The Baltimore Bays were a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team based in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team moved to the new league. The Bays played its home matches at Memorial Stadium during its first two seasons and moved to Kirk Field, a high school football stadium, in 1969. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1969 NASL season.

History

Origins

In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. Two of these ownership groups, one lead by

Earl Foreman Earl Marin Foreman (March 29, 1924 – January 23, 2017) was an American lawyer and sports executive. Foreman practiced law in the District of Columbia. He was the owner of the short-lived Washington Whips professional soccer club of the NASL an ...

and another by Murdaugh Stuart Madden, sought to locate a team in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and placed bids for a lease at the

District of Columbia Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the United States Capitol, U.S. Capit ...

. After the lease was awarded to Foreman's group, whose team would become the

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association ( USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. Th ...

, Madden looked for another location for his team, eventually selling his franchise rights for $60,000 to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in a deal announced on November 28, 1966. A month later, the team hired

Clive Toye Clive Roy Toye (born Devonport, Plymouth, 23 November 1932) was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the United States in 2003. Toye was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom, to Thomas Roy Toye (1906–65) and Irene Turner. He was a spo ...

to act as the team's Vice President and General Manager. On January 10, 1967, the team name of Bays was revealed. Baltimore Orioles owner

Jerold Hoffberger Jerold Charles Hoffberger (April 7, 1919 – April 9, 1999) was an American businessman. He was president of the National Brewing Company from 1946 to 1973. He was also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League from 1954 to 1965 ...

, who was also the owner of

National Brewing Company The National Brewing Company was an American brewing company that was founded in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1885. Its Baltimore brewery was located in the city's Highlandtown neighborhood. After World War II, it grew to be the largest brewer in Balti ...

chose the team's kit colors red and gold to match the brewing company's color scheme. Former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

forward Doug Millward was brought in to be the club's head coach.

National Professional Soccer League, 1967

The Bays opened their first season at home on April 24, 1967, in a nationally televised game against the Atlanta Chiefs, winning the game 1–0 and receiving a standing ovation from the 8,434 fan in attendance. The game was the first professional soccer match to be televised in the United States. The team finished the season first in the Eastern Division with a record of fourteen wins, nine loses and nine draws, scoring 53 goals with an average attendance of 5,838. The Bays faced the

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of Oakland, California. They played in the non- FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer ...

for the 1967 postseason championship final in two-game aggregate match. Baltimore won the first leg 1–0 but lost the second game 4–1, giving the Clippers a 4–2 aggregate victory for the championship. Between the two matches, it was reported by that a decision to fire Millward was made sometime in August when the coach had inquired about his future with the club.

Gordon Jago Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his profession ...

was named his replacement on October 24, 1967. For the season, the Bays recorded a loss of $400,000.

North American Soccer League, 1968–1969

With the merger of the NPSL with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

it was announced that Baltimore would be one of the 20 teams in play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Playing its home games again at Memorial Stadium for the 1968 season, the team had an average attendance of 4,628 winning thirteen games, drawing three and losing sixteen ending the season in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and reported loses of $500,000. In June 1968, player

Shimon Cohen Shimon Cohen ( he, שמעון כהן) is an Israeli former professional association footballer who played for the Israeli national team and the Baltimore Bays The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland fou ...

sued both the Bays and the

San Diego Toros The San Diego Toros were a professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 1967 as the Los Angeles Toros, the team was one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and th ...

accusing the teams of slander, breach of contract and other charges when his contract was sold by the Bays to San Diego. Baltimore was one of only five teams remaining in the NASL for the 1969 season. Having played home matches at Memorial Stadium for the previous two seasons, the team moved to Kirk field, a high school football field, for the 1969 season. The 1969 season was split into two parts. The first, called the International Cup was a

double round-robin tournament A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

with teams imported from England and Scotland representing the remaining five cites. Baltimore was represented by the

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, h ...

which finished the tournament in second place. The second half of the season the teams competed with their normal rosters. The Bays finished this second half of the season with only two wins and averaging 1,601 fans a game. On September 24, 1969, citing loses of over $1,000,000, executive vice president Joe Hamper announced the team was ceasing operations.

Year-by-year

Honors

NPSL championships *

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

''-runners up'' Division titles *

Eastern Division US Soccer Hall of Fame * 1996

Gordon Bradley Gordon Bradley (23 November 1933 – 29 April 2008) was an English-American soccer midfielder born and raised on Wearside who played several seasons with lower-division English clubs before moving to play in Canada at the age of 30. During the ...

* 2003

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame * 2013

Rookie of the Year * 1969

Siegfried Stritzl Siegfried Stritzl (April 12, 1944 – November 3, 2022) was an American soccer player who was the 1969 North American Soccer League Rookie of the Year. He also earned eleven caps, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team between 1968 and ...

All-Star first team selections * 1967

Juan Santisteban Juan Santisteban Troyano (born 8 December 1936) is a Spanish retired Association football, football midfielder and Coach (sport), manager. Honours Player ;Real Madrid *Intercontinental Cup (football), Intercontinental Cup: 1960 Intercontinental ...

, Badu DaCruz &

Art Welch Art Welch (born 16 April 1944) is a Jamaican former professional soccer player who played in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. He began his career in Jamaica with Cavaliers FC, alongside twin brother Asher. In ...

* 1969 John Borodiak &

All-Star second team selections * 1968

Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...

Coaches

* Doug Millward (1967) *

(1968–69)

Notes

References

{{North American Soccer League (1968–84) Soccer clubs in Baltimore Defunct soccer clubs in Maryland National Professional Soccer League (1967) franchises North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams West Ham United F.C. 1967 establishments in Maryland 1969 disestablishments in Maryland Soccer clubs in Maryland Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs disestablished in 1969