The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

after the

1976 NASL season Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1976. This was the 9th season of the NASL. Overview Twenty teams contested the league. The Toronto Metros-Croatia defeated the Minnesota Kicks in the finals on August 28 to win the championsh ...

. At the end of 1977 season, the team was sold and relocated to California becoming the Oakland Stompers.

History

Founded in 1975, and owned by local businessman Bob Darling, the team's name was a reference to the upcoming bicentennial anniversary of the United States founding in 1976. The team began play during the

1975 NASL Indoor tournament In early 1975, the North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated. Overview Though the Dallas Tornado had won the NASL's 1971 Hoc-Soc Tourna ...

, finishing second in Region 2 and missing the final four on goal difference. Prior to the 1975 outdoor season, the Bicentennials signed fourteen players from the 1974 American Soccer League (ASL) champions

Rhode Island Oceaneers Home field was Pierce field East Providence RI Rhode Island Oceaneers was a soccer team. History The original Rhode Island Oceaneers soccer team was established in 1974. That season, they won the league title after a 16-2 regular season. U.S. Socc ...

, including goalkeeper

Arnie Mausser Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser may be considered one of the fin ...

, Charlie McCully, and Mohammad Attiah, as well as hiring the Oceaneers' head coach Manny Schellscheidt and General Manager Michael Bosson. The Bicentennials finished their inaugural season in last place of the Northern Division with a record of six wins and sixteen loses and an average attendance of 3,720 playing their home games at the Dillon Stadium which they shared with the Connecticut Yankees of the ASL. After the season, Bosson was replaced by the GM of the Connecticut Yankees Rudi Schiffer and, along with the signing of three european players, the contract of goalkeeper Arnie Mausser, who had allowed a record 50 goals during the season, was sold to 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 ...

. Schellscheidt was replaced by Bobby Thompson after a 2-3 start to the 1976 outdoor season. The team ended the 1976 season with a record of twelve wins and twelve losses and averaging 3,420 fans per game. The team relocated to

and rebranded as the Connecticut Bicentennials before the 1977 season. Playing their home games at the

Yale Bowl The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut, on the border of West Haven, about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University. The home of the American foo ...

, the team finished the 1977 season in last place of the Atlantic Conference Northern Division with a record of seven wins and nineteen losses. The Bicentennials drew their biggest crowd ever, with 17,302 fans in attendance, for their 1977 home opener against the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

featuring Brazilian star Pelé, but averaged only 3,848 fans for the season. Citing low gate revenues and the cost to adequately light the Yale Bowl for night games, Darling sold the team to

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. ...

who relocated the team to

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

for the 1978 season, where they became known as the Oakland Stompers.

Year-by-year

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct soccer clubs in Connecticut Soccer clubs in Connecticut North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams 1975 establishments in Connecticut 1977 disestablishments in Connecticut Association football clubs established in 1975 Association football clubs disestablished in 1977