Rowdies brought back another familiar local figure when

Farrukh Quraishi Farrukh Quraishi ( fa, فرخ قریشی, born November 13, 1951, in Masjid-I-Sulaiman, Iran) is a retired Iranian-born English footballer. He spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Calgary B ...

, who had been a player and a youth development director for the original Rowdies, was named general manager. In March 2015, the Rowdies traveled to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to play several preseason friendlies against clubs in the Portuguese second and third divisions. It was the first time that the current club had undertaken an international tour. The Rowdies lost only one match during the NASL spring season, good for second place in the table. After starting the fall season 2-1-6, however, club owner Bill Edwards dismissed both manager Thomas Rongen and general manager Farrukh Quraishi, much to the chagrin of many of the team's fans. "They had a five-year plan, and I have a one-year plan," said Edwards regarding the firings. Assistant Stuart Campbell was promoted to manager and led the team to a 3-4-4 record. The Rowdies finished the fall season in 8th out of 11 teams in the league table and missed the playoffs.

Club

''as of November 14, 2015'' ''#8 Forward,

Marcelo Saragosa Marcelo Saragosa (born 22 January 1982) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who currently serves as the Director of Soccer Operations for Austin Bold FC in the USL Championship. Career Professional Born in Campo Grande, Saragosa began ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

served as team captain''

Technical staff

– ''President & General Manager'' ''(fired August 21, 2015)'' *

Perry Van der Beck Perry Van der Beck (born November 5, 1959 in Florissant, Missouri) is an American former soccer midfielder, former coach and technical director, and the former Vice President of Competition and Operations for the United Soccer League. Van der Be ...

– ''Assistant General Manager/Vice President of Community Relations'' * Thomas Rongen - ''Head Coach'' ''(fired August 21, 2015)'' * Stuart Campbell – ''Assistant Coach'' ''(promoted to head coach August 2015)'' * Stuart Dobson - ''Goalkeeper Coach'' * Eric Arbuzow - ''Assistant Coach'' * Jason Riley – ''Strength & Conditioning Coach'' * Malcolm Phillips – ''Equipment Manager'' * Dr. Koco Eaton - ''Team Physician/Orthopedic Surgeon'' * Dr. Sanjay Menon – ''Team Physician/Orthopedic Surgeon'' * Dr. Christopher Salud – ''Team Physician'' * Andrew Keane - ''Head Athletic Trainer'' * Laura Tllinghast Hine - ''Yoga Instructor'' * Dr. Samuel Meyers - ''Team Chiropractor''

Front office

* Bill Edwards – ''Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Governor'' * Andrew Nestor – ''Director'' * David Laxer – ''Director'' * Lee Cohen – ''Vice President & Chief Operating Officer''

Competitions

Friendlies

NASL Spring season

Standings

Results summary

Results by round

Match reports

NASL Fall season

Standings

Results summary

Results by round

Match reports

U.S. Open Cup

Transfers

In

Out

Squad statistics

Goal scorers

Disciplinary record

References

{{2015 in American soccer Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Bay Rowdies (2010–) seasons Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Bay Rowdies Sports in St. Petersburg, Florida