The Washington Darts 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 ...

club based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

that played in the American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and 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 ...

in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, though in 1967 they were known as Washington Britannica. They won two ASL championships and played for the NASL championship once. They also won the 1970 NASL International Cup. The club left Washington after 1971 and became the Miami Gatos (1972), Miami Toros (1973–76), Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83), and Minnesota Strikers (1984) in the NASL's final season. The club's colors were blue, white and gray.

History

In December 1963,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrant Norman Sutherland and soccer players in the

area created the amateur team, Washington Britannica. In 1967, the team went professional when it joined the American Soccer League. In 1968, they changed their name to the Washington Darts. Following the 1969 season, after winning two consecutive league titles, the Darts left the ASL to join the first division of the

American soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

at the time, the

. After the 1971 NASL season, the team moved to Miami becoming the

Miami Gatos The Miami Toros was a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the 1972 season in the NASL's Southern Division ...

. In 1968, they played their home games at Woodrow Wilson Stadium on the campus of Woodrow Wilson High School on Nebraska Avenue NW. In 1969 they moved their home games to

Brookland Stadium Brookland Stadium, or Killion Field, was the athletic field for Catholic University in Brookland, Washington, D.C. from 1924 to 1985. It was named after alumni Captain Edward L Killion. It was located on the main campus of The Catholic University ...

on the campus of Catholic University. In 1970 they also played three matches against international teams at RFK Stadium. In 1968 the Darts became the first professional soccer team to have a black coach in U.S. history when

Lincoln Phillips Lincoln Phillips (born 4 July 1941) is a Trinidad and Tobago former footballer and soccer coach. He became the first black professional soccer coach in U.S. history in 1968 when he became the player/coach of the Washington Darts and he coached ...

, the goalkeeper, became player-coach. In 1970, NASL teams rounded out their schedules by playing an assortment of foreign teams including Hoepel from Israel, Varzim from Portugal, Hertha Berlin from Germany and England's Coventry City. These games weren't just for attendance but also counted in the standings. The Washington Darts went 2-2-0 versus the international teams earning the "International Cup". Many teams also played games against

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

and his Brazilian squad,

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...

. The 1970 game against Pelé and Santos crushed the Darts previous attendance record of 6,215 against Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C., with 13,878 fans in attendance at RFK Stadium. It was the largest crowd to ever watch a Darts match.

Club colors

During their time in the NASL, the Darts home colors were gray with blue sleeves, and the away colors were blue.

Year-by-year

Coaches

(1968–1970)

References

{{American Soccer League American Soccer League (1933–1983) teams North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Defunct soccer clubs in Washington, D.C. 1967 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1971 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs disestablished in 1971

History

Club colors

Year-by-year

Coaches

See also

References