The Boston Bulldogs were a

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 ...

club founded in 1996 as the Worcester Wildfire. The team debuted in the USISL and would play in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

from 1997 to 2000. Before folding, the team played its final season in the USL D3 Pro Soccer League in 2001. The club played its games at

Bowditch Field Bowditch Field is the main public athletic facility for the City of Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. It is located on Union Avenue midway between Downtown and Framingham Center. The facility houses a large multi-purpose football stadium that includ ...

in Framingham, Massachusetts.

History

The first year in the

was fraught with financial problems and lack of a regular training facility. The owner was John Curtis from Cape Cod who also owned the Cape Cod Crusaders and the new women's franchise the

Boston Renegades Boston Renegades was an American women’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 ...

. Curtis was forced to sell the club before the start of the second season. The first coach of the A-League Wildfire was Nigel Boulton, a native of Wales. Boulton resigned following the completion of the first year to take up the State Director of Coaching position in Mississippi. He now coaches the men's program at

William Carey University William Carey University (also known as Carey, William Carey, or WCU) is a private Christian university in Mississippi, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Mississippi Baptist Convention. The main campus is in Hattiesburg, ...

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

. The Wildfire were the official 'farm team' for the New England Revolution of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Notable former players on the Wildfire/Bulldogs roster include Jon Busch (1997) (who played for the US National Team in 2005) and Steve Nicol, (a legend with Liverpool FC in England, and the Scottish National team) both of whom have also found success in Major League Soccer. Image:WorcesterWildfire.GIF, Worcester Wildfire logo used from 1996 to 1998

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Nigel Boulton: 1997 * John Kerr: 1998-99 * Steve Nicol: 1999, 2000–01

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Bulldogs (Soccer) 1996 establishments in Massachusetts 2001 disestablishments in Massachusetts A-League (1995–2004) teams Association football clubs established in 1996 Association football clubs disestablished in 2001 Defunct soccer clubs in Massachusetts Sports in Framingham, Massachusetts USISL teams

History

Year-by-year

Coaches

See also

References