The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with a 12–18 record, in third place and out of playoff contention.

Team history

At the end of the 1977 NASL season,

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

businessman (and former owner of the San Jose Earthquakes)

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. ...

bought the

Connecticut Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1 ...

and relocated them to Oakland. The club, renamed the Stompers, hired

Mirko Stojanović Mirko Stojanović (born 11 June 1939 in Zagreb) is a Croatian retired footballer. In his career, he made four international appearances for the Yugoslav national team. Playing career Club While playing for NK Dinamo Zagreb he won the 1959–60 ...

as head coach and signed a 10-year lease at the

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home ba ...

, previously home of the NASL's

Oakland Clippers The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of Oakland, California. They played in the non- FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer ...

in 1967–68. The team signed

Shep Messing Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as the lead analyst for New York Red Bulls matches on the MSG Network. In 2021 he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena ...

for $100,000 making him the highest-paid American soccer player at the time. The club drew 32,104 in their home opener against San Jose Earthquakes on April 2, 1978, with about half of those in attendance being supporters of the visiting team. After eight games and a record of 4-4, the team fired Stojanović and replaced him on an interim basis with Jack Hyde. Hyde was in turned replaced by

Ken Bracewell Ken Bracewell (born 5 October 1936) is an English former professional football player and coach. Bracewell, who played as a full-back, made over 200 league appearances in England, Canada, and the United States. Playing career Born in Colne, ...

who had previously coached the

Denver Dynamos The Denver Dynamos were a soccer team based in Denver that played in the NASL from 1974 to 1975. Their home field was Mile High Stadium. After the 1975 season, they moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Kicks. History Between the 1973 and ...

. In July, the team was averaging 12,200 fan in attendance, but ended the season in third place and with a slight dip in attendance 11,929 fans at seasons end. (The Coliseum was a lonely place in the summer of '78: the Stompers' co-tenants, baseball's Oakland Athletics, attracted just 7,218 fans per home date.) Following the season, the team moved to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

where they was renamed the Edmonton Drillers.

Year-by-year

Honors

U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame * 1997: Johnny Moore Canada Soccer Hall of Fame * 2008:

Bruce Twamley Bruce Richardson Twamley (born 23 May 1952 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a former Canadian international soccer player. Twamley began his professional career with Ipswich Town but after only two appearances in two seasons, he moved back t ...

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame * 2019:

Coaches

References

External links

Roster
{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct soccer clubs in California North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Sports teams in Oakland, California 1978 establishments in California 1978 disestablishments in California Soccer clubs in California Oakland Association football clubs disestablished in 1978 Association football clubs established in 1978