The Boston Bolts were a short lived U.S.

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 which came into existence in 1988 as a member of the third American Soccer League (ASL). They played in Boston, Massachusetts at

Nickerson Field Nickerson Field is an outdoor athletic stadium in the Northeastern United States, on the campus of Boston University (BU) in Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned by BU, and is the home field for some Boston University Terriers athletics pr ...

. The team joined the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

in 1990 when the ASL merged with the

Western Soccer League Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

History

1988

Both the Bolts and the American Soccer League entered their first year of existence in 1988. Most observers expected the Bolts to compete for their divisional title, but they finished fourth with a 9-11 record and well out of playoff contention. Despite this disappointment, the team did place Ross Irwin on the All-Star team.
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1989

The Bolts rebounded from their failed first year campaign to take second place in the Northern Division with a 13-7 record. They defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993), Tampa Bay Rowdies in the semifinals before falling to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

in the title series. Even with their greater team success, the Bolts still only put one player, Dehinde Akinlotan, on the All Star list.
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1990

At the end of the 1989 season, the ASL merged with the west coast

to form the

(APSL). The APSL was not a true league in that teams played other teams only in their conference. The East Conference was essentially the ASL and the West was the WSL. The first times teams from the two old leagues met in a competitive match was the championship game. The Bolts regressed to their first year performances, finishing fourth in the North Division with a 9-11 record. The club folded at the end of the season.
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Honors

All Stars * 1988: Ross Irwin * 1989: Dehinde Akinlotan

Year-by-year

External links

20 Years of Professional Soccer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Bolts (1988-1990) Soccer clubs in Boston Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts American Soccer League (1988–89) teams American Professional Soccer League teams 1988 establishments in Massachusetts 1990 disestablishments in Massachusetts Soccer clubs in Massachusetts Association football clubs established in 1988 Association football clubs disestablished in 1990