The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were a professional soccer team based in the
Miami metropolitan area
The Miami metropolitan area is a coastal metropolitan area in southeastern Florida. It is the sixth-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the Southern United States, and the lar ...
. They competed in the
North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1977 to 1983. They played their home matches at
Lockhart Stadium
Lockhart Stadium was a stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football.
Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's long-standing soccer co ...
.
Founded in 1967 as the
Washington Darts, the team relocated to
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
in 1972. They were known as the
Miami Gatos (1972) and the
Miami Toros
The Miami Toros were a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the ...
(1973–1976) before moving to nearby
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
. In addition to their time in the NASL outdoor league, the Strikers also played two indoor seasons while in Fort Lauderdale, at the
West Palm Beach Auditorium for the
1979–80 season and the
Hollywood Sportatorium for the
1980–81 season. After the 1983 season, the Strikers moved to
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
and became the
Minnesota Strikers
The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...
. Among their players during its time in Fort Lauderdale were football legends
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
and
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...
.
History
Origins
Founded in 1963 as the amateur club Washington Britannica and eventually rebranding as the
Washington Darts, the team joined the
North American Soccer League in 1970 after playing three seasons in the
American Soccer League and winning two consecutive ASL championships. After the 1970 season, the team was sold to
John Bilotta, former part owner of the
Rochester Lancers, and
Arthur Bant a hotel owner, who relocated and rebranded as the team as the
Miami Gatos. After one season, the team was sold to a group of 25 local business leaders including
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
owner
Joe Robbie
Joseph Robbie (July 7, 1916 – January 7, 1990) was an American attorney, politician, and the principal founder of the Miami Dolphins.
Early life
Robbie was raised in Sisseton, South Dakota, the second of five children. His father was a Leban ...
and his wife Elizabeth and renamed the
Toros
TOROS artillery rocket system (; , lit. "Gunner (artillery), Gunner") is a Turkish rocket artillery multiple rocket launcher system that has been developed in both 230 and 260 mm calibre. The system was developed by TÜBİTAK Defense Industr ...
. In December 1976 and after five seasons in Miami, the team announced it was moving to
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
. The team played its first game, an
indoor friendly, on February 27, 1977, against 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 ...
, the first meeting in what was to become one of the most enduring rivalries in North American soccer, the
Fort Lauderdale–Tampa Bay rivalry
The Fort Lauderdale–Tampa Bay rivalry, also known as the Florida Derby, refers to the suspended soccer rivalry that most recently involved the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and the Tampa Bay Rowdies, both of whom played in the North American Socc ...
.
Early Success
The Strikers won their debut match 2–1 at
Lockhart Stadium
Lockhart Stadium was a stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football.
Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's long-standing soccer co ...
against the
St. Louis Stars on April 10, 1977. They finished the
1977 season in first place of the Eastern Division American Conference with a record of nineteen wins and seven losses, tying the league record for most wins in a season.
The team drew an average 8,148 fans for the season, a 165% increase over the team's last season as the Toros, and head coach
Ron Newman, who had been hired before the team announced its move to Fort Lauderdale, was named NASL coach of the year.
In the first match of the Division Championship, the Strikers lost to the
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
led
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 Indepen ...
8–3 at
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and primarily hosted sporting events and ...
in a match which drew 77,691 fans, a record for a non-exhibition domestic league soccer game. In the return leg played in Fort Lauderdale, the Strikers lost 3–2 in an overtime shootout. Finishing the
1978 season in third place with a record of sixteen wins and fourteen losses, the Strikers made it to the third round of the playoffs, losing the Conference Championship 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 ...
.
The team was one of four to participate in the
1979 NASL Budweiser Indoor Soccer Invitational, losing both games the played The
1979 North American Soccer League season ended with the Strikers in second place of the Eastern Division behind the Rowdies with a record of seventeen wins, thirteen losses and averaging 13,774 attendance per game.
The Strikers were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the
Chicago Sting
The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...
, losing both games without scoring a goal. The day before the second game, it was announced that the team had relieved Ron Newman as head coach and offered him a job in the team management.
Post Newman Era
After Newman declined the front office position, the Strikers hired
Bob Lemieux who had been working as an executive for the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
as the team's General Manager.
In December 1979, the Strikers announced that
Cor van der Hart had been hired as head coach. During the
1980 NASL Season there were several reports of arguments between van der Hart and the players as well as publicity referencing a drinking problem, both issues led to difficulties with the head office.
Finishing with a record of eighteen wins and fourteen loses, the team ended the season in second place of the Eastern Division, behind 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 ...
again.
The Strikers advanced to
Soccer Bowl '80 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 Indepen ...
after defeating the
California Surf,
Edmonton Drillers, and
San Diego Sockers in the first three rounds of the playoffs. On September 21, 1980, 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. located on East Capitol Street near the Anacostia River. Opened in 1 ...
in
Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
the Strikers lost to the Cosmos 3–0. In mid October, Lemieux was fired from his position as General Manager with Tim Robbie, son of owners Joe and Elizabeth Robbie, taking over the position. Then in late December 1980 with the team 0–6 in the
1980–81 NASL Indoor season and after having announced just after the Soccer Bowl that he would return as head coach for the following outdoor season, van der Hart was fired. Team spokesman stated "personal issues" and "team morale" as the primary reason and that Assistant
Bill Nuttall was named caretaker for the remainder of the indoor campaign. German
Eckhard Krautzun who had coached the
Houston Hurricane during the 1980 season, was named head coach for the 1981 Outdoor season.
The 1981 season saw the team's first decline in average attendance since it had moved to Fort Lauderdale with 13,345 fans per game seeing them finish second in the Southern Division with a record of eighteen wins and fourteen losses, rather than the 14,360 who attended each game during the 1980 season.
After defeating the
Calgary Boomers and
Minnesota Kicks
The Minnesota Kicks was a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (1968–84), No ...
in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Strikers lost in the Semifinals to the Cosmos. The day after the Strikers were eliminated from contention for
Soccer Bowl '81, the
North American Soccer League announced that the team would not participate in the upcoming
1981–82 NASL Indoor season, but would return for 1982 outdoor season.
Decline
The Strikers ended the
1982 North American Soccer League season with an identical eighteen wins and fourteen losses from the previous season which won them the Southern Division title with another decline in attendance of 12,345 average attendance.
After defeating the
Montreal Manic in the first round of the playoffs, the Strikers failed to qualify for
Soccer Bowl '82 when they lost the semifinals to
Seattle Sounders. After two seasons, Krautzun was fired as head coach with former Striker player and head coach of the recently folded
Georgia Generals David Chadwick rumored to be interested in the position. His hiring was confirmed a week later. In addition to compiling a record of one win and seven losses in the
1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer, the Strikers played two indoor friendlies during the offseason. The team's attendance continued decline in the
1983 outdoor season and the team recorded their first losing record in an outdoor NASL season with fourteen wins and sixteen losses.
Finishing second in the Southern Division, the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the
Tulsa Roughnecks.
Relocation
Following the conclusion of the
1983 outdoor season season long rumors that the team was looking to move were confirmed when General Manager Tim Robbie met with officials in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
On November 30, 1983, team owner Elizabeth Robbie,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
Governor
Rudy Perpich
Rudolph George Perpich Sr. (born Rudolph George Prpić; June 27, 1928 September 21, 1995) was an American politician who served as the governor of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ...
, and NASL president
Howard Samuels officially announced the team was moving and indicated the team had lost around $1 million in the last year. In 1984 the team began play as the
Minnesota Strikers
The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...
. The team survived the NASL folding after the 1984 season and competed in the
Major Indoor Soccer League for an additional four seasons before going out of business.
Year-by-year
Honors
NASL championships
*
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
runner-up
Regular Season Titles
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...
(19–7 • 161 points)
Division titles
*
1977
Events January
* January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, 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 (no ...
Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference
*
1982 Southern Division
Coach of the Year
*1977
Ron Newman
U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame
* 1992
Ron Newman
* 2003
Arnie Mausser,
Joe & Elizabeth Robbie
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame
* 2002
Branko Šegota
* 2004
Bob Bolitho
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame
* 2012
Ron Newman,
Branko Šegota
* 2014
Bruce Savage
All-Star first team selections
*1977
Gordon Banks
*1980
Teófilo Cubillas
*1981
Teófilo Cubillas,
Jan van Beveren
*1983
Jan van Beveren
All-Star second team selections
*1978
Ray Hudson
*1979
Teófilo Cubillas,
Gerd Müller
Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...
*1982
Teófilo Cubillas,
Jan van Beveren
All-Star honorable mentions
*1978
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
,
Maurice Whittle
*1980
Ray Hudson,
Jan van Beveren
*1982
Ray Hudson,
Branko Šegota
*1983
Ray Hudson,
Bruce Miller
Head coaches
*
Ron Newman (1977–1979)
*
Cor van der Hart (1980)
*
Eckhard Krautzun (1981–1982)
*
David Chadwick (1983–1984)
See also
*
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2006–2016), competing in the
NASL
*
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1994–1997)
*
Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994)
*
Fort Lauderdale Sun, Division 2 team of the short-lived
USL (1984–85)
*
Miami Fusion
Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...
, now defunct
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...
team (1997–2001)
*
Miami Toros
The Miami Toros were a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the ...
*
Minnesota Strikers
The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...
*
Fort Lauderdale–Tampa Bay rivalry
The Fort Lauderdale–Tampa Bay rivalry, also known as the Florida Derby, refers to the suspended soccer rivalry that most recently involved the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and the Tampa Bay Rowdies, both of whom played in the North American Socc ...
References
External links
A page devoted to the history of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers(archived)
A blog for Fort Lauderdale Striker fans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Lauderdale Strikers (Nasl)
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams
Soccer clubs in Miami
Soccer clubs in Florida
Association football clubs established in 1977
Association football clubs disestablished in 1983
Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
Defunct soccer clubs in Florida
1977 establishments in Florida
1983 disestablishments in Florida
Inter Miami CF