The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team was renamed the Miami Freedom and 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 ...

. The club played in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Julio Moreira, a native of Ecuador, was Team President and General Manager during 1990–1991. He was replaced as Team President by David A. Donet, Esq. during a restructuring that also saw the firing of Head Coach David Irving.

1990

In 1990, the Miami Freedom played their first seasons in the new

(APSL) in the South Division of the league's East Conference. The other members of the division included 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 ...

, which won the division that year, the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

Orlando Lions The Orlando Lions were an American soccer team from Orlando, Florida which existed from 1985 to 1996. Over the years, the Lions competed at both the amateur and professional levels including some seasons as an independent team. The Lions is a ni ...

and

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Arm ...

. While the Freedom were one of the best defensive teams in the league, having only 25 goals scored against them, they had difficulty scoring. The team's leading scorer, Laszlo Barna, with 7 goals and 5 assists, finished the season 18th in the league's ranking. The Miami Freedom finished this season with an 8-12. Despite this record, the team fell just one victory short of reaching post-season play.

Rosters

1988:

Windsor del Llano Windsor Alfredo del Llano Suárez (born 17 August 1949 in Cochabamba, Bolivia) is a retired footballer forward who earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973 and another thirty with Bolivia between 1975 and 1981. He played professionall ...

, Jerry DiPiero,

Troy Edwards Troy Edwards (born April 7, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for Louisiana Tech University, became o ...

, Joao Carlos Fietoza, Juan Carlos Gómez, Patrick Johnson, Ricardo Johnson, Paul Khoury, Tommy Lehoczky, Dan Pingrey, Guillermo Pizarro Vaca, Pedro Tavares, Jody Weil, Marc Wolff, Mathieu St. Pierre 1989: Maicol Antelo, Mark Barnett, Scott Bauer, Dennis Brose, Mirko Castillo, Mario Chavez,

Teófilo Cubillas Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga (; born 8 March 1949) is a Peruvian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50. H ...

, Euclides DeGouveia,

Dirceu Dirceu José Guimarães, known as Dirceu (; 15 June 1952 – 15 September 1995), was a Brazilian association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, notably for Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, Botafogo and the Brazil national ...

, Jerry DiPiero, Tchaly Eleazard, Juan Carlos Gómez, Wellington Guerra,

Brian Japp Brian Japp is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the USISL A-League and American Professional Soccer League. In 1983, Japp graduated from North Miami Senior High School. In 2013, the school inducted him into its Hal ...

, Ricardo Johnson, Hughes Joseph, Francisco Lopez, Willington Oritz, Dan Pingrey, Guillermo Pizarro Vaca,

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and current head coach of Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, ...

, Luis Reyna, Arnold Siegmund, Pedro Tavares, Huber Vallejos 1990: Laszlo Barna, Mark Barnett, Michael Brown, Paul Carollo, Euclides DeGouveia, Ricardo Dillon,

Ian Fairbrother Ian Fairbrother (born 2 October 1966) is an English retired footballer. He spent the majority of his career in the United States. He spent his youth career with Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers, but began his professional career in 1984 ...

, Elias Feanny, Joao Carlos Fietoza, Joseph Flood, Decio Guimarães, Timo Hamalainen,

, Patrick Johnson, Steve Kinsey, David Kulik, Dorian Mesa, Fernando Ramos, Rick Rivera-Gomez, Arnold Siegmund 1991: Celvin Alonzo,

Ricardo Alonso Ricardo Alonso was a soccer player who began as a forward before moving to defender later in his career. Alonso spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League, four in Major Indoor Soccer League, at least three in the American Indoor Socc ...

, Alex Bahr, Laszlo Barna, Mark Barnett, Brown, Kenny Borden, Juan Castillo, Chrinos, Hugo DeCasanova, Euclides DeGouveia,

Paul Dougherty Paul Dougherty (born 12 May 1966) is an English former professional soccer player and soccer coach who began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England. He then moved to the United States where he became a journeyman player, bouncing th ...

, John Garvey,

Grant Gibbs Grant Gibbs is a former U.S. soccer defender who spent his professional career in clubs F.C. Portland, Seattle Storm and Miami Freedom. Biography Gibbs grew up in Federal Way, Washington, where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School. Afte ...

Rick Iversen Rick Iversen is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League and USISL. Youth In 1987, Iversen, in his only season with the San Diego State University men’s soccer team, went to the f ...

Pedro Magallanes Pedro Magallanes (born June 14, 1956) is a retired Argentine football (soccer) midfielder who played professionally in Argentina and the United States. Magallanes had an extensive career in Argentina. He played the 1978-1979 season with Indepen ...

Jimmy McGeough Jimmy McGeough (born 13 August 1944) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager. Playing and coaching career His clubs included Derry City, Lincoln and Waterford United. Joining Derry in July 1963 he was part of the only Derry Cit ...

, Dorian Mesa,

Dale Mulholland Dale Mulholland (born August 16, 1964) is an American former soccer player who became a coach. As a player, he spent time in West Germany, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and his native United States. His most notable achievement as a player w ...

, Benjamin Ortiz, Fernando Ramos,

Ken Snow Kenneth Snow (June 23, 1969 – June 21, 2020) was an American soccer forward who was a two-time winner of the Hermann Trophy as the outstanding college soccer player in 1988 and 1990. He had an eight-year professional career playing indoor so ...

, Juan Valencia, Huber Vallejo, Tony DePhillips, Patrick Johnson 1992: Jose Angulo, Kossivi Asare-Kokou, Mark Barnett,

Scott Benedetti Scott "Benny" Benedetti (born November 13, 1966 in Portland, Oregon) is an American retired soccer player. He began his professional career with the semi-professional F.C. Portland in 1986 and ended it with the U.S. second division club Portland ...

, Roger Campagnola, Juan Castillo, Javier Centeno,

Zico Doe Ezekiel Koffa "Zico" Doe is a retired Liberian football (soccer) player who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League, Major Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He was the 1991 American Professional Soc ...

, Miljice Donev, Chris Edwinson, Kevin Grimes, Darrin Karuzas, John Boa, John Klein,

John Maessner John Maessner (born June 2, 1969 in Hackensack, New Jersey) who spent six seasons in Major League Soccer, two in France, two in USISL, two in the National Professional Soccer League and one in Germany. Player Youth Maessner was a 1987 Parade M ...

, Diego Mandagaran, Luis Medina, Dorian Mesa,

, Victor Ogunsanya,

Boniface Okafor Boniface Okafor (born January 15, 1966) is a Nigerian former football (soccer) player. Okafor attended the University of West Florida where he played soccer from 1988 to 1990. He was a 1990 NAIA Second Team All American. In 2007, Okafor was indu ...

, Rodrique Rocques,

Derek Sanderson Derek Michael Sanderson (born June 16, 1946), nicknamed "Turk", is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and two-time Stanley Cup champion who helped transform the culture of the professional athlete in the 1970s era. The two-time Sta ...

Arturo Velazco Arturo Velazco is an American former soccer defender. He played four seasons in the Western Soccer Alliance, five in the American Professional Soccer League, at least three in the National Professional Soccer League and one in the Continental Ind ...

Scoop Stanisic Vojislav "Scoop" Stanisic ( sr, Војислав Станишић / Vojislav Stanišić; born March 6, 1963) is a retired soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He was most recently the goalkeeping coach for Columbus Crew in Major League Socce ...

, Wilmer Ochoa

Coaches

Carlos Alberto Torres Carlos Alberto "Capita" Torres (17 July 1944 – 25 October 2016), also known as "O Capitão do Tri", was a Brazilian football player and manager who played as an attacking right-sided full-back or wing-back. A technically gifted defender w ...

1988 *

Wim Suurbier Wilhelmus Lourens Johannes Suurbier () (16 January 1945 – 12 July 2020) was a Dutch professional footballer and among others assistant coach of the Albania national team. He played as a right back and was part of the Netherlands national tea ...

1989 *

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include ''The Destruction of Dresden'' (19 ...

(1990–1991) * Jorge Alzerreca (1991) * Amancio Suarez (1992)

Year-by-year

1992 Professional Cup – North American Club Championship

The

Professional Cup The Professional Cup was an international soccer tournament that took place in 1992 and involved eight, professional clubs from three different leagues in North America; the American Professional Soccer League, the Canadian Soccer League, and the ...

was a North American club tournament played in 1992. It involved eight teams from the APSL, the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

, and the National Professional Soccer League. The Miami Freedom were the only APSL club that did not advance beyond the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals

''Fort Lauderdale advances on aggregate, 5–2.''

References

{{American Professional Soccer League seasons

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

Defunct soccer clubs in Florida American Soccer League (1988–89) teams American Professional Soccer League teams Soccer clubs in Florida 1988 establishments in Florida 1992 disestablishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 1988 Association football clubs disestablished in 1992