The Staten Island Vipers were a

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 ...

club that competed in the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

in 1998 and 1999. The club was based on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The team played its games at

Tottenville High School Tottenville High School is located at 100 Luten Avenue, in Huguenot, Staten Island, New York. Tottenville H.S. is in Administrative District 31, and is operated by the New York City Department of Education. The school's principal is Gina Battista, ...

and

Wagner College Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...

. The team dissolved following the 1999 season.

History

The Vipers debuted 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 ...

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

in 1998, co-owned by

businessman and local soccer enthusiast Joe Manfredi and Roger Gorevic, who moved his New York Fever A-League franchise to Staten Island. The team was started up and managed initially by Tom Neale (General Manager) and Mike Winograd (Director of Youth and Team Development), who were college roommates and teammates at Lafayette College. Neale, former General Manager of the New York Fever, went on to be General Manager of the San Jose Earthquakes and COO of the New York Metrostars of MLS, and Winograd, a former professional soccer player in Kfar Saba, Israel and assistant coach at the University of Richmond, went on to law school at the University of Pennsylvania. The Vipers initially struggled to find a ground at which to play, debuting first at

Monsignor Farrell High School Monsignor Farrell High School is an American Catholic high school for boys, located in the Oakwood section of Staten Island, New York. Opened in 1961, the school is named in honor of Monsignor Joseph Farrell, a Catholic priest, as well as a re ...

in Oakwood before being forced out by community opposition. The club would land at

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

after reaching an agreement to refurbish the school's field and bleachers and adding lights for night games, along with a commitment for the team to work with the school to develop a city soccer program. The club was coached by

Adrian Gaitan Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

. The team colors were blue and white, with shirts sponsored by

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and the kit supplied by

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...

. The team mascot was a costumed character in a green outfit called the "Hyper Viper." Among the Staten Islanders who donned the costume was Craig Perrino and Jay Akselrud, who also entertained at

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pla ...

games. The club averaged an attendance of over 1,500 fans per game and finished their first season in 1998 with a 15-11-1-1 (W-L-SOW-SOL) record, placing third in the Northeast Division but losing the Conference Quarterfinal. The team improved their record to 19-9-2-1 in 1999, finishing 2nd in the division and advancing to the Conference Semifinal but eventually losing to the

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hersheypar ...

.A-League 1999 Season
/ref>

Players

John Diffley Dahir Mohammed Omid Namazi Daniel De Oliveira

Year-by-year

References

{{Reflist Men's soccer clubs in New York (state) History of Staten Island Defunct soccer clubs in New York City A-League (1995–2004) teams 1998 establishments in New York City 1999 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports in Staten Island Association football clubs established in 1998 Association football clubs disestablished in 1999

History

Players

Year-by-year

See also

References