The New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers was an American soccer club that competed in the

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

from 1993 to 1999. Based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, the club was renamed the New Orleans Storm in 1998. The team folded after the 1999 season.

History

On March 12, 1993, New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers owner Donnie Pate announced the creation of the team. The Riverboat Gamblers played their home games at Pan American Stadium, a 5,000 person stadium in the New Orleans

City Park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

. Pate also announced that Ken White would coach the team with assistance from Mike Jeffries. Wearing a red, white and blue uniform, the Gamblers played their first regular season game on May 15, 1993 against the

Birmingham Grasshoppers Birmingham Grasshoppers were an American soccer team that played in Birmingham, Alabama from 1992 to 1996 as a member of the United States Interregional Soccer League. When the USISL split into two leagues in 1995, the Grasshoppers joined the Prem ...

. The Gamblers spent their first season in the Southern Challenge Cup (Provisional), a group of four teams which played an eight-game schedule separate from the rest of the USISL. In 1994, they moved to the Midsouth Division where they placed second behind the Louisville Thoroughbreds. In July 1994, Patrick Olalere, the teams's leading scorer became the first New Orleans' player to move up when he signed with 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 January 1994, White left the team and Mike Jeffries became head coach. The 1995 season also saw the USISL split between a Professional (Division 3) and Premier (Amateur) League. The Gamblers moved to the South Central Division in the Professional League. In 1996, the USISL again reorganized, this time into three leagues. The Gamblers joined the Central Division of the newly created Select (Division 2) League. The team also formed partnership with the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

of Major League Soccer in which the Gamblers served as a farm team for the Burn. In December 1996, New Orleans again changed leagues as the USISL and A-League merged to form the second division

USISL A-League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. The team also changed stadiums to

Tad Gormley Stadium Tad Gormley Stadium (originally City Park Stadium) is a 26,500 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium, located in City Park, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The stadium is home to the University of New Orleans Privateers men's and women's track and fiel ...

which could seat 26,500 fans. That season, the Gamblers went to the Division finals. In November 1997, Rob Couhig, owner of the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball team, purchased the Gamblers from Donnie Pate. Couhig renamed the team the New Orleans Storm and moved it to

Zephyr Field Gold Mine on Airline, formerly Shrine on Airline, is a 10,000-seat stadium in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. It is home field for the New Orleans Gold team in Major League Rugby. Known as Zephyr Field when built in 1997 as the h ...

which seated only 10,000 but had natural grass as compared to the artificial turf of Tad Gormley Stadium. The team also changed its colors to purple, gray and black to match the colors of the Zephyrs baseball team. In February 1998, Bill Jeffries left to become an assistant with the Chicago Fire and Daryl Shore was elevated to head coach. In January 1999, Danny Rebuck replaced Daryl Shore as head coach. In February 2000, Couhig announced the Storm was suspending operations.''STORM SUSPENDS OPERATIONS FOR NOW'' Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA) - Saturday, February 26, 2000

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Ken White (1993–1994) * Mike Jeffries (1995–1998) * Daryl Shore (1998) * Danny Rebuck (1999)

References

{{Reflist

External links

USISL: 1986-1994

Defunct soccer clubs in Louisiana

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

A-League (1995–2004) teams USISL teams Association football clubs established in 1993 Association football clubs disestablished in 1999 1993 establishments in Louisiana 1999 disestablishments in Louisiana