The Philadelphia Atoms were 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 ...

team based out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

that played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

(NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for footb ...

(1973–75) and

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

(1976). The club's colors were blue and white. The club was succeeded by the

Philadelphia Fury The Philadelphia Fury was an American soccer team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that last competed in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The club formerly competed in the American Soccer League and is currently owned by ...

in 1978.

History

The Atoms were founded by Philadelphia construction mogul

Thomas McCloskey Thomas D. McCloskey (May 27, 1924 – October 31, 2004) was a Philadelphia construction magnate. He became the president of McCloskey & Company, Builders, in 1961 when his father, former Democratic National Treasurer Matthew H. McCloskey, was appoi ...

in 1973 at the urging of

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. ...

owner

Lamar Hunt Lamar Hunt (August 2, 1932 – December 13, 2006) was an American businessman most notable for his promotion of American football, soccer, and tennis in the United States. He was the principal founder of the American Football League (AFL) and ...

. Playing a largely American line-up, they won the NASL title in their first year of existence by defeating Hunt’s Dallas club 2–0. After this championship match, Philadelphia goalkeeper and

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of The Boeing Company's CH-47 Chinook helicopter division. History Native American The Lenape inhabited the Delaw ...

native

Bob Rigby Bob Rigby (born July 3, 1951, in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. Rigby played twelve seasons in the North American Soccer League, three in the Major Indoor Soccer League, one in the Western Soccer Alliance and ear ...

became the first soccer player to be featured on the cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''. The Atoms could not sustain the success of their first season as the club missed the playoffs in each of their remaining three NASL campaigns. Attendance began to flag and, after the 1975 season, the team was sold to a group of Mexican clubs, which included

Club Deportivo Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

. Fielding a primarily Mexican side (almost 30 years before

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

would try a similar approach in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

), attendance continued to wane and the club folded after the 1976 season. Although

Clive Toye Clive Roy Toye (born Devonport, Plymouth, 23 November 1932) was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the United States in 2003. Toye was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom, to Thomas Roy Toye (1906–65) and Irene Turner. He was a spo ...

reports in his recent book that the franchise was sold to an ownership group from Montreal, he apparently confuses the fate of the next Philadelphia NASL team for that of the Atoms; the Atoms were, in fact, going to be relocated to San Antonio by their Mexican owners, who planned to replace the

San Antonio Thunder The San Antonio Thunder were an American soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1975 as a member of the North American Soccer League, the team played two seasons in San Antonio before the franchise rights were moved to Hawaii. The t ...

franchise (which itself had just relocated to Honolulu to play as

Team Hawaii Team Hawaii was a soccer team based out of Honolulu that played in the NASL for one season, 1977. Their home field was Aloha Stadium. After two unsuccessful years as the San Antonio Thunder, the franchise moved to Hawai'i in time for the 19 ...

). This plan never came to fruition, and the Philadelphia franchise was placed into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

by the NASL. The franchise was removed from receivership two years later when the

began their three-year run in Philadelphia in 1978. The Atoms were also part of what is considered by soccer historians to be the birth of modern

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

in the United States. On February 11, 1974 they hosted the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

team at the

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

in an exhibition match. That night, 11,790 roaring fans watched the reigning league champions hold their own into the final period before the Russians finally pulled away for a 6–3 victory. The following year the NASL staged its first league-wide indoor tournament, and within a few years both the NASL and the

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

were playing full indoor seasons. In 2017 a new team began play in the American Soccer League called

Philadelphia Atoms SC The Philadelphia Atoms were an American professional soccer team based out of Glenside, Pennsylvania that played in the American Soccer League (ASL). They were named after, and claimed the heritage of, the original Philadelphia Atoms that ...

. The club claims the heritage and colors of the original Atoms.

Year-by-year

Honors

NASL Championships *

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

NASL Division Titles *

Eastern Division NASL Rookie of the Year * 1975

Chris Bahr Christopher Kurt Bahr (born February 3, 1953) is a former professional American football and soccer player. He was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) and played midfielder in the North American Soccer League. High school Atte ...

NASL Coach of the Year * 1973 Al Miller NASL Leading Goaltender * 1973

''(GAA: 0.62)'' U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame * 1990

Manfred Schellscheidt Manfred "Manny" Schellscheidt (born January 17, 1941) is a German-American soccer coach and former player. Born in Solingen in the Prussian Rhine Province, he emigrated to the United States in the 1970s. He spent three seasons in the North Amer ...

* 1995 Al Miller * 2007 Bobby Smith All-Star First Team Selections * 1973

Chris Dunleavy Chris Dunleavy (born 30 December 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played for Everton, Southport, Philadelphia Atoms, Chester, Halifax Town and Wollongong FC. Dunleavy was voted Chester's player of the year for 1973–7 ...

Jim Fryatt James Fryatt (2 September 1940 – 5 June 2020) was an English footballer who played as a striker. During his playing career he was nicknamed ''Pancho''. Football League A regular scorer for all of his club sides, the stockily built forward w ...

Andy Provan Andrew McKelvie Hughes Provan (born 1 January 1944 in Greenock), also known as Drew Provan, is a Scottish former footballer who played in the Scottish Football League for St Mirren, in the Football League for Barnsley, York City, Chester, W ...

* 1974

* 1975 Bobby Smith All-Star Second Team Selections * 1973

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool. He eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become the team manager. While predominantly plyi ...

, Bobby Smith,

Derek Trevis Derek Alan Trevis (9 September 1942 – 21 December 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Active in both England and the United States, Trevis made nearly 500 career league appearances. Career Born in Birming ...

* 1974

* 1975

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

Tony Want Anthony George Want (born 13 December 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played more than 150 games in the First Division of the Football League for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City, and spent t ...

* 1976 Bobby Smith All-Star Honorable Mentions * 1973

Barry Barto Barry Barto is an American retired soccer midfielder and college coach. He played in the North American Soccer League and coached for thirty years at Philadelphia Textile and UNLV. Player College and NASL Barto grew up in Philadelphia where h ...

George O'Neill George O'Neill may refer to: * George O'Neill (footballer, born 1942), Scottish footballer who was capped for the United States * George O'Neill (footballer, born 1923) (1923–2003), English footballer for Port Vale * George Bernard O'Neill (18 ...

* 1974

, Bobby Smith

Head coaches

* Al Miller (1973–1975)

References

External links

NASL Jerseys: Philadelphia Atoms
{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Association football clubs established in 1973 Association football clubs disestablished in 1976 Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct soccer clubs in Pennsylvania North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in Pennsylvania 1973 establishments in Pennsylvania 1976 disestablishments in Pennsylvania 20th-century disestablishments in Pennsylvania

History

Year-by-year

Honors

Head coaches

See also

References

External links