The Edmonton Drillers were a

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

team that played both outdoors and indoors from 1979 to 1982, at the peak of the league's success. The team was brought to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

by local entrepreneur and

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

owner

Peter Pocklington Peter Hugh Pocklington (born November 18, 1941) is a Canadian entrepreneur. Peter Pocklington was known among North American hockey fans as " Peter Puck", an entrepreneur from oil-rich Alberta who was also the owner of the National Hockey League ...

, after witnessing the strong support for Brian Rice's Edmonton Black Gold team in 1978. Previous to playing in Edmonton, the team was known as the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the Amer ...

, Hartford Bicentennials and Connecticut Bicentennials.

History

Joe Petrone was the Drillers general manager for their entire existence. The Drillers were coached in 1979 and 1980 by Hans Kraay, who brought a number of players with him from the Netherlands. After Kraay,

Timo Liekoski Timo Liekoski (born June 30, 1942) is a Finnish soccer coach who managed teams in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Indoor Soccer Association and Major League Soccer. He currently holds a variety of coachi ...

took over as coach in 1981, while Patrone would serve as the team's final caretaker coach until the team folded at the end of the 1982 season.NASL Jerseys
Edmonton Drillers Rosters
Retrieved on February 14, 2009 During the outdoor season, the Drillers played their home games at

Commonwealth Stadium Commonwealth Stadium is an open-air, multi-purpose stadium located in the McCauley, Edmonton, McCauley neighbourhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It has a seating capacity of 56,302, making it the largest open-air stadium in Canada. Primarily ...

, but dwindling crowds during the final year saw the team move to much older and smaller

Clarke Stadium Clarke Stadium is a multipurpose stadium located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The stadium was originally built for Canadian football. Over the years different sports have participated at the site. History The stadium was originally built in 1 ...

, which led to even fewer fans attending the games. The Drillers played their two seasons of indoor soccer at

Northlands Coliseum Northlands Coliseum is a defunct indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and National Hockey League (NHL), and the Edmonton Oil Kin ...

and also at

Edmonton Gardens The Edmonton Gardens was the first indoor hockey arena built in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was originally built as Edmonton Stock Pavilion in 1913, and held 5,200 spectators after its 1966 renovations. It was home to the World Hockey Associat ...

. The outdoor team was characterized by a strong defensive style of play, but their indoor style was built upon a run-and-go style of attack. Attendance for the outdoor games ranged greatly from 10,000 in the early stages of the franchise to 4,000 per game in 1982. By comparison, the more successful and profitable indoor games had attendances ranging between 5,000 and 7,000 paying fans per game in 1981 and 1982.Prince, Gerry. (2004) Pro soccer in Edmonton... a look through the years. Because the Northlands Coliseum was booked, Game 1 of the 1981 NASL indoor finals was instead played at the slated-for-demolition Edmonton Gardens. On March 2, 1981, the Drillers defeated the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

, 9–6, in front of 5,089 fans to lead the series. In Game 2, played five days later, Edmonton came from behind to down the Sting, 5–4, in front of a then-record NASL indoor crowd of 16,257 at

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago from 1929 to 1995. When it was built, it was the largest indoor arena in the world with a maximum seating capacity of 26,000. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and ...

to sweep the finals and claim the 1981 NASL indoor championship.

Factors leading to collapse

In 1982, costs were skyrocketing for the team as they were with a number of the other NASL franchises. In Edmonton's case in particular, the following have been speculated as factors connected with the team's collapse: poor support by local media; difficulties stemming from a tricky deal with the owners of the Coliseum and Commonwealth Stadium relating to the attendance, concessions and parking at the indoor games; and as admitted by John Colbert, the Drillers' business manager in 1982, a business strategy that consisted a "top-down construction" for the team (i.e., bringing in expensive international players as opposed to developing cheaper local talent).

Year-by-year results

Honours

Championships (1) * NASL indoor: 1980–81 Regular Season/ Division Titles (2) * NASL:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

* NASL indoor: 1981–82 NASL All Stars * 1980: Peter Nogly -Second Team * 1981: Peter Nogly -First Team NASL indoor MVP * 1980–81: Kai Haaskivi NASL indoor Scoring Champion * 1980–81: Kai Haaskivi ''(co-champion)'' NASL indoor Finals MVP * 1981–82: Kai Haaskivi NASL indoor All Stars * 1980–81: Drew Ferguson, Kai Haaskivi * 1981–82: Jan Goossens, Kai Haaskivi Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame * Mike Sweeney: 2002 * Bruce Twamley: 2008 Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame * Kai Haaskivi: 2013 *

: 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonton Drillers (1979-82) Association football clubs established in 1979 Association football clubs disestablished in 1982 Canadian indoor soccer teams Defunct soccer clubs in Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams based in Canada 1979 establishments in Alberta 1982 disestablishments in Alberta Soccer clubs in Edmonton it:Edmonton Drillers#Edmonton Drillers (NASL 1975–1982)