Fort Lauderdale Strikers

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Fort Lauderdale Strikers

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team, a descendant of the Washington Darts, Miami Gatos, and Miami Toros, that played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Strikers were members of the North American Soccer League from 1977 to its penultimate year, 1983. They were owned by the Robbie family who also owned the Miami Dolphins.

Contents

[edit] Major signers

The first major signing for Ft Lauderdale was England goalie legend Gordon Banks. Banks was the top keeper in the league his first year despite being blind in one eye.

The legendary George Best signed for the Strikers midway through the 1978 season after falling out with the management at the Los Angeles Aztecs. Best played for the rest of the 1978 season and the whole of 1979's campaign.

In 1979 the Strikers signed Peruvian legend Teófilo Cubillas, who would play with the club until their departure for Minnesota in 1983.

1979 was a bumper year for the Strikers as they also acquired West German centre forward Gerd Müller. These former World Cup stars helped the Strikers reach the Soccer Bowl, the NASL's championship match, in 1980 where they lost to the New York Cosmos 3-0.

[edit] Moved

After the 1983 season, the Strikers were moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Strikers. That club survived the end of the NASL by joining the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1984, but did eventually fold in 1988. However, another professional soccer team, the Provo Strikers of the American Soccer League played home games in Brigham Young Coliseum in Provo, Utah in the mid 1980's.

Ray Hudson, Phil Schoen and Jeff Rusnak were recently interviewed regarding their memories of the Strikers. Those interviews can be found on the EPL Talk Podcast at epltalk.com

[edit] Year-by-year

Year Record Regular Season Finish Playoffs
1977 19-7 1st, Eastern Division, American Conference Divisional Playoff
1978 16-14 3rd, Eastern Division, American Conference American Conference Finals
1979 17-13 2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference American Conference Quarterfinals
1980 18-14 2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference Runners-up
1981 18-14 2nd, Southern Division Semifinals
1982 18-14 1st, Southern Division Semifinals
1983 14-16 2nd, Southern Division Quarterfinals

[edit] Honors

NASL Championships

  • none

Division Titles

  • 1977 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference
  • 1982 Southern Division

Coach of the Year

All-Star First Team Selections

All-Star Second Team Selections

All-Star Honorable Mentions

[edit] Head Coaches

[edit] Famous players

[edit] Yearly Average Attendance

  • 1977 - 8,148
  • 1978 - 10,479
  • 1979 - 13,774
  • 1980 - 14,360
  • 1981 - 13,324
  • 1982 - 12,345
  • 1983 - 10,823

[edit] External links

[edit] ASL/APSL

After a six year hiatus, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers name was revived in 1988, with a team joining the newly-formed American Soccer League. In just their first season back, 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 their second season the Strikers did almost as well, finishing the season with a 12-8 record, but emerged in the playoffs, eventually going on to defeat the Boston Bolts to win the 1989 championship. Following the end of the season, the Strikers defeated the San Diego Nomads of the Western Soccer League in the ASL-WSL "National Championship" game 3-1.

After that season the ASL merged with the WSL to form the American Professional Soccer League. They would play five more years in that league.

[edit] Year-by-year

Year Division League Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup
1988 N/A ASL 1st, Southern Final Did not enter
1989 N/A ASL 2nd, Southern Champion Did not enter
1990 N/A APSL 1st, ASL South Final Did not enter
1991 N/A APSL 1st, American Semifinals Did not enter
1992 N/A APSL 4th Semifinals Did not enter
1993 N/A APSL 6th Did not qualify Did not enter
1994 2 APSL 5th Did not qualify Did not enter

[edit] USISL

In 1994, the Fort Lauderdale Kicks began play in the USISL. The next year, with the folding of the APSL Strikers, the Kicks took the name Fort Lauderdale Strikers for themselves. This only lasted one year as the team changed names again becoming the Florida Strikers before the 1996 season.

[edit] Year-by-year

Year Division League Reg. Season Playoffs Open Cup
1994 3 USISL 6th, Southeast Did not qualify Did not enter
1995 3 USISL Pro League 4th, Southeast Divisional Semifinals Did not qualify
1996 "4" USISL PDSL 3rd, Southern Division Semifinals Did not qualify
1997 3 USISL D-3 Pro League 4th, South Atlantic Division Semifinals Did not qualify
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