The Carolina Lightnin' was an American

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 based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

that was a member of the American Soccer League. The Lightnin' played home matches at American Legion Memorial Stadium. Attendance at home games averaged 6,000 spectators. 20,163 fans attended the September 1981 match against the New York United in which the Lightnin' won the American Soccer League championship by a score of 2–1. After the ASL folded, the club joined the newly formed

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

as the Charlotte Gold. However, the team folded at the end of the 1984 season. Pro soccer returned to the city in the form of the Charlotte Eagles in 1993.

Honors

ASL Champions * 1981 ASL Rookie of the Year * 1981

Tony Suarez Antonio Jose "Tony" Suarez (February 2, 1956 – April 18, 2007) was a Cuban-American soccer forward. He played professionally in the American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League and was the 1981 American Soccer League Rookie of the Y ...

ASL First Team All Star * 1981 Don Tobin,

Year-by-year

Coaches

Rodney Marsh Rodney William Marsh (born 11 October 1944) is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster. A forward, he won nine caps for England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal. Brought up in the ...

1980–1983 * Bob Benson 1980–1983

Notable players

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He most notably played for West Ham United, captaining the club for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England natio ...

(1983) * Paul Child (1982) *

Pat Fidelia Pat Fidelia (born April 16, 1959 in Port-au-Prince) is a retired Haitian Americans, Haitian-American soccer Striker (association football), forward who spent four seasons in the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer League ...

(1982–1984) *

Matt Kennedy Matt Kennedy is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who played in the North American Soccer League, American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1979, Kennedy signed with the Philadelphia Fury of the North American Soccer League, ...

(1983) * Stuart Lee (1983) 25 Apps 11 Goals *

Scott Manning Scott Manning (15 May 1958 – 16 June 2006) was a Canadian athlete and aerobatic pilot of the world's smallest jet, the BD-5J. He grew up in Kitchener, Ontario, and earned a degree in environmental studies at the University of Waterloo in ...

(1981–1982) * Dave Philpotts (1978–83) * Dave Pierce (1981–1983) 60 Apps Winning assist ASL Final 1981 *

Mal Roche Mal Roche (born in Coventry) is an English retired football forward who played seven seasons in the American Soccer League and at least one in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was the 1977 ASL Rookie of the Year and the 1980 ASL Leading Sco ...

(1981) 22 Apps 8 Goals * Derek Smethurst (1982) 6 Apps * Don Tobin (1981) *

(1981–1983) 22 Apps 15 Goals * Dave Power (1981–1983) Captain * Hugh O'Neill (1981–1982) Winning goal ASL Final 1981 *

Santiago Formoso Santiago Formoso (born July 4, 1953) is an American soccer defender who spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League. He also earned seven caps with the U.S. national team in 1976 and 1977. Club career Santiago Formoso was born in Vi ...

(1981, 1983)

References

Scott, David. (2007, April 20). ''Suarez, ex-soccer star and fan favorite, dies''. The Charlotte ObserverAmerican Soccer History Archives
Sports teams in Charlotte, North Carolina Defunct soccer clubs in North Carolina American Soccer League (1933–1983) teams 1984 disestablishments in North Carolina Association football clubs disestablished in 1984 1981 establishments in North Carolina Association football clubs established in 1981 {{NorthCarolina-footyclub-stub