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The 'Tampa Bay Rowdies' were a professional soccer team from Tampa, Florida, USA. The team played in the North American Soccer League until the league's dissolution and then went on to play in other leagues before finally folding in 1993.
The Rowdies played their home games at Tampa Stadium, except for their indoor games which were played at Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Contents

NASL

NASL Indoor Soccer

Post-NASL

Year-by-year

Honors

Head Coaches

Yearly Average Attendance

Year-by-year

Year-by-year

NASL

Originally founded as a North American Soccer League expansion franchise in 1975 by George Strawbridge, the Rowdies played ten seasons at Tampa Stadium and won their only Soccer Bowl championship in their inaugural season defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0. The Rowdies lost in the finals in 1978 and 1979. The team showcased international stars such as midfield captain Rodney Marsh (England), swift and lethal forward Steve Wegerle (South Africa), rock-solid defenseman Arsene Auguste (Haiti), and popular player and high goal-scoring Derek Smethurst (South Africa). Coached by Eddie Firmani, John Boyle, and Gordon Jago, their catch phrase and marketing slogan was "The Rowdies arrrre...a kick in the grass!"
Fans of the Rowdies were dubbed Fannies. The most famous Fannies were the notorious North End Zone Gang (AKA the Ozone, the Yellow Card Section, The Mooners and the Village Idiots). The gang of college aged beer swilling fans were known for their wild antics, including throwing dead mullets dressed in mini Ft. Lauderdale Strikers uniforms onto the field.

NASL Indoor Soccer

The Rowdies also fielded an indoor soccer team from 1975-1984 and were two-time champions. After the 1983 season, the team was sold to Stella Thayer, Bob Blanchard and Dick Corbett.

Post-NASL

After the demise of the NASL in 1984, Cornelia Corbett became sole owner of the team in 1986. With Rodney Marsh as coach, the Rowdies operated as an independent team for two years before joining the American Indoor Soccer Association for one season (1986-87). In the summer of 1988, the Rowdies joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League. They would stay in this league and its successor (the APSL) until they folded after the 1993 season.

Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs	Leading Goal Scorers
1975	16-6	1st, Eastern Division	NASL Champions	Derek Smethurst-18, Stewart Scullion-7, John Sissons-5
1976	18-6	1st, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Atlantic Conference Championship	Derek Smethurst-20, Rodney Marsh-11, Stewart Scullion-10, Clyde Best-9
1977	14-12	3rd, Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference	Divisional Playoffs	Derek Smethurst-19, Rodney Marsh-8, Steve Wegerle-5
1978	18-12	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Rodney Marsh-18, Dave Robb-16
1979	19-11	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up	Oscar Fabbiani-25, Rodney Marsh-11,
1980	19-13	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Semifinals	Steve Wegerle-9
1981	15-17	4th, Southern Division	Quarterfinals	Frank Worthington-11
1982	12-20	3rd, Southern Division	''Did Not Qualify''	Luis Fernando-16
1983	7-23	3rd, Southern Division	''Did Not Qualify''	Manny Rojas-8
1984	9-15	4th, Eastern Division	''Did Not Qualify''	Roy Wegerle, Neill Roberts-9

Honors

'NASL Championships'

★ 1975
'Division Titles'

★ 1975 Eastern Division

★ 1976 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference

★ 1978 Eastern Division, American Conference

★ 1979 Eastern Division, American Conference

★ 1980 Eastern Division, American Conference
'Coach of the Year'

★ 1976 Eddie Firmani
'Rookie of the Year'

★ 1982 Pedro DeBrito

★ 1983 Gregg Thompson

★ 1984 Roy Wegerle
'All-Star First Team Selections'

★ 1975 Farrukh Quraishi

★ 1976 Rodney Marsh, Arnie Mausser, Tommy Smith

★ 1977 Derek Smethurst

★ 1978 Rodney Marsh

★ 1979 Mike Connell

★ 1980 Mike Connell

★ 1981 John Gorman

★ 1982 Peter Nogly
'All-Star Second Team Selections'

★ 1975 John Boyle, Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion

★ 1976 Stewart Jump, Stewart Scullion, Derek Smethurst

★ 1977 Arsene Auguste, Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle

★ 1978 Arsene Auguste, Steve Wegerle

★ 1979 Oscar Fabbiani, John Gorman

★ 1980 Steve Wegerle
'All-Star Honorable Mentions'

★ 1975 Clyde Best, John Sissons, Derek Smethurst

★ 1979 Rodney Marsh, Steve Wegerle

★ 1980 John Gorman

★ 1982 Mike Connell

★ 1983 Gregg Thompson

★ 1984 Gregg Thompson

Head Coaches

★ Eddie Firmani 1975 - 1977

★ John Boyle 1977

★ Gordon Jago 1978 - 1982

★ Al Miller 1983

★ Rodney Marsh 1984

★ Ken Fogarty 1989-1993

Yearly Average Attendance

★ 1975 - 10,728

★ 1976 - 16,452

★ 1977 - 19,491

★ 1978 - 18,123

★ 1979 - 27,650

★ 1980 - 28,345

★ 1981 - 22,532

★ 1982 - 22,532

★ 1983 - 18,507

★ 1984 - 10,932
=AISA=

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1986/87	''N/A''	AISA	3rd, Southern	Quarterfinals	''N/A''

=ASL/APSL=

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Regular Season	Playoffs	U.S. Open Cup
1988	''N/A''	ASL	3rd, Southern	''Did not qualify''	''Did not enter''
1989	''N/A''	ASL	1st, Southern	Semifinals	''Did not enter''
1990	''N/A''	APSL	2nd, ASL South	ASL Semifinals	''Did not enter''
1991	''N/A''	APSL	3rd, American	''Did not qualify''	''Did not enter''
1992	''N/A''	APSL	2nd	Final	''Did not enter''
1993	''N/A''	APSL	3rd	Semifinals	''Did not enter''