Fort Lauderdale Sun was a U.S.

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 which played two seasons in the

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

. In 1984, the team was known as the Fort Lauderdale Sun. Before the 1985 season they changed their name to the South Florida Sun.

Origins

The United Soccer League (USL) was formed after the American Soccer League (ASL) folded in 1983. The ASL had served as the de facto U.S. second division for decades, but collapsed due to overexpansion and financial insolvency. The USL intended to avoid this fate by creating a lean, financially responsible league. In 1984, the league began play with nine teams in three regional divisions. Fort Lauderdale joined the Charlotte Gold and

Jacksonville Tea Men The Jacksonville Tea Men were a soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1980–1982, ...

in the Southern Division. Both of the Sun's opponents had migrated from the ASL to the USL. Additionally, the Tea Men had played several seasons in the first division

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 ...

until 1982. The team was originally owned by retired

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 ...

player, Ronnie Sharp, but he was forced to sell the team shortly after the 1984 season because of his involvement in a drug smuggling operation. ''Entertainment Investors, Inc.'', which was mostly made up of a group of doctors that used to sit together at Strikers' games, took over control of the Sun until the team folded in July 1985.

1984: Champions

The Sun gained a significant boost when it signed former Peruvian great

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 ...

. Cubillas joined several other NASL veterans on the Sun, giving the team one of the most talented rosters in the new league. This paid dividends as they played to a 15-9 record, scoring fifty-three goals and giving up only thirty-four. After making the playoffs, the Sun crushed the

Buffalo Storm Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the USL, with home games at All-High Stadium. Players * Rudy Pikuzinski 1983-84 * Otto Orf 1984 * Carlos Salguero 1984 * Ernesto Buriano 1984 * Oscar P ...

in the semi-finals, then defeated the

Houston Dynamos Houston Dynamos was a U.S. soccer team that existed in various forms from 1983 to 1991. In 1991, the team's owners changed the name to Houston International, but the team lasted only through the 1992 season before folding. The Dynamos were foun ...

to take the 1984 league title.

Florida Derby

On June 27 the Sun made their only appearance in the

Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturd ...

, falling to 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 ...

, 5–1, in an inter-league friendly. Two more derby matches were planned for in 1985, but the Sun closed up shop before those games could materialize.

1985: League Cup and league collapse

Despite the league's financial austerity, it lost most of its teams during the off season. Only four remained to begin the 1985 season, and the league folded after only six games. The Sun, renamed the South Florida Sun, led the league standings with a 4-2 record when the league collapsed in late June. By virtue of their 1-0 win over the

Tulsa Tornados The Tulsa Tornados were a professional soccer team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. They played for one season (1985) in the USL. The 1985 season only lasted six games as the league folded halfway through. Established by David Fraser during the spring of 19 ...

on June 15, the Sun also won the league's Invitational Cup in front of 2,324 fans at

Lockhart Stadium Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football. Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's l ...

. As a harbinger of things to come, no actual cup was presented to them, causing Sun player-coach,

Keith Weller Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

, to quip, "There ain't no cup." The Sun's final USL match, a 3–1 victory, was played on June 22, versus the

Dallas Americans Dallas Americans was an American soccer club based in Dallas, Texas that was a member of the American Soccer League. After the ASL folded, the club joined the newly formed United Soccer League, which itself lasted two seasons. It is also the name o ...

. It turned out to be the only USL regular season game played that year, as the league suspended play a few days later. Team officials tried in vain to carry on by staging exhibitions matches against a Haitian Select team, the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropoli ...

and

, among others. The idea was to help offset owed payroll to the squad. The position of General Manager was eliminated and new investors were sought. In the end only the match against the Topez-Haitian All-Stars materialized. In it, the Sun rallied to win what was to be their final game, 4-3, on the fourth of July before a Lockhart Stadium crowd of 3,529. After that match's proceeds were divvied up, the players began to disperse back into everyday life.

Honors

Champion * 1984 USL Invitational Cup * 1985 Rookie of the Year * Mark Schwartz 1984 Top Goalkeeper *

Jim Tietjens Jim Tietjens is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and United Soccer League. Tietjens graduated from Oakville High School. He then attended St. Loui ...

1984

Year-by-year

1985 USL League Cup standings

1985 team scoring leaders*

1985 team goalkeeping stats*

''*USL cup only''

References

External links

Overview of Fort Lauderdale soccer
{{United Soccer League (1984–85) United Soccer League (1984–85) teams Soccer clubs in Miami Soccer clubs in Florida Defunct soccer clubs in Florida 1983 establishments in Florida 1985 disestablishments in Florida Association football clubs established in 1983 Association football clubs disestablished in 1985