1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season

The 1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the ninth indoor season of the team's existence. The Rowdies captured the Indoor Grand Prix title. Although they would play for another 10 years, including two more indoors in 1983–84 and 1986–87, this would be the final trophy won by the original club.

Tampa Bay Rowdies
1983 indoor season
President George W. Strawbridge, Jr.
Manager Al Miller
StadiumBayfront Center, Lakeland Civic Center
NASL Grand PrixRound robin: 2nd
Grand Prix: Champions
Top goalscorerLeague: Hugo Pérez (10 goals)
All: Hugo Pérez Tatu (12 goals)
Highest home attendance5,545
(Feb. 5 vs. Strikers)
Lowest home attendance3,506
(Feb. 25 vs. Strikers)
Average home league attendance4,756

Overview

Nearly all of the NASL teams opted out of participating in a full 1982–83 indoor season.[1] Four clubs (Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Montreal Manic, Tulsa Roughnecks and Tampa Bay) played in a scaled down indoor tournament called the Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer. In this format each team would play a total of eight times, consisting of three weeks of double round-robin play, followed by a seeded "championship weekend" of matches.[2]

A four-week long "shootout challenge" competition sponsored by Molson beer,[3] was also played each match day, with the overall winners splitting a $5,000 purse on the final day.[4]

Overall Tampa Bay fared well in the round-robin stage with a 4–2 record and 42 points. However, both losses were to Montreal who had finished with an identical record and points. The Manic earned the number one seed based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.[5] This paired Tampa Bay up with the 3–3 Roughnecks for the semifinals. The Rowdies defeated Tulsa, 8–6, with a third quarter barrage that eventually turned a one-goal deficit into a three-goal cushion.[6] That victory earned them a rematch with Montreal for the Grand Prix title.

In the championship final, "Le Manic" and the Rowdies battled back and forth into double overtime at the Montreal Forum. The visitors gained a 2–0 advantage, before Dale Mitchell put Montreal in the lead with a second period hat-trick. Each team added a goal in the third quarter. Tampa Bay continued to trail for most of the fourth until Zequinha tied the match with 1:55 remaining to send it to sudden death overtime. The first extra session failed to produce a golden goal, but with just under two minutes lapsed in the second overtime Mark Karpun beat his defender down the left wing. He then tucked a shot past Manic goalie, Mehdi Cerbah, inside the far post for the game winner and the Rowdies' third indoor trophy.[7][8]

Combined with their 4–0 record in friendlies, the Tampa Bay Rowdies completed their winter 1983 indoor schedule with a record of 10–2 in all matches. The Rowdies also won the finals of the $5,000 shootout challenge against Fort Lauderdale. In that event, goalie Jürgen Stars stopped all five Strikers' shots, while Wes McLeod and Hugo Perez converted their attempts for a 2–0 victory.[9]

Club

The team's winter roster saw numerous changes over the course of the brief indoor season. Goalkeeper, Tom Boric was lost for the remainder of the indoor season after a knee injury in the Rowdies' second grand prix match on January 22.[10] Defender, Mike Connell was only able to appear in one match because of a nagging Achilles injury.[11][7] With Connell injured, Wes McLeod served as team captain for the 12-game indoor season[12] Brazilian indoor specialist Tatu did not arrive from São Paulo FC until January 28, because of transfer issues, and missed the first four games.[13] Peter Roe missed the final six matches with a broken toe.[14]

Around the same time the NASL began the ill-fated Team America experiment. The February try-outs for Team America overlapped with the Grand Prix schedule and as a result Arnie Mausser, Pedro DeBrito, Perry Van der Beck and Glenn Myernick became unavailable to the Rowdies for several games including the semifinal and championship matches.[15][16] This forced the Tampa Bay coach, Al Miller to use rookies and reserve team players more often.[11]

Roster
No. Position Player Nation
00 Goalkeeper Arnie Mausser  United States
1 Goalkeeper Jürgen Stars  Germany
2 Defender Peter Gruber  Germany
3 Defender Glenn Myernick  United States
4 Defender Refik Kozić  Yugoslavia
5 Defender Peter Nogly  Germany
6 Defender Mike Connell  South Africa
7 Forward Zequinha  Brazil
8 Midfielder Wes McLeod (capt.)  Canada
10 Forward Tatu  Brazil
11 Midfielder Marcelino Oliveira  Brazil
12 Midfielder Perry Van der Beck  United States
14 Midfielder Juan Carlos Molina  Argentina
15 Midfielder Peter Roe  Canada
16 Forward Pedro DeBrito  United States
17 Defender Gregg Thompson  United States
18 Forward Mark Karpun  Canada
19 Forward Hugo Pérez  United States
20 Goalkeeper Tom Boric  Canada
21 Defender Bruce Bates  Canada
22 Midfielder Matty Miller  United States
23 Midfielder Jim Easton  Canada
— Midfielder Mike Fall  United States

Management and technical staff
  • George W. Strawbridge, Jr., owner
  • Ted Moore, general manager
  • Francisco Marcos, director of player personal
  • Al Miller, head coach
  • Ken Shields, trainer
  • Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager

Honors

Competitions

Friendlies

The Rowdies participated in and won four friendlies. The first was played at Reunion Arena in Dallas against Tulsa. Three days before the grand prix began they faced Tulsa again at Oklahoma City's Myriad Arena.[17] A mid-grand prix friendly pitted the club against Montreal at the Bayfront Center on January 29.[18] Finally, in-state rival, Fort Lauderdale, met Tampa Bay at the Lakeland Civic Center in a post-tournament fixture, to close out the Rowdies' abbreviated 1983 indoor campaign.[19]

Grand Prix round-robin table

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, PTS= point system

6 points awarded for a win. Beginning with the fourth goal, 1 bonus point awarded for each goal scored. Maximum of 5 bonus points per game.

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1* Montreal Manic 6 4 2 36 31 +5 42
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6 4 2 38 31 +7 42
3 Tulsa Roughnecks 6 3 3 33 37 −4 33
4 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 6 1 5 32 40 −8 20

*Montreal wins top seed based on 2–0 head-to-head record vs. Tampa Bay.[20]

Grand Prix Championship rounds
Semifinals Championship Final
      
1 Montreal Manic 11
4 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 4
1 Montreal Manic 4
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5(2OT)
3 Tulsa Roughnecks 6
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 8

Match reports
January 15, 1983 friendly Tulsa Roughnecks 3–6 Tampa Bay Rowdies Dallas, Texas
Belfiore  8:42' (Krupa, DuBose)
Danaeifard  36:17'
Pesa  55:57' (Abrahams)		 Report 1
Report 2(p. 2C)		 McLeod  6:59' (Nogly, Pérez)
Karpun  37:23'
Zequinha  39:53' (Molina, Nogly)
Van der Beck  42:30' (Roe)
McLeod  51:45'
Pérez  56:33' (Zequinha)		 Stadium: Reunion Arena
Attendance: 5,451
January 18, 1983 friendly Tulsa Roughnecks 3–5 Tampa Bay Rowdies Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
7:30 PM (CST) Saldana  21:07'
Saldana  21:29' (Danaiford)
Saldana  52:00' (Riordan)		 Report 1
Report 2
Report 3		 Nogly  19:08' (Oliveira)
Van der Beck  19:19'
McLeod  22:55' (Myernick)
Karpun  24:51' (Myernick)
Roe  28:23' (Karpun, Nogly)		 Stadium: Myriad Arena
Attendance: 2,551
January 21, 1983 Matchday 1 Montreal Manic 6–3 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tulsa, Oklahoma
7:00 PM (CST) Ion  16:37' (Vujović)
Quinn  23:33'
Knight  39:42'
Dill  41:52' (Vujović)
Knight  45:27' (Mitchell)
Vujović  57:53' (O'Brien)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Kozić  3:02' (Pérez)
Zequinha  44:21'
Nogly  47:34' (Myernick)		 Stadium: Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion
Attendance: 3,552
January 22, 1983 Matchday 2 Tulsa Roughnecks 2–7 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tulsa, Oklahoma
9:00 PM (CST) Caskey  14:51'
Pesa  55:00' (Krupa)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Zequinha  27:44' (Bates)
Pérez  31:58' (McLeod)
Pérez  32:10' (Roe, McLeod)
Roe  45:31' (Gruber, McLeod)
Myernick  47:44' (McLeod, Oliveira)
Zequinha  48:15' (Roe, Oliveira)
Pérez  55:16' (Roe)		 Stadium: Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion
Attendance: 4,341
January 29, 1983 friendly Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–5 Montreal Manic St. Petersburg, Florida
7:30 PM (EST) Karpun  7:38' (Myernick)
Tatu  34:32' (Molina, Kozić)
Oliveira  35:46' (Molina, Myernick)
Tatu  39:05' (Molina)
Pérez  40:28' (McLeod)
Nogly  48:47' (Pérez)
Van der Beck  58:37'		 Report 1
Report 2(p. 2C)		 Mitchell  18:46'
Willey  24:27' (Falzon, Knight)
Usiyan  37:56' (Marcantonio, Lodeweges)
Usiyan  39:40'
Mitchell  40:40' (O'Brien)		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,525
February 4, 1983 Matchday 3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–6 Tulsa Roughnecks St. Petersburg, Florida
9:00 PM (EST) Myernick  1:51' (Zequinha)
Gruber  8:15' (Roe, Pérez)
Oliveira  18:59' (Myernick)
Tatu  22:14' (Nogly)
Pérez  22:50'
Pérez  34:17' (Nogly, Roe)
Tatu  47:02' (Nogly, McLeod)		 Report 1
Report 2(p. 2C)		 Wallace  13:30'
Pesa  37:33' (Huson, Caskey)
Weller  43:23' (pen.)
Weller  49:15' (Wallace)
Caskey  56:26' (Moore)
Weller  59:54' (Pesa)		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 4,450
Referee: Gus Constantine
February 5, 1979 Matchday 4 Tampa Bay Rowdies 10–6 Fort Lauderdale Strikers St. Petersburg, Florida
9:00 PM (EST) Zequinha  4:35' (pen.)
Tatu  6:01' (Van der Beck)
Molina  17:15' (Myernick, Tatu)
McLeod  26:21' (Van der Beck, Gruber)
McLeod  45:46' (Oliveira, Tatu)
Pérez  51:22' (Bates)
Pérez  54:09' (McLeod)
Tatu  56:02' (McLeod, Nogly)
McLeod  59:00' (Kozić, Tatu)
DeBrito  59:25' (McLeod, Oliveira)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Cubillas  12:21' (Šegota)
Szatmari  14:26' (Cubillas)
Šegota  25:55' (Wegerle)
Šegota  40:42' (Cubillas)
Bolitho  46:45' (Cubillas, Šegota)
Cubillas  59:35' (Strong, Meschbach)		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,545
February 11, 1983 Matchday 5 Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–5 Fort Lauderdale Strikers Tulsa, Oklahoma
7:00 PM (CST) Tatu  8:36' (Nogly, Zequinha)
Tatu  19:32' (Molina)
Tatu  26:38' (Nogly, Molina)
Karpun  38:07' (Molina)
Karpun  39:21' (McLeod, Oliveira)
Molina  51:29' (Zequinha)
Pérez  54:25' (Zequinha, Tatu)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Šegota  25:32' (Cubillas)
Šegota  28:02' (Whelan)
Šegota  36:53' (Wegerle)
Wegerle  41:51' (Kidd, Cubillas)
Cubillas  42:46'		 Stadium: Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion
Attendance: 2,064
Referee: Manuel Ortiz[21]
February 12, 1983 Matchday 6 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4–5 Montreal Manic Tulsa, Oklahoma
7:00 PM (CST) Karpun  6:38' (Pérez)
Molina  26:03' (Stars)
Oliveira  26:57' (Kozić)
Oliveira  46:06' (Tatu, Zequinha)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Towers  3:54' (Willey)
Ion  28:51' (Vujović, Marcantonio)
Mitchell  39:07' (Willey, Uremović)
Mitchell  42:57' (Vujović)
Vujović  44:32'		 Stadium: Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion
Attendance: 3,245
February 18, 1983 Semifinal Tampa Bay Rowdies 8–6 Tulsa Roughnecks Montreal, Quebec
7:30 PM (EST) Pérez  11:58' (McLeod, Kozić)
Karpun  13:45' (McLeod)
Zequinha  23:47' (Molina)
McLeod  35:18' (Karpun)
Nogly  40:26'
Karpun  41:14' (Gruber)
Tatu  43:03' (Nogly)
McLeod  59:56' (Nogly)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Pesa  5:38' (Berrio)
Abrahams  6:15' (Caskey)
Weller  12:18' (Wallace)
Abrahams  31:13' (Weller )
Abrahams  53:23' (Weller)
Pesa  55:44' (Caskey, Reardon)		 Stadium: Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 6,049
February 20, 1983 Finals Montreal Manic 4–5 (2OT) Tampa Bay Rowdies Montreal, Quebec
3:30 PM (EST) Mitchel  16:17'
Mitchel  19:51' (McGane)
Mitchel  24:53' (Uremović)
Lodeweges  44:01'		 Report 1
Report 2
Report 3(p. 2C)		 Tatu  7:06' (McLeod, Pérez)
Pérez  11:12'
Nogly  31:46'
Zequinha  58:05' (Gruber, Tatu)
Karpun  69:78'  (Nogly)		 Stadium: Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec
Attendance: 7,895
Referee: Gordon Arrowsmith
February 25, 1983 friendly Tampa Bay Rowdies 8–5 Fort Lauderdale Strikers Lakeland, Florida
8:00 PM (EST) Tatu  6:15' (Gruber, Easton)
Karpun  13:04'
Miller  22:55' (Pérez, Kozić)
Karpun  31:35' (Fall)
Gruber  44:42' (Fall)
Molina  46:43' (Thompson)
Bates  53:38' (Molina, McLeod)
Oliveira  57:51' (Pérez, Molina)		 Report 1
Report 2
Report 3(p. 2C)		 Kidd  13:26' (Segota)
Cubillas  23:55' (Kidd)
Kidd  36:14' (Whelan)
Meschbach  39:31' (Kadupski, Cubillas)
Kidd  54:16' (Kadupski)		 Stadium: Lakeland Civic Center
Attendance: 3,506

Statistics

Scoring

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

Player GP G A Pts
Hugo Pérez1212832
Tatu812630
Wes McLeod1281430
Mark Karpun1011224
Peter Nogly1151222
Zequinha107620
Juan Carlos Molina1041018
Marcelino Oliveira105616
Glenn Myernick72711
Peter Roe62610
Peter Gruber12259
Perry Van der Beck7328
Refik Kozić11157
Bruce Bates7124
Pedro DeBrito6102
Matty Miller1102
Mike Fall1022
Jürgen Stars9011
Gregg Thompson5011
Jim Easton Jr.4011
Tom Boric2000
Mike Connell1000
Arnie Mausser1000

Goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; SV = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player GP Min SV GA GAA W L
Jürgen Stars9550127454.9172
Tom Boric21203852.5020
Arnie Mausser1601466.0010

See also

References
  1. Marmor, Jon (September 1, 1982). "If Strikers Survive, Seattle Shapes Up as Next Opponent". Palm Beach Post. p. D10. Retrieved March 14, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  2. Sarni, Jim (December 1, 1982). "Strikers in four-team indoor tournament". Fort Lauderdale Sun-Setinel. p. 3C. Retrieved March 14, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  3. Phillips, Randy (February 18, 1983). "Manic play sudden-death tonight". Montreal Gazette. p. D1. Retrieved March 14, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Rowdies enter tourney". Lakeland Ledger. December 2, 1982. p. 3D. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  5. Beard, Randy (February 15, 1983). "Rowdies pair united in feelings toward Team America and coach". The Evening Independent. p. 3-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  6. Beard, Randy (February 19, 1983). "Power play went short-handed Rowdies' way". The Evening Independent. p. 3-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  7. Beard, Randy (February 21, 1983). "Championship effort carried Rowdies to title". The Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  8. Mudry, Richard (February 21, 1983). "Rowdies go OT to beat Montreal". Tampa Tribune. p. 6-C. Retrieved March 14, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  9. Johnson, Mark (February 21, 1983). "Karpun's overtime goal gives Rowdies 5-4 win Montreal". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3C. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  10. "Injury takes edge off Rowdies' victory". The Evening Independent. January 24, 1983. p. 8-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  11. Johnson, Mark (February 20, 1983). "Rowdies in title fight vs. host Montreal". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3C. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  12. Johnson, Mark (January 21, 1983). "Rolling Rowdies open quest to regain grand prestige". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3C. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  13. "Tatu arrives Friday". Tampa Tribune. January 27, 1983. p. 10-C. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  14. "Rowdies lose Roe". Tampa Tribune. February 6, 1983. p. 7-D. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  15. Beard, Randy (February 7, 1983). "Keep-away style of Kozic worked". The Evening Independent. p. 6-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  16. Beard, Randy (January 26, 1983). "Mausser's year could be cut short". The Evening Independent. p. 6-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  17. Beard, Randy (January 18, 1983). "McLeod: 'I feel real good about playing soccer again'". The Evening Independent. p. 3-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  18. "Tatu, the 'little Brazilian' returns". The Evening Independent. January 25, 1983. p. 4-C. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  19. Allen, Diane Lacey (February 23, 1983). "Rowdies meet Strikers at Civic Center". Lakeland Ledger. p. 3D. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
  20. "Rowdies fall to Manic 5-4". St. Petersburg Times. February 13, 1983. p. 1C. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  21. "Rowdies rap Strikers in Grand Prix soccer". Fort Lauderdale News. February 12, 1983. p. 7C. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.