1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

The 1976 season was the original Tampa Bay Rowdies second season of existence, and their second season in the North American Soccer League, the top division of soccer in the United States and Canada at that time. Tampa Bay entered the season as the defending Soccer Bowl champions.

Overview The defense of the Rowdies' NASL title began with the club going on a four-match preseason tour of Haiti. After winning the 1976 indoor tournament, the team later played two addition preseason games against the San Antonio Thunder at high schools in the Tampa Bay Area. The mercurial English star, Rodney Marsh was introduced as team captain on April 22, but resigned the post after just eleven days, handing the job to fellow Englishman, Tommy Smith. In the NASL season, the Rowdies finished with a league-best record of 18–6, which placed them first in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference. As regular season champions, they qualified for the playoffs with home field advantage throughout. In an upset, they fell to Toronto Metros-Croatia, 0–2, in the conference finals. Toronto went on to win the Soccer Bowl. For the second consecutive season South African striker, Derek Smethurst was the club leader in scoring with 20 goals, a total which also led the league.

Club

Roster No.PositionNationPlayer

Management and technical staff George W. Strawbridge, Jr., owner Beau Rodgers, general manager Eddie Firmani, head coach Ken Shields, trainer Francisco Marcos, public relations director Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager

Honors Seven different Rowdies received nine individual honors following the 1976 NASL season. NASL North American Player of the Year: Arnie Mausser NASL Coach of the Year: Eddie Firmani NASL Leading goal scorer: Derek Smethurst (20 goals) NASL All-Star, First Team: Arnie Mausser NASL All-Star, First Team: Tommy Smith NASL All-Star, First Team: Rodney Marsh NASL All-Star, Second Team: Stewart Jump NASL All-Star, Second Team: Derek Smethurst NASL All-Star, Second Team: Stewart Scullion

Competitions

Preseason friendlies In January 1976 Tampa Bay made a four match tour of Haiti. The first was a, 1–1, draw on January 13 versus the Haitian National Team before a crowd of 21,000. Two days later another 21,000 witnessed the National Team defeat the Rowdies, 1–0. The third match of the tour was played on January 17, against the club side Racing CH with Tampa Bay dominating, 4–1, as 21,500 looked on. In the final Haitian game, the Rowdies edged Victory SC, 2–1, before 13,000 fans.

In early April Tampa Bay also played back-to-back friendlies with the San Antonio Thunder. The first was a 1–2 defeat, played at Sarasota High School which drew 2,845 fans. The following night as Tarpon Springs High School the teams played to a 0–0 draw before 2,500 onlookers. Tampa Bay finished the preseason with a record of 2–2–2.

Results DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersJanuary 13, 1976 Haiti National TeamStade Sylvio Cator1–121,000Joe FinkJanuary 15, 1976 Haiti National TeamStade Sylvio Cator1–021,000 –January 17, 1976 Racing CHStade Sylvio Cator1–4 21,500Joe Fink (2), Rodney Marsh, Doug WarkJanuary 19, 1976 Victory SCStade Sylvio Cator1–2 13,000Rodney Marsh, Derek SmethurstApril 9, 1976 San Antonio ThunderIhrig Field1–22,845Clyde BestApril 10, 1976 San Antonio ThunderTarpon Springs HS0–02,500 –

North American Soccer League season The Rowdies finished the regular season with 154 points, positioning them in 1st place in the Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference, and first overall out of 20 NASL teams. After a solid 8–4 start to the season, Tampa Bay finished even stronger with a 10–2 record the rest of the way for a league-best record of 18–6. They earned two more victories than their nearest foe. They scored 58 goals, which was second in the league, while their 30 goals-against tied them with three other clubs as the fewest. As regular season champions, Tampa Bay also earned home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The club averaged 16,452 fans per game in the regular season, with three matches surpassing 15,000, one reaching 32,000, and still another topping 42,000.

Regular-season standings W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system

6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game. -League Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.

Eastern Division W L GF GA BP Pts Home RoadTampa Bay Rowdies18658304615412-06-6 New York Cosmos1686534521489-37-5 Washington Diplomats141046384212610-24-8 Philadelphia Atoms816324932806-62-10 Miami Toros618295827634-82-10

Regular season results DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersApril 24, 1976Chicago StingH2–132,611Rodney Marsh, Derek SmethurstApril 30, 1976Boston MinutemenH1–011,417Joey FinkMay 2, 1976Washington DiplomatsA2–08,238 –May 7, 1976Chicago StingA0–12,865Derek SmethurstMay 14, 1976Seattle SoundersH3–210,342Rodney Marsh (2), ScullionMay 16, 1976Toronto Metros-CroatiaA2–03,890 –May 19, 1976Hartford BicentennialsH5–27,692Derek Smethurst (3), Clyde Best, Rodnet MarshJune 6, 1976New York CosmosH5–142,611Derek Smethurst (3), Clyde Best, Stewart ScullionJune 8, 1976Philadelphia AtomsA2–1 4,241Stewart ScullionJune 12, 1976San Antonio ThunderH0–0 (SO, 5–4)11,158 –June 18, 1976San Diego JawsA0–28,246Mark Lindsay, Stewart ScullionJune 19, 1976Los Angeles AztecsA2–1 (OT)9,354Derek SmethurstJune 23, 1976Rochester LancersH2–07,276Rodney Marsh (2)July 2, 1976Miami TorosA1–23,500 (est.)Derek Smethurst (2)July 10, 1976Washington DiplomatsH1–018,233Stewart ScullionJuly 14, 1976New York CosmosA5–427,892Clyde Best (3), Derek SmethurstJuly 17, 1976Toronto Metros-CroatiaH4–112,869Mark Lindsay, Rodney Marsh, Derek Smethurst, own goalJuly 21, 1976Philadelphia AtomsH2–1 (OT)10,262Clyde Best, Derek SmethurstJuly 24, 1976Miami TorosH4–115,951Stewart Scullion (3), Derek SmethurstJuly 30, 1976Hartford BicentennialsA0–73,800Derek Smethurst (4), Clyde Best, Stewart Jump, Mark LindsayAugust 1, 1976Boston MinutemenA2–4981Clyde Best (2), Rodney Marsh, Derek SmethurstAugust 7, 1976Minnesota KicksH2–1 17,007Stewart Scullion, Rodney MarshAugust 11, 1976Rochester LancersA2–16,797Len GloverAugust 14, 1976Portland TimbersA2–3 (OT)17,199Stewart Scullion, Mark Lindsay, Derek Smethurst

NASL playoffs Tampa Bay's two home playoff matches drew more than 36,000 and 28,000 respectively.

Playoff results DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersAugust 20, 1976New York CosmosH3–136,863Derek Smethurst, Stewart Scullion, Rodney MarshAugust 24, 1977Toronto Metros-CroatiaH0–228,046 –

Playoff bracket

Statistics

Season scoring GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points Player GP G A PtsDerek Smethurst2420545Rodney Marsh2111931Stewart Scullion24101030Clyde Best199624Mark Lindsay214412Len Glover14157Joey Fink9113Ringo Cantillo21033Dennis Wit7033Stewart Jump17102Alex Pringle22011Randy Garber5011Arnie Mausser24000Arsène Auguste17000Tommy Smith17000Farrukh Quraishi15000John Bluem13000Doug Wark4000Eddie Austin4000Bob Stetler4000Colin Fowles0000

Season goalkeeping Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses Player GP Min Svs GA GAA W LArnie Mausser 24 2011 201 28 1.17 18 6Bob Stetler 4 43 3 2 4.19 0 0

Playoff scoring GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points Player GP G A PtsRodney Marsh2113Derek Smethurst2102Stewart Scullion2102Alex Pringle2011Clyde Best2000Mark Lindsay2000Len Glover2000Joey Fink2000Ringo Cantillo2000Stewart Jump2000Arnie Mausser2000Tommy Smith2000Eddie Austin1000Dennis Wit1000

Playoff goalkeeping Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses Player GP Min Svs GA GAA W LArnie Mausser 2 180 17 3 1.50 1 1

Player movement

In No.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource14 FW Joey Fink New York Cosmos purchased November 18, 1975 1 GK Arnie Mausser Hartford Bicentennials purchased November 25, 1975 10 FW Rodney Marsh Manchester City $100,000 transfer fee January 11, 1976 6 DF Colin Fowles LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds amateur draft January 14, 1976 4 DF Tommy Smith Liverpool on loan February 24, 1976 5 DF Ringo Cantillo New York Inter-Giuliana SC on loan April 20, 1976 19 MF Len Glover Leicester City on loan April 22, 1976 11 MF Dennis Wit San Diego Jaws player trade July 12, 1976

Out

No.Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource1 GK Paul Hammond Crystal Palace returned from loan August 28, 1975 14FW John Sissons Chelsea returned from loan August 28, 1975 4 MF John Boyle none released September 13, 1975 6DF Mike Connell none compulsory military service December 17, 1975 1GK Mike Hewitt San Jose Earthquakes sold contract February 20, 1976 7MF Bernard Hartze Tacoma Tides on loan April 7, 1976 5DF Malcolm Linton Los Angeles Aztecs sold contract April 14, 1976 8MF Randy Garber Los Angeles Aztecs traded for draft pick May 17, 1976 10FW Eddie Engerth Philadelphia Atoms traded for draft pick June 10, 1976 11FW Doug Wark San Diego Jaws player trade July 12, 1976

1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

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