Tampa Bay Rowdies Totally Explained

Everything about The Tampa Bay Rowdies totally explained

The Tampa Bay Rowdies were a professional soccer team from Tampa, Florida, USA. The team played in the North American Soccer League until the league's dissolution and then went on to play in other leagues before finally folding in 1993. The Rowdies played their home games at Tampa Stadium, except for their indoor games which were played at Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida.

NASL: 1975-1984

Originally founded as a North American Soccer League expansion franchise in 1975 by George Strawbridge, the Rowdies played ten seasons at Tampa Stadium and won their only Soccer Bowl championship in their inaugural season defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0. The Rowdies lost in the finals in 1978 and 1979. The team showcased international stars such as midfield captain Rodney Marsh (England), league leading goal scorer Oscar Fabbiani, swift and lethal forward Steve Wegerle (South Africa), rock-solid defenseman Arsene Auguste (Haiti), and popular player and high goal-scoring Derek Smethurst (South Africa). Coached by Eddie Firmani, John Boyle, and Gordon Jago, their catch phrase and marketing slogan was "The Rowdies arrrre...a kick in the grass!"
Fans of the Rowdies were dubbed Fannies. The most famous Fannies were the notorious North End Zone Gang (AKA the Ozone, the Yellow Card Section, The Mooners and the Village Idiots). The gang of college aged beer swilling fans were known for their wild antics, including throwing dead mullets dressed in mini Ft. Lauderdale Strikers uniforms onto the field.
After the 1983 season, the team was sold to Stella Thayer, Bob Blanchard and Dick Corbett.

Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs	Leading Goal Scorers
1975	16-6	1st, Eastern Division	NASL Champions	Derek Smethurst-18, Stewart Scullion-7, John Sissons-5
1976	18-6	1st, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Atlantic Conference Championship	Derek Smethurst-20, Rodney Marsh-11, Stewart Scullion-10, Clyde Best-9
1977	14-12	3rd, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Divisional Playoffs	Derek Smethurst-19, Rodney Marsh-8, Steve Wegerle-5
1978	18-12	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Rodney Marsh-18, Dave Robb-16
1979	19-11	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Oscar Fabbiani-25, Rodney Marsh-11,
1980	19-13	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Semifinals	Steve Wegerle-9
1981	15-17	4th, Southern Division	Quarterfinals	Frank Worthington-11
1982	12-20	3rd, Southern Division	Did Not Qualify	Luis Fernando-16
1983	7-23	3rd, Southern Division	Did Not Qualify	Manny Rojas-8
1984	9-15	4th, Eastern Division	Did Not Qualify	Roy Wegerle, Neill Roberts-9

NASL Indoor Soccer

In 1975, the NASL ran an indoor tournament entered by only four teams. The Rowdies finished second to the San Jose Earthquakes. The NASL didn't hold an indoor season until 1979 when the Rowdies won the championship. The last NASL indoor season took place in 1983-1984 and the Rowdies finished last out of the seven teams.

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
1975	1-1	2nd	Final
1979-1980	8-4	2nd, Eastern Division	NASL Champions
1980-1981	9-9	2nd, Eastern Division	Did not qualify
1981-1982	11-7	2nd Central Division, American Conference	Runners-up
1983-1984	9-23	7th	Did not qualify

Players

Argentina

Oscar Fabbiani (1979)

Brazil

Mirandinha (1978-79)

England

Sam Allardyce (1983)

Peter Anderson (1978-80)

Manny Andruszewski (1979-80)

Paul Hammond (1975;1977-78) (External Link

)

Nicky Johns (1978)

Stewart Jump (1975-77) (External Link

)

Kevin Keelan (1981)

Tony Kinsella (1981) (External Link

)

Mark Lindsay (1975-77;1984) (External Link

)

Rodney Marsh (1976-1979)

Don McAllister (1984)

Graham Paddon (1982)

Stewart Scullion (1975-76)

Frank Worthington (1981) 26 apps 11 goals

Terry Rowe

Scotland

Iain Anderson (1977/1981)

John Gorman (1979-82)

Mike Hewitt (1975) (External Link

)

Davie Robb (1977-78) (External Link

)

Head Coaches

Eddie Firmani 1975 - 1977

John Boyle 1977

Gordon Jago 1978 - 1982

Al Miller 1983

Rodney Marsh 1984-1987

Ken Fogarty 1989-1993

Honors

NASL Championships

1975 Division Titles

1975 Eastern Division

1976 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference

1978 Eastern Division, American Conference

1979 Eastern Division, American Conference

1980 Eastern Division, American Conference Coach of the Year

1976 Eddie Firmani Rookie of the Year

1982 Pedro DeBrito

1983 Gregg Thompson

1984 Roy Wegerle All-Star First Team Selections

1975 Farrukh Quraishi

1976 Rodney Marsh, Arnie Mausser, Tommy Smith

1977 Derek Smethurst

1978 Rodney Marsh

1979 Mike Connell

1980 Mike Connell

1981 John Gorman

1982 Peter Nogly All-Star Second Team Selections

1975 John Boyle, Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion

1976 Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion, Derek Smethurst

1977 Arsene Auguste, Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle

1978 Arsene Auguste, Steve Wegerle

1979 Oscar Fabbiani, John Gorman

1980 Steve Wegerle All-Star Honorable Mentions

1975 Clyde Best, John Sissons, Derek Smethurst

1979 Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle

1980 John Gorman

1982 Mike Connell

1983 Gregg Thompson

1984 Gregg Thompson

Yearly Average Attendance

1975 - 10,728

1976 - 16,452

1977 - 19,491

1978 - 18,123

1979 - 27,650

1980 - 28,345

1981 - 22,532

1982 - 22,532

1983 - 18,507

1984 - 10,932

Independent: 1985-1986

After the demise of the NASL in 1984, Cornelia Corbett became sole owner of the team in 1986. With Rodney Marsh as coach, the Rowdies operated as an independent team for two years before joining the American Indoor Soccer Association for one season (1986-87).

AISA: 1986-1987

Year-by-year

Year	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1986/87	AISA	3rd, Southern	Quarterfinals	N/A

ASL/APSL: 1988-1993

In the summer of 1988, the Rowdies joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League. They would stay in this league and its successor (the APSL) until they folded after the 1993 season.

Year-by-year

Year	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1988	ASL	3rd, Southern	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1989	ASL	1st, Southern	Semifinals	Did not enter
1990	APSL	2nd, ASL South	ASL Semifinals	Did not enter
1991	APSL	3rd, American	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1992	APSL	2nd	Final	Did not enter
1993	APSL	3rd	Semifinals	Did not enter

Coaches

Ricky Hill: 1992

Ken Fogarty: 1993

Honors

Leading Scorer

1992: Jean Harbor Top Goalkeeper

1988: Winston DuBose Coach of the Year

1992: Ricky Hill

1993: Ken Fogarty First Team All Star

1988: Winston DuBose, Steve Wegerle

1989: Winston DuBose, Steve Trittschuh, Steve Wegerle

1990: David Byrne

1992: Bill Andracki, Steve Trittschuh, Ricky Hill, Kevin Sloan, Jean Harbor

1993: Paul Dougherty

Notable Players

Peter Barnes

Paul Dougherty (1993)

Ken Fogarty (1989-93) (External Link

)

Ricky Hill (1992) 16 apps 1 goal

Terry Rowe (1985-93)Further Information

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