The 1979 NASL Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational was a four-team
indoor soccer tournament held at the
Bayfront Center
Bayfront Center was an indoor arena located in St. Petersburg, Florida that hosted many concerts, sporting and other events. Depending on the configuration, it could hold up to 8,600 people. The arena was opened in 1965 and demolished in 2004. It ...
in
St. Petersburg, Florida on the final weekend of January 1979.
Overview
Four teams
North American Soccer League teams participated in the two-day event; the
Dallas Tornado, the
Fort Lauderdale Strikers, the
Tampa Bay Rowdies
The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional 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 Championship in the second tie ...
, and the
Tulsa Roughnecks. Matches were 45 minutes long and divided into three 15-minute periods with an intermission between each. Each session consisted of two games ''(i.e. a
doubleheader)''. Nearly 12,700 people attended the two sessions. Dallas and Tampa Bay each won both of their matches, but Dallas Tornado were crowned champions based on a greater goal differential. Dallas forward
Jim Ryan lead the invitational in scoring with 7 goals. The tournament's final match saw goalkeeper
Winston DuBose
Winston DuBose is an American former soccer goalkeeper who spent eight seasons in the North American Soccer League, four in the American Professional Soccer League and one in the American Indoor Soccer Association. He also earned fourteen cap ...
of Tampa Bay become only the second NASL goalie to record a rare indoor shut-out. Dallas goalkeeper
Ken Cooper had accomplished the feat on two previous occasions.
These were not the only indoor games played that winter. With a fully sanctioned season of NASL indoor soccer still eleven months away, NASL teams were free to schedule their own games at that time. Tampa Bay, for example played three
other indoor matches. By contrast, Fort Lauderdale scheduled only the two games of the invitational.
The competing
Major Indoor Soccer League had already begun their first season in December 1978.
Tournament results
Sessions
Session 1: January 27, 1979
----
Session 2: January 28, 1979
Match reports
Session 1
Session 2
Final standings
''GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential''
''*Dallas wins title on goal differential''
Statistical leaders
Scoring
''Goals (worth 2 points),
Assists (worth 1 point)''
Goalkeeping
''GA = Goals Against, GAA = Goals Against Average, SV = Saves, SF = Shots Faced, % = Save Percentage''
Non-tournament matches
In addition to the tournament itself, several NASL teams participated in international indoor friendlies, and tune-ups for both the tournament and 1979 outdoor season. Dallas and Houston played twice in December 1978.
The Rowdies–Hurricane match on January 25 was played using the
MISL-size goals, timing and ball, as the
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
was already set up for the Hurricane's alter ego, the MISL's
Houston Summit
Houston Summit were a professional indoor soccer team that operated from 1978 to 1980. They played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1980, the franchise was moved to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Blast. Their roster mainly include ...
. As part of a six-match, NASL tour in February, perennial Soviet powerhouse
FC Dynamo Moscow
FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Foot ...
scheduled three indoor games.
Match reports
See also
*
North American Soccer League
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 Fort Lauderdale Strikers indoor season
NASL Indoor seasons
indoor
Indoor(s) may refer to:
*the interior of a building
*Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality
*Built envi ...
1979 in American soccer
NASL Indoor Season, 1979
NASL Indoor invitational
Dallas Tornado matches
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
Sports in St. Petersburg, Florida
Soccer in Florida