Boston Bulldogs (soccer)

The Boston Bulldogs were a soccer club founded in 1996 as the Worcester Wildfire. The team debuted in the USISL and would play in the A-League from 1997 to 2000. Before folding, the team played its final season in the USL D3 Pro Soccer League in 2001.^[1]

Boston Bulldogs

Full name	Boston Bulldogs Pro Soccer
Nickname(s)	Bulldogs
Founded	1996 (as Worcester Wildfire)
Dissolved	2001
Stadium	Bowditch Field Framingham, Massachusetts
Capacity	5,000
Owner(s)	John Curtis (1996) Tom Bagley Reidar Tryggestad
League	USISL (1996) USL A-League (1997-2000) USL D3 Pro League (2001)

The club played its games at Bowditch Field in Framingham, Massachusetts.^[2]

History

The first year in the A-League was fraught with financial problems and lack of a regular training facility. The owner was John Curtis from Cape Cod who also owned the Cape Cod Crusaders and the new women's franchise the Boston Renegades. Curtis was forced to sell the club before the start of the second season. The first coach of the A-League Wildfire was Nigel Boulton, a native of Wales. Boulton resigned following the completion of the first year to take up the State Director of Coaching position in Mississippi. He now coaches the men's program at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Wildfire were the official 'farm team' for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Notable former players on the Wildfire/Bulldogs roster include Jon Busch (1997) (who played for the US National Team in 2005) and Steve Nicol, (a legend with Liverpool FC in England, and the Scotland National team) both of whom have also found success in Major League Soccer.

• 
  Worcester Wildfire logo used from 1996 to 1998

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1996	2	USISL Pro League	9th Northeast	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1996/97	N/A	USISL I-League	Played limited schedule	Did not qualify	N/A
1997	2	USISL A-League	6th, Northeast	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
1998	2	USISL A-League	5th, Northeast	Did not qualify	Third Round
1999	2	USL A-League	6th, Northeast	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2000	2	USL A-League	5th, Northeast	Did not qualify	Did not qualify
2001	3	USL D3-Pro League	1st, Northern	Semifinals	Semifinals

Coaches

• Nigel Boulton: 1997
• John Kerr: 1998-99
• Steve Nicol: 1999, 2000–01

See also

• New England Revolution
• Cape Cod Crusaders

References

1. "Guide".
2. "USISL A-league: Boston Bulldogs". Archived from the original on 2011-04-19. Retrieved 2010-12-15.