The Memphis Rogues were a professional

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 ...

team in the former

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 ...

. They operated in the

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

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 song ...

, and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis'

Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (originally named Memphis Memorial Stadium, and later Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium) is a football stadium located at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds in the Midtown area of Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The st ...

. They also played

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

at the

Mid-South Coliseum Mid-South Coliseum is an indoor arena in Memphis, Tennessee. The facility was opened in 1964, and became known “The Entertainment Capitol of the Mid-South” due its significance in hosting events such as concerts, sports games and professio ...

during the 1979–80 season.

History

"We’re the Ramblin’ Rogues from Memphis, the biggest kick in town!" – Rogues fight song. In the mid-1970s,

Harry T. Mangurian, Jr. Harry T. Mangurian Jr. (October 1, 1926 – October 19, 2008) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Early life Mangurian was born to an Armenian immigrant Harry Sr. and his wife Ethel Roberts of Rochester, New York. Following the out ...

and Beau Rogers joined forces to establish a new

(NASL) franchise. Mangurian owned a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

track in Florida, and Rogers was part-owner and general manager of the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, 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 Champions ...

. As the two men searched for a city to serve as home for their new team, they looked at several locations in the southern U.S. – including

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

– before settling on

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Next, they decided to name the team the "Rogues" in part as an allusion to the Rowdies, as well as for a desire to have an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

mascot (a "Rogue" elephant). The team made its first mistake when it hired

Malcolm Allison Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...

as its first coach. Allison came from Turkish powerhouse

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

but his time in Memphis would be very short. Allison had achieved much controversy during his time in England, and when he had failed to sign a sufficient number of players for the inaugural season, he was dismissed without having coached a match and replaced by ex-Chelsea star

Eddie McCreadie Edward Graham McCreadie (born 15 April 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a football manager. Career McCreadie started his footballing career with amateur Scottish side Drumchapel b ...

. The club finished the 1978 season in third place in its division and did not make the playoffs. Attendance averaged 8,708 a match, 17th in the 24-team league. The second season, 1979, was disrupted by a players' strike which forced McCreadie out of retirement for a time. The team did worse on the pitch, finishing last, and worse at the box office, with 7,137 a match, with three teams doing worse. The poor gates resulted in Mangurian and Rogers selling the team to

Avron Fogelman Avron B. Fogelman (born March 1, 1940) is an American businessman and real estate developer. He was a former part owner of the Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals as well as several Memphis-based sports teams.Jim MasilaFogelman boxes up sp ...

in 1980. Fogelman owned a Memphis minor league baseball team and later became a part owner of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. Though attendance went up in 1980 to 9,864 a match, this was still 17th in the league and the team were again last in their division, though McCreadie's old Chelsea mate

Charlie Cooke Charles Cooke (born 14 October 1942) is a Scottish former footballer. He played as a winger for Aberdeen, Dundee, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, before ending his career in the United States. Club career Cooke began his professional career wi ...

had taken over as coach. The Rogues' last game ever came at

against the

Houston Hurricane The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red. History The team was the last of six expansion t ...

. The Rogues won, 6–1. Tony Field scored the final goal in Memphis Rogues history. He beat the goalkeeper and walked the ball into the net. When he arrived at the goal line, he got down on his knees and headed the ball into the net. More skeptical fans and that the Rogues were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and the Hurricane only need one goal to qualify, raised an eyebrow at the result. In the 1980 NASL goals of the year video, you can clearly see the Hurricanes standing still, allowing Field to give the fans one last show. In 1981, Fogelman cut his losses and sold the Rogues to

Nelson Skalbania Nelson Mathew Skalbania (born February 12, 1938) is an engineer and businessman from Vancouver, British Columbia who is best known for signing a then 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association, and for his ...

, a Canadian businessman who moved the team to

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

. Skalbania renamed the team the

Calgary Boomers The Calgary Boomers were a Canadian soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1980–81 Indoor and 1981 outdoor seasons. The team was based in Calgary and played their home games at Stampede Corral during t ...

for the 1981, but the team lasted only one year in Calgary before folding.

Indoor success

The Rogues played the 1979–80 season of NASL

at the

. They posted a 9–3 regular-season record, won the Western Division, and went all the way to the finals, winning Game 1 of the series, 5–4, at home in front of 9,081 fans, before losing Game 2 and the mini-game tie-breaker to the

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 ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

Coaches

1978 *

1978–1979 *

1980

Year-by-year

Honors

Championships * NASL indoor: 1979–80 ''(finalists)'' Regular Season/ Division Titles * NASL indoor: 1979–80 Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame *

Mike Stankovic Mike Stankovic (born November 11, 1956) is a retired Serbian Americans, Serbian-American association football, soccer defender (association football), defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North Ame ...

: 2013

References

External links

Memphis Rogues Tribute & Memorabilia

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct soccer clubs in Tennessee North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams R Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States 1978 establishments in Tennessee 1980 disestablishments in Tennessee Association football clubs established in 1978 Association football clubs disestablished in 1980 Soccer clubs in Tennessee