| 1977 indoor season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner |  George W. Strawbridge, Jr. | ||
| General manager | Beau Rodgers | ||
| Manager |  Eddie Firmani | ||
| Stadium | Bayfront Center | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: All:  Derek Smethurst (5 goals) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 6,354 (March 9 vs. Zenit) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 5,016 (Feb. 27 vs. Strikers) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 5,685 | ||
|
| |||
The 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the third indoor season of the club's existence.
Despite much lobbying from Rowdies owner, George W. Strawbridge, Jr., the North American Soccer League voted not to sanction an indoor season or tournament in 1977.[1][2] As such, Tampa Bay played only two indoor matches that year.[3] The first one versus the Fort Lauderdale Strikers was played on February 27.[4][5] This marked the first meeting of what would soon become one of the most enduring rivalries in North American soccer, the Florida Derby. The Rowdies' other match was an international friendly against Zenit Leningrad on March 9.[6] At the time Zenit was the reigning champion of the Soviet indoor league.[7] Likewise, the Rowdies were the defending NASL indoor champs. Both matches were played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Originally Tampa Bay had planned on playing FC Dynamo Moscow, but the match was canceled because of government delays in the Soviet Union.[8] The Rowdies were also the first NASL side to ever be invited to the Wembley Indoor Invitational in mid June.[9] The ten-team tournament featured five English clubs, plus other top squads from Europe. Although they originally planned to attend the London event, ultimately the tournament was canceled and the Rowdies scheduled an outdoor international friendly in Tampa versus A.S. Roma instead.[10][11][12]
Not only was this brief indoor season the flash-point for one of the longest running professional soccer derbies in North America as previously mentioned, but it was significant for another reason. When Ed Tepper approached Earl Foreman about starting a fully professional indoor-only soccer league, he used a videotape of the 1977 Rowdies–Zenit Leningrad match[13] to show not only the game's potential, but also the crowd's enthusiastic responses to the end-to-end action. By October 1977 the pair announced the formation of the Major Indoor Soccer League.[14][15] That league would grow to become the sport's standard bearer for many years, even gaining a regular slot in the ESPN programming line up, before finally folding in 1992. Today, though most popular in North America, indoor soccer is played throughout the world, with its own FIFA-like governing body. The World Minifootball Federation, based in the Czech Republic, is the international federation dedicated to promoting the sport.
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Paul Hammond |  England
|
| 1 | GK | Arnie Mausser | United States
|
| 1 | GK | Winston DuBose | United States
|
| 2 | DF | Farrukh Quraishi | England
|
| 3 | DF | Alex Pringle (capt.) |  Scotland
|
| 4 | DF | Arsène Auguste |  Haiti
|
| 5 | DF | Rino Agostinis |  Canada
|
| 6 | DF | Mike Connell |  South Africa
|
| 7 | MF | Steve Wegerle | South Africa
|
| 8 | MF | Wes McLeod | Canada
|
| 9 | FW | Adrian Alston |  Australia
|
| 10 | FW | Rodney Marsh | England
|
| 11 | FW | Len Glover | England
|
| 12 | FW | Derek Smethurst | South Africa
|
| 14 | FW | Joey Fink | United States
|
| 15 | MF | Mark Lindsay | England
|
| 16 | DF | Dennis Wit | United States
|
| 17 | FW | Kevin Eagan | United States
|
| 19 | DF | Frantz St. Lot | United States
|
George Strawbridge, Jr., owner Beau Rogers, general manager Eddie Firmani, head coach Chas Serednesky, business manager
Francisco Marcos, director of public relations Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager| February 27, 1977 1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9–8 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | St. 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 |
| March 9, 1977 2 Int’l friendly | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7–8 | Zenit Leningrad | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 p.m. (EST) | Wegerle 6:51' (Connell) Marsh 13:32'Marsh 14:33' (Wit, Quraishi)Smethurst 15:43' (Quraishi)Glover 31:13'Marsh 33:02' (Alston)Marsh 47:25' (Pringle) |
Report 1 Report 2 |
Lokhov 3:47' (Davydov) Jakimtsev 10:42', 42:26'Orlov 17:11' (Golubev, Jakimtsev)Rasputin 21:48'Davydov 32:31' (Markin)Jakimtsev 42:26'Lokhov 56:11'Golubev 56:47' |
Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 6,354 Referee: Rene Imar (USA) |
G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Smethurst | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Steve Wegerle | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Rodney Marsh | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| Adrian Alston | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Farrukh Quraishi | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Len Glover | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mark Lindsay | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Dennis Wit | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Alex Pringle | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mike Connell | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rino Agostinis | 0 | 0 | 0 |
