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.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

1976 season
Owner	George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
General manager	Beau Rodgers
Head coach	Eddie Firmani
Stadium	Tampa Stadium
NASL	Division: 1st Overall: 1st Playoffs: Conference finals
U.S. Open Cup	Did not enter
Top goalscorer	Derek Smethurst (20 goals)
Highest home attendance	42,611 (June 6 v. New York)
Lowest home attendance	7,276 (June 23 v. Rochester)
Average home league attendance	16,452
Home colors Away colors
← 1975 1977 →

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,^[1] but resigned the post after just eleven days, handing the job to fellow Englishman, Tommy Smith.^[2] 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.^[3]

Club

Roster

No.	Position	Player	Nation
1	GK	Arnie Mausser	United States
1	GK	Bob Stetler	United States
2	MF	Farrukh Quraishi	England
3	DF	Alex Pringle	Scotland
4	DF	Tommy Smith (capt.)	England
5	DF	Ringo Cantillo	United States
6	DF	Colin Fowles	United States
7	FW	Stewart Scullion	Scotland
8	MF	Randy Garber	United States
9	FW	Clyde Best	Bermuda
10	FW	Rodney Marsh	England
11	FW	Doug Wark	United States
11	MF	Dennis Wit	United States
12	FW	Derek Smethurst	South Africa
13	DF	Stewart Jump	England
14	FW	Joey Fink	United States
15	MF	Mark Lindsay	England
16	DF	John Bluem	United States
17	FW	Eddie Austin	United States
18	DF	Arsène Auguste	Haiti
19	MF	Len Glover	England

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.^[4][5][6][7]

• 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.^[8] Two days later another 21,000 witnessed the National Team defeat the Rowdies, 1–0.^[9] 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.^[10] In the final Haitian game, the Rowdies edged Victory SC, 2–1, before 13,000 fans.^[11]

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.^[12] The following night as Tarpon Springs High School the teams played to a 0–0 draw before 2,500 onlookers.^[13] Tampa Bay finished the preseason with a record of 2–2–2.

Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
January 13, 1976	Haiti National Team	Stade Sylvio Cator	1–1	21,000	Joe Fink
January 15, 1976	Haiti National Team	Stade Sylvio Cator	1–0	21,000	–
January 17, 1976	Racing CH	Stade Sylvio Cator	1–4	21,500	Joe Fink (2), Rodney Marsh, Doug Wark
January 19, 1976	Victory SC	Stade Sylvio Cator	1–2	13,000	Rodney Marsh, Derek Smethurst
April 9, 1976	San Antonio Thunder	Ihrig Field	1–2	2,845	Clyde Best
April 10, 1976	San Antonio Thunder	Tarpon Springs HS	0–0	2,500	–

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	Road
Tampa Bay Rowdies	18	6	58	30	46	154	12-0	6-6
New York Cosmos	16	8	65	34	52	148	9-3	7-5
Washington Diplomats	14	10	46	38	42	126	10-2	4-8
Philadelphia Atoms	8	16	32	49	32	80	6-6	2-10
Miami Toros	6	18	29	58	27	63	4-8	2-10

Regular season results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
April 24, 1976	Chicago Sting	H	2–1	32,611	Rodney Marsh, Derek Smethurst
April 30, 1976	Boston Minutemen	H	1–0	11,417	Joey Fink
May 2, 1976	Washington Diplomats	A	2–0	8,238	–
May 7, 1976	Chicago Sting	A	0–1	2,865	Derek Smethurst
May 14, 1976	Seattle Sounders	H	3–2	10,342	Rodney Marsh (2), Scullion
May 16, 1976	Toronto Metros-Croatia	A	2–0	3,890	–
May 19, 1976	Hartford Bicentennials	H	5–2	7,692	Derek Smethurst (3), Clyde Best, Rodnet Marsh
June 6, 1976	New York Cosmos	H	5–1	42,611	Derek Smethurst (3), Clyde Best, Stewart Scullion
June 8, 1976	Philadelphia Atoms	A	2–1	4,241	Stewart Scullion
June 12, 1976	San Antonio Thunder	H	0–0 (SO, 5–4)	11,158	–
June 18, 1976	San Diego Jaws	A	0–2	8,246	Mark Lindsay, Stewart Scullion
June 19, 1976	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	2–1 (OT)	9,354	Derek Smethurst
June 23, 1976	Rochester Lancers	H	2–0	7,276	Rodney Marsh (2)
July 2, 1976	Miami Toros	A	1–2	3,500 (est.)	Derek Smethurst (2)
July 10, 1976	Washington Diplomats	H	1–0	18,233	Stewart Scullion
July 14, 1976	New York Cosmos	A	5–4	27,892	Clyde Best (3), Derek Smethurst
July 17, 1976	Toronto Metros-Croatia	H	4–1	12,869	Mark Lindsay, Rodney Marsh, Derek Smethurst, own goal
July 21, 1976	Philadelphia Atoms	H	2–1 (OT)	10,262	Clyde Best, Derek Smethurst
July 24, 1976	Miami Toros	H	4–1	15,951	Stewart Scullion (3), Derek Smethurst
July 30, 1976	Hartford Bicentennials	A	0–7	3,800	Derek Smethurst (4), Clyde Best, Stewart Jump, Mark Lindsay
August 1, 1976	Boston Minutemen	A	2–4	981	Clyde Best (2), Rodney Marsh, Derek Smethurst
August 7, 1976	Minnesota Kicks	H	2–1	17,007	Stewart Scullion, Rodney Marsh
August 11, 1976	Rochester Lancers	A	2–1	6,797	Len Glover
August 14, 1976	Portland Timbers	A	2–3 (OT)	17,199	Stewart 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

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
August 20, 1976	New York Cosmos	H	3–1	36,863	Derek Smethurst, Stewart Scullion, Rodney Marsh
August 24, 1977	Toronto Metros-Croatia	H	0–2	28,046	–

Playoff bracket

First round

Division Championships

Conference Championships

Soccer Bowl '76

E2

New York Cosmos

2

E3

Washington Diplomats

0

E1

Tampa Bay Rowdies

3

E2

New York Cosmos

1

E1

Tampa Bay Rowdies

0

N2

Toronto Metros-Croatia

2

N2

Toronto Metros-Croatia

2

N3

Rochester Lancers

1

N1

Chicago Sting

2(1)

N2

Toronto Metros-Croatia

2(3)

N2

Toronto Metros-Croatia

3

W1

Minnesota Kicks

0

S2

Dallas Tornado

2

S3

Los Angeles Aztecs

0

S1

San Jose Earthquakes

2

S2

Dallas Tornado

0

S1

San Jose Earthquakes

1

W1

Minnesota Kicks

3

W2

Seattle Sounders

1

W3

Vancouver Whitecaps

0

W1

Minnesota Kicks

3

W2

Seattle Sounders

0

Statistics

Season scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points^[3]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Derek Smethurst	24	20	5	45
Rodney Marsh	21	11	9	31
Stewart Scullion	24	10	10	30
Clyde Best	19	9	6	24
Mark Lindsay	21	4	4	12
Len Glover	14	1	5	7
Joey Fink	9	1	1	3
Ringo Cantillo	21	0	3	3
Dennis Wit	7	0	3	3
Stewart Jump	17	1	0	2
Alex Pringle	22	0	1	1
Randy Garber	5	0	1	1
Arnie Mausser	24	0	0	0
Arsène Auguste	17	0	0	0
Tommy Smith	17	0	0	0
Farrukh Quraishi	15	0	0	0
John Bluem	13	0	0	0
Doug Wark	4	0	0	0
Eddie Austin	4	0	0	0
Bob Stetler	4	0	0	0
Colin Fowles	0	0	0	0

Season goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses^[3]

Player	GP	Min	Svs	GA	GAA	W	L
Arnie Mausser	24	2011	201	28	1.17	18	6
Bob 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^[3]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts
Rodney Marsh	2	1	1	3
Derek Smethurst	2	1	0	2
Stewart Scullion	2	1	0	2
Alex Pringle	2	0	1	1
Clyde Best	2	0	0	0
Mark Lindsay	2	0	0	0
Len Glover	2	0	0	0
Joey Fink	2	0	0	0
Ringo Cantillo	2	0	0	0
Stewart Jump	2	0	0	0
Arnie Mausser	2	0	0	0
Tommy Smith	2	0	0	0
Eddie Austin	1	0	0	0
Dennis Wit	1	0	0	0

Playoff goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses^[3]

Player	GP	Min	Svs	GA	GAA	W	L
Arnie Mausser	2	180	17	3	1.50	1	1

Player movement

In

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred from	Fee/notes	Date	Source
14	FW	Joey Fink	New York Cosmos	purchased	November 18, 1975	[14]
1	GK	Arnie Mausser	Hartford Bicentennials	purchased	November 25, 1975	[15]
10	FW	Rodney Marsh	Manchester City	$100,000 transfer fee	January 11, 1976	[16]
6	DF	Colin Fowles	LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds	amateur draft	January 14, 1976	[17]
4	DF	Tommy Smith	Liverpool	on loan	February 24, 1976	[18]
5	DF	Ringo Cantillo	New York Inter-Giuliana SC	on loan	April 20, 1976	[19]
19	MF	Len Glover	Leicester City	on loan	April 22, 1976	[20][21]
11	MF	Dennis Wit	San Diego Jaws	player trade	July 12, 1976	[22]

Out

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
1	GK	Paul Hammond	Crystal Palace	returned from loan	August 28, 1975	[23]
14	FW	John Sissons	Chelsea	returned from loan	August 28, 1975	[24]
4	MF	John Boyle	none	released	September 13, 1975	[25]
6	DF	Mike Connell	none	compulsory military service	December 17, 1975	[26][27]
1	GK	Mike Hewitt	San Jose Earthquakes	sold contract	February 20, 1976	[28]
7	MF	Bernard Hartze	Tacoma Tides	on loan	April 7, 1976	[29]
5	DF	Malcolm Linton	Los Angeles Aztecs	sold contract	April 14, 1976	[30]
8	MF	Randy Garber	Los Angeles Aztecs	traded for draft pick	May 17, 1976	[31]
10	FW	Eddie Engerth	Philadelphia Atoms	traded for draft pick	June 10, 1976	[32]
11	FW	Doug Wark	San Diego Jaws	player trade	July 12, 1976	[33]

See also

• 1976 North American Soccer League season
• 1976 in American soccer
• Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)

References

1. "Marsh to captain". Bradenton Herald. April 22, 1976. p. D-2. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
2. Martz, Ron (May 24, 1976). "Wanted: a rowdy Rowdie to unite team". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
3. "Rowdies statistics". St. Petersburg Times. August 18, 1976. p. 2-C. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
4. Henderson, Jim (August 28, 1976). "Mausser Top American In NASL Voting". Tampa Tribune. p. 3-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
5. Henderson, Jim (August 24, 1976). "Firmani Named Top NASL Coach". Tampa Tribune. p. 4-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
6. Blankenship, Ken (August 16, 1976). "Smethurst gets raw deal..." St. Petersburg Times. p. 7C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
7. Mudry, Richard (August 16, 1976). "Six Rowdies picked on NASL star teams". Tampa Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
8. "Rowdies tie in Haiti exhibition". The Tampa Times. January 14, 1976. p. 3-C. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
9. "Hatians nip Rowdies 1–0". St. Petersburg Times. January 16, 1976. p. 6C. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
10. "Rowdies Win 4–1". Tampa Tribune. January 18, 1976. p. 3D. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
11. "Rowdies end trip with 2–1 victory". St. Petersburg Times. January 20, 1976. p. 3C. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
12. Ledman, Gary (April 10, 1976). "Thunder storms by Rowdies". Bradenton Herald. p. B-6. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
13. Ford, Tom (April 11, 1976). "Rowdies Scoreless But Manage A Tie". Tampa Tribune. p. 7D. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
14. "Rowdies buy Cosmos' striker". St. Petersburg Times. November 19, 1975. p. 2C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
15. "Rowdies buy goalkeeper". Fort Lauderdale News. November 26, 1975. p. 5D. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
16. "Marsh Sign With Rowdies". Tampa Tribune. January 12, 1976. p. 1C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
17. "Brown's Ralbovsky First in NASL Draft". Ithaca Journal. January 15, 1976. p. 18. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
18. "Fiery Tommy Smith gives NASL Rowdies new field general". St. Petersburg Times. February 25, 1976. p. 1-C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
19. "Rowdies Get Ringo Back On Loan". Tampa Tribune. April 21, 1976. p. 1-C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
20. "Rowdies roster". St. Petersburg Times. April 23, 1976. p. 9C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
21. "Rowdies expect Boston's defense to 'pack it in'". St. Petersburg Times. April 29, 1976. p. 8C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
22. "Rowdies obtain Wit for Wark". The Tampa Times. July 12, 1976. p. 3-C. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
23. Mudry, Richard (August 28, 1975). "Six English loan players to leave Rowdies today". The Tampa Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
24. Henderson, Jim (August 28, 1975). "Loaners Head Home". Tampa Tribune. p. 9-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
25. "Rowdies release Boyle". St. Petersburg Times. September 14, 1975. p. 6C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
26. Henderson, Jim (December 18, 1975). "Rowdies "Kick Off" Soccer Year Sunday". Tampa Tribune. p. 6C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
27. Blankenship, Ken (February 21, 1976). "Rowdies buy midfielder Lindsay". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
28. Henderson, Jim (February 21, 1976). "Rowdies To Sign Lindsay Today; Hewitt Leaves". Tampa Tribune. p. 6C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
29. Mudry, Richard (April 8, 1976). "Scullion's second great hope:". Tampa Times. p. 6-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
30. Mudry, Richard (April 15, 1976). "Rowdies Sell Linton To Aztecs". Tampa Tribune. p. 8-D. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
31. Blankenship, Ken (May 18, 1976). "Rowdies ship American Garber to Los Angeles". St. Petersburg Times. p. 4C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
32. "Thursday's Events". Ft. Myers News-Press. June 11, 1976. p. 2C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
33. Henderson, Jim (July 13, 1976). "Rowdies' Winger Wark Traded For Jaw Winger Wit". Tampa Tribune. p. 5-C. Retrieved May 24, 2021.

• 1976 Rowdies results