The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team established in 1988 as part of the third American Soccer League. In 1990, it moved to the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

where it spent five seasons before folding in 1994. The Strikers won the 1989 ASL championship, as well as the 1989 National Pro Soccer Championship.

History

In October 1987, the American Soccer League announced that it had awarded a franchise to

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 ...

which would be located in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 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, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. Robbie, who owned 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 ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League announced his intentions of resurrecting the name Fort Lauderdale Strikers and hired Wim Suurbier to coach the team. The team played their home games in

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 ...

. In their first season, the Strikers stormed the ASL, finishing with a 14–6 record, best in the league, before falling to the Washington Diplomats in the finals. In 1988, Robbie later sold his share in the team to Noel Lemon. In January 1989, Suurbier resigned as coach to be replaced by Thomas Rongen. In their second season the Strikers did almost as well, finishing the season at 12–8. They went on to defeat the Boston Bolts for the 1989 championship. This qualified them for the 1989 National Pro Soccer Championship, the first American national outdoor soccer championship since the collapse of the North American Soccer League in 1984. On September 9, 1989, the Strikers defeated the San Diego Nomads of the

Western Soccer League The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

, 3–1, to win the title. Following that game, the ASL merged with the WSL to form the

. They played five more years in that league. For the 1990 season seven home games were played at Pompano Beach Municipal Stadium and five at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton, after the Broward School Board denied the team access to Lockhart Stadium. In January 1991, the Strikers merged with the Orlando Lions. The combined team retained the Strikers name, uniforms and staff. Soon after Lemons sold the team to Bryan Lockwood. The 1993 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season was the fourth season of the team in the

. It was the club's twenty-seventh season in professional soccer. This year, with goalkeeper Chris Antonopoulos and Jorge Valenzuelai in goal, the team finished with a win-loss record of 9-15, placing sixth place in the regular season. They did not make it to the playoffs. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers finished the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

APSL season with a record of 8 wins, 12 losses, and 2 shootout wins, placing fifth in the league with 72 points. The team had an ongoing rivalry with 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 ...

that stemmed from Robbie's previous Strikers team's rivalry with same Rowdies, while playing in the NASL.

Kit

When they first played in 1988, the Strikers played in a cream shirt with white sleeves and black shorts with white socks. That kit has been used as their home kit from that time until they dissolved. Their away kit from 1988 to 1990 was a red shirt and white shorts with white socks. After their second game in the 1990 season, they switched to an all-white kit and played in that until 1994 when they dissolved.

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Wim Suurbier (1988) * Thomas Rongen (1989–1994)

References

External links

Fort Lauderdale Strikers history
(archived)
Fort Lauderdale Striker fan blog
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988-94) American Soccer League (1988–89) teams Defunct soccer clubs in Florida American Professional Soccer League teams 1987 establishments in Florida 1994 disestablishments in Florida Phoenix clubs (association football) Association football clubs established in 1987 Association football clubs disestablished in 1994 Soccer clubs in Florida

History

Kit

Year-by-year

Coaches

See also

References

External links