1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season

The 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season was the first season of the new team, and the club's eleventh season in professional soccer. It is also the first ever incarnation of the club's new name. Previously they were known as the Miami Toros. The 1977 squad won the North American Soccer League's Eastern Division of the Atlantic Conference, and was the top team in regular season with 19 victories for 161 points.

Fort Lauderdale Strikers
1977 season
Owner Elizabeth Robbie
General ManagerKrikor Yepremian[1]
Manager Ron Newman
StadiumLockhart Stadium
NASLEastern Division: First place
Regular season: Champions
Top goalscorerLeague:
George Nanchoff (8)
All:
Maurice Whittle (9)
Average home league attendance8,148

Background

First ever match

The Strikers first-ever game was a preseason indoor match played on February 27, 1977 at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.[2] Though only an exhibition, this was the first meeting in what was to become one of the most enduring rivalries in North American soccer, the Florida Derby. It would also set the tone for many years of indoor frustration for the Strikers as they fell, 9–8, to the hosts.[3][4]

Match report
February 27, 1977 1Tampa Bay Rowdies9–8Fort Lauderdale StrikersSt. Petersburg, Florida
8:00 p.m. (EST) Lindsay  4:21' (Wegerle)
Smethurst  33:13'
Smethurst  34:04' (Alston)
Quraishi  41:34' (Smethurst)
Smethurst  41:57' (Wegerle)
Wegerle  48:29'
Smethurst  49:30' (Wegerle)
Wegerle  50:41'
Alston  51:47' (Smethurst)		 Report Mulroy  12:07' (Nanchoff, Sharp)
Sharp  12:27'
Nanchoff  26:40' (Chadwick)
Ceballos  44:20' (Sharp)
Chadwick  47:40' (Hamlyn, Sharp)
Sharp  50:41'
Sharp  58:04'
Hamlyn  59:57'		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,016
Referee: Sam Hornich

Review

Competitions

Friendlies
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
February 27, 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies Bayfront Center 9–8 5,016 (indoor) Sharp (3), Mulroy, Nanchoff, Ceballos, Chadwick, Hamlyn
March 5, 1977 Rollins College Tars Sandspur Bowl 1–6
March 12, 1977 Washington Diplomats Wilde Lake High School 3–2 1,093 Sergio Ceballos (2)
March 13, 1977 Washington Diplomats City Stadium 3–4 David Chadwick, Fred Pereira, Sergio Ceballos, Curtis Leeper
March 26, 1977 Miami Dade South MDC South Campus
March 27, 1977 FIU Sunblazers FIU Soccer Stadium 0–5 1,100
April 6, 1977 Rochester Lancers Lockhart Stadium 2–0 Bobby Bell, Tony Whelan
June 10, 1977 S.S. Lazio Lockhart Stadium 1–4 3,500 Norman Piper
October 2, 1977 Business Machines, Inc. Leonard High School 2–3 500 Tony Whelan, David Proctor, Mike Fazee

NASL regular season

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

6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

Atlantic Conference
Eastern Division W L GF GA BP Pts Home Road
Fort Lauderdale Strikers19749294716111-28-5
Cosmos151160395014010-35-8
Tampa Bay Rowdies141255454713111-23-10
Washington Diplomats1016324932926-74-9
Northern Division W L GF GA BP Pts Home Road
Toronto Metros-Croatia13134238371158-55-8
St. Louis Stars12143335321047-65-8
Rochester Lancers11153441339910-31-12
Chicago Sting1016314328884-96-7
Connecticut Bicentennials719346530724-93-10

Results summaries

Results by round

Match reports

NASL Playoffs

Divisional Championships
Higher seed Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 (lower seed hosts Game 1)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers-Cosmos3–82–3 (SO, 0–3)August 14 • Giants Stadium • 77,691
August 17 • Lockhart Stadium 14,152

Bracket
  First Round Division Championships Conference Championships Soccer Bowl '77
                                     
E2 Cosmos 3  
E3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0  
  E1 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0  
    E2 Cosmos 2  
     
       
  E2 Cosmos 2  
  N3 Rochester Lancers 0  
N2 St. Louis Stars 0(2)  
N3 Rochester Lancers 0(4)  
  N1 Toronto Metros-Croatia 0
    N3 Rochester Lancers 2  
     
       
  E2 Cosmos 2
  W3 Seattle Sounders 1
S2 Los Angeles Aztecs 2  
S3 San Jose Earthquakes 1  
  S1 Dallas Tornado 0
    S2 Los Angeles Aztecs 2  
     
       
  S2 Los Angeles Aztecs 0
  W3 Seattle Sounders 2  
W2 Vancouver Whitecaps 0  
W3 Seattle Sounders 2  
  W1 Minnesota Kicks 0
    W3 Seattle Sounders 2  
     

Match reports

Statistics

Transfers
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See also

1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers

References
  1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/232245370/?terms=Strikers
  2. "Rowdies Vs. Strikers In Exhibition Tonight". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. February 27, 1977. p. 3-D. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  3. Meyer, John (February 28, 1977). "Rowdies: Bombs Away!". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  4. Blankenship, Ken (February 28, 1977). "Smethurst-led Rowdies clip Strikers 9–8". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
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