Washington Diplomats (1988–90)
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The Washington Diplomats are an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and
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 ...
home matches at the neighboring
D.C. Armory The D.C. Armory is an armory and a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the eastern United States, located in Washington, D.C., east of the U.S. Capitol building. Managed by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority, the Armory was constructed ...
. Founded as an expansion franchise in 1974, the Diplomats competed in the now-defunct
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 ...
, then the top-tier soccer league 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 ...
. Plagued with mediocrity in their first few seasons of existence, the Diplomats did not qualify for the playoffs until 1976, their third year in the league. The Diplomats were knocked out by the New York Cosmos in the first round. That season, the club played their home matches in Northern Virginia at
W.T. Woodson High School Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School, commonly known as W.T. Woodson High School or simply Woodson, is a high school located in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the east end of the city of Fairfax, opposite the shopping center on Main Street. The sc ...
, before going back to RFK Stadium in 1977. During the next three seasons, the Diplomats achieved more regular season success and reached the postseason every year from 1978 until 1980. Consequently, the club experienced a spike in average attendance, nearing 20,000 fans a game by the 1980 season, although a significant number of tickets were "comps" or "papered" by the teams' front office staff. Following the end of the 1980 season, the original Diplomats club folded when then owner, the Madison Square Garden Corp., had accumulated losses of $6 million and team president Steve Danzansky could not gather enough money to keep the team alive. However, that same season the
Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger Fa ...
NASL franchise relocated to the Washington metropolitan area, renaming themselves the "Diplomats" due to perceived familiarity of the moniker to the area. However, a regression of attendance and a lack of field success sounded the death knell of the franchise, and the Diplomats folded following the 1981 season.


History


Before the Dips

The ''Washington Whips'' were a
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 based in Washington, D.C. that played in the United Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington club was actually
Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the Scottish Premiership and have never been relegated from the top division of the Scottish football league system since they were ...
from Scotland. Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form 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 ...
with the teams from the former USA having to create their rosters from scratch. Their home field was
RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...
. The team's owner was
Earl Foreman Earl Marin Foreman (March 29, 1924 – January 23, 2017) was an American lawyer and sports executive. Foreman practiced law in the District of Columbia. He was the owner of the short-lived Washington Whips professional soccer club of the NASL an ...
, later owner of the
Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...
of the
American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
and commissioner of the original Major Indoor Soccer League. Edward T. Reynolds was the booth announcer for the club prior to the merger.


Original NASL franchise

The original Washington Diplomats first came into being when in 1974 when 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 ...
(NASL) granted a franchise to a Washington, D.C. based business group. The team played all their home games at
RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...
in 1974, but in 1975 and 1976 they played most of their games at
W.T. Woodson High School Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School, commonly known as W.T. Woodson High School or simply Woodson, is a high school located in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the east end of the city of Fairfax, opposite the shopping center on Main Street. The sc ...
in Northern Virginia, including all of their 1976 games. They played
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 ...
home matches at the neighboring
D.C. Armory The D.C. Armory is an armory and a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the eastern United States, located in Washington, D.C., east of the U.S. Capitol building. Managed by the Washington Convention and Sports Authority, the Armory was constructed ...
. After a lackluster beginning to the franchise, the Diplomats qualified for the playoffs and increased average game attendance in each of their last three years of existence. Additionally, in their final year, the Diplomats were able to sign the future European Player of the Century Johan Cruyff. After the 1980 season the Diplomats folded when then owner, the Madison Square Garden Corp., had accumulated losses of $6 million and team president Steve Danzansky could not gather enough money to keep the team alive. The cheerleaders for the original Diplomats were known as the Honeydips until 1980 when their name was changed to the Sidekicks. The team also ran ad campaigns calling themselves "the Dips."


Express relocate to Washington

After the original Diplomats folded following the 1980 season, the
Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger Fa ...
moved to Washington to become the new Diplomats. This team only lasted for one season.


Rivalries

The Diplomats' greatest rivalry was with the New York Cosmos. This was especially true when Johan Cruyff was playing in DC and the Cosmos had Pele, Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia. When the Cosmos came to RFK the stadium was close to capacity even though the Diplomats usually lost. However, they were always competitive games.


Year-by-year


Players

A number of high-profile soccer players lined out for the Washington Diplomats. Arguably the most famous were the Dutch pair of Johan Cruyff and Wim Jansen who had over 100 caps for the Netherlands between them and who represented the ''Dips'' between 1979 and 1981. Other international footballers to play for Washington included
Tommy McConville Tommy McConville (19 March 1946 – 25 October 2013) was an Irish professional association football, footballer. Career McConville was put on the transfer list in September 1974. He earned his first international cap for the Republic of Irelan ...
who was capped 6 times by Ireland and Windsor del Llano who played 30 times for
Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. Future
Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and Netherlands coach,
Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...
also played for the Diplomats.


Coaches

* Dennis Viollet (1974-1977) * Gordon Bradley (1978–81) *
Ken Furphy Kenneth Furphy (28 May 1931 – 17 January 2015) was an English football player and manager. Despite being on the books at Everton between 1950 and 1951, Furphy was a lower league player with Runcorn (1951–53) Darlington (1953–62) and then ...
(1981)


Staff & ownership

*
Stephen Danzansky Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
1975–1978 * Sonny Werblin 1979–1980 * Jimmy Hill &
Duncan Hill Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (d ...
1981


Relaunch

In 2022 English soccer agent and entrepreneur Scott Michaels registered the clubs trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and plans to relaunch the team in the National Soccer League


Average attendance per game

*1974: 4,975 *1975: 8,847 *1976: 5,963 *1977: 13,037 *1978: 10,783 *1979: 11,973 *1980: 19,205 *1981: 16,106


See also

*
D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...
* Team America (NASL) * Washington Darts * Washington Whips * Washington Diplomats (1988–1990)


References


External links


nasljerseys.com, unofficial NASL website
includes Diplomats info {{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct soccer clubs in Washington, D.C. North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams 1974 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1981 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Association football clubs established in 1974 Association football clubs disestablished in 1981