The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American S ...

during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was

Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball a ...

History

United Soccer Association

In 1966 a group of United States and Canadian sports entrepreneurs, led by

Jack Kent Cooke Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian-American businessman in broadcasting and professional sports. Starting in sales, Cooke was very successful, eventually becoming a partner in a network of radio stations and news ...

, formed the

with the intention of organizing a professional soccer league. The USA originally intended to launch its league in the spring of 1968. However a rival league, the National Professional Soccer League, announced it was ready to launch in 1967. Not wanting to lose ground to its rival, the USA decided to fast track its launch. Without any players of its own, it opted to import whole teams from Europe and South America. It was intended that these teams would represent the franchises during the inaugural season, giving them time to build their own squads for the following season. Stoke City, who played in the Football League First Division subsequently represented the Cleveland, Ohio franchise. The traveling Stoke party included the likes of

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks (30 December 1937 – 12 February 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he made 679 appearances during a 20-year professional caree ...

, Peter Dobing,

George Eastham George Edward Eastham, OBE (born 23 September 1936) is an English former footballer. He is known for playing for Newcastle United, Arsenal and Stoke City, as well as a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad. However, he is also nota ...

Maurice Setters Maurice Edgar Setters (16 December 1936 – 22 November 2020) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he made more than 400 appearances in the Football League for Exeter City, West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United, Stoke City, ...

and Roy Vernon as well as manager

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

. The team started well going undefeated in their first seven matches defeating

Washington Whips The Washington Whips were a soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association ( USA). The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington Whips were the Aberdeen F.C. from Scotland. Th ...

2–1, Boston Rovers 1–0,

San Francisco Golden Gate Gales The San Francisco Golden Gate Gales were an American soccer team that played in the United Soccer Association (USA). The team was based in San Francisco, California and played their home games at the Candlestick Park. The team folded when the U ...

and Dallas Tornado both 4–1. They then suffered back to back 2–1 defeats to New York Skyliners and

Houston Stars The Houston Stars were an American professional soccer team based out of Houston, Texas. The Stars were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967 and when the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) me ...

before a 2–0 win over Toronto City put them back on track for a play-off place. However a goalless draw with Detroit Cougars and a 3–1 defeat in the final match against

Vancouver Royals The Vancouver Royals were a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1967 as the Vancouver Royal Canadians, they were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA), and when the USA an ...

saw the Stokers miss out on a play-off spot by a single point.

NASL

Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League with the teams from the former USA having to create their rosters from scratch. The franchise was originally acquired by

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

baseball club principal owner

Vernon Stouffer Vernon Bigelow Stouffer (August 22, 1901 – July 26, 1974) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist & businessman. Stouffer graduated from The Wharton School in 1923. He was the founder and president of the Stouffer Hotels Co., Stouffer Fr ...

and club president

Gabe Paul Gabriel Howard Paul (January 4, 1910 – April 26, 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who, between 1951 and 1984, served as general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Colt .45s, Cleveland Indians and New York Yan ...

in August 1966. They sold the Stokers to a group led by Cleveland attorney

Howard Metzenbaum Howard Morton Metzenbaum (June 4, 1917March 12, 2008) was an American politician and businessman who served for almost 20 years as a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from Ohio (1974, 1976–1995). He also served in the Ohio Hous ...

and business partner, Alva "Ted" Bonda, the first week of January 1968. In assembling a team of their own, the new owners acquired the bulk of the starting line-up from the 1967 NPSL

Philadelphia Spartans The Philadelphia Spartans were a soccer team that was a charter member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania they played their home games at Temple Stadium in North P ...

franchise, which would not participate in the NASL in 1968. The new Stokers won their division and fully intended on continuing operation. However, a difference in business philosophy with the five surviving NASL franchises saw the Stokers stay dormant in 1969. They did host an exhibition featuring a number of Stokers and NASL "all-stars" versus a West German opponent, which drew well, and fostered some hope, but Metzenbaum and Bonda remained unhappy with the NASL budgetary restraints, and announced the end of the Stokers in November 1969. The 1968 Stokers won their division after a tight race with the talented Chicago Mustangs. In the conference championships, they were defeated in sudden-death overtime by the eventual champion Atlanta Chiefs. But the highlight of the club's existence occurred on July 10, 1968, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, when they hosted and defeated the soccer world's top-ranked professional team, Santos of Brazil, featuring Pelé. Keeper Paul Shardlow preserved the 2–1 upset by saving a penalty kick. Unfortunately, Shardlow, leased from Stoke City, collapsed and died of a heart attack whilst training in England in October 1968, after the completion of the Stokers' season. Those who represented the Stokers so well in the field during 1968 included Rubén Navarro, a world-class defender who made numerous national-team appearances with Argentina, his native land - where his name and play remain legendary - and

Enrique Mateos Enrique Mateos Mancebo (15 July 1934 – 6 July 2001) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He amassed La Liga totals of 123 games and 48 goals over the course of 13 seasons, representing in the competition Real Madrid, Sevilla an ...

, a veteran goal scorer from Spain - part of the powerful Real Madrid dynasty of the late 1950s. Stoker performers familiar to modern-day North American fans include John Best (later

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

coach and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

GM), and Roy Turner (later Dallas Tornado iron-man and then long-time coach of the indoor Wichita Wings). Peter Short and Hank Liotart also enjoyed long US soccer careers following their season in Cleveland. Stokers' head coach

Norman Low Norman Harvey Low (23 March 1914 – 21 May 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the son of Scottish international footballer, Wilf Low. A central defender, he played for Newcastle United between 1931 and 1933, before a ...

returned to England and did scouting. He later briefly scouted for the ASL

Cleveland Cobras The Cleveland Stars were an American soccer club based in Cleveland, Ohio and a member of the American Soccer League in 1972–73. Before the 1974 season, the name was changed to the Cleveland Cobras. Overview The Stars' colors were blue and ...

. Metzenbaum embarked on a high-profile political career, while Bonda became a prominent Cleveland figure in education, business, and sports.

Year-by-year

Honors

Division Titles *

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

: NASL Lakes Division First team All-Star Selections *1967: Peter Dobing,

, Roy Vernon *1968: Rubén Navarro Second team All-Star Selections *1967:

Eric Skeels Eric Thomas Skeels (born 27 October 1939) is an English former Association football, footballer. He played 512 games in the English Football League, Football League, 507 for Stoke City F.C., Stoke City. He is Stoke's record appearance holder ha ...

, John Moore *1968:

Hall of Fame members *Indoor Soccer: Roy Turner

References

{{North American Soccer League (1968–84) North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams S United Soccer Association franchises Stoke City F.C. 1967 establishments in Ohio 1968 disestablishments in Ohio Soccer clubs in Ohio Defunct soccer clubs in Ohio Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs disestablished in 1968