Fort Lauderdale Strikers Totally Explained

Everything about Fort Lauderdale Strikers totally explained

ť This article is about the original Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the NASL. For the second team to use the name in the APSL, see Fort Lauderdale Strikers (APSL). For the third team to use the name in the USISL, see Fort Lauderdale Strikers (USISL).

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team, a descendant of the Washington Darts, Miami Gatos, and Miami Toros, that played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Strikers were members of the North American Soccer League from 1977 to its penultimate year, 1983. They were owned by the Robbie family who also owned the Miami Dolphins.

Major signers

The first major signing for Ft Lauderdale was England goalie legend Gordon Banks. Banks was the top keeper in the league his first year despite being blind in one eye.
   The legendary George Best signed for the Strikers midway through the 1978 season after falling out with the management at the Los Angeles Aztecs. Best played for the rest of the 1978 season and the whole of 1979's campaign.
   In 1979 the Strikers signed Peruvian legend Teófilo Cubillas, who would play with the club until their departure for Minnesota in 1983. In 1979 the Strikers also acquired USA young superstar John Ambrosio at 19 years old.
   1979 was a bumper year for the Strikers as they also acquired German centre forward Gerd Müller. These former World Cup stars helped the Strikers reach the Soccer Bowl, the NASL's championship match, in 1980 where they lost to the New York Cosmos 3-0.

Moved

After the 1983 season, the Strikers were moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Strikers. That club survived the end of the NASL by joining the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1984, but did eventually fold in 1988. Ray Hudson, Phil Schoen and Jeff Rusnak were recently interviewed regarding their memories of the Strikers.

Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
1977	19-7	1st, Eastern Division, American Conference	Divisional Playoff
1978	16-14	3rd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Finals
1979	17-13	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	American Conference Quarterfinals
1980	18-14	2nd, Eastern Division, American Conference	Runners-up
1981	18-14	2nd, Southern Division	Semifinals
1982	18-14	1st, Southern Division	Semifinals
1983	14-16	2nd, Southern Division	Quarterfinals

Honors

NASL Championships

none

Division Titles

1977 Eastern Division, Atlantic Conference

1982 Southern Division Coach of the Year

1977 Ron Newman All-Star First Team Selections

1977 Gordon Banks

1980 Teófilo Cubillas

1981 Teófilo Cubillas, Jan van Beveren

1983 Jan van Beveren All-Star Second Team Selections

1978 Ray Hudson

1979 Teófilo Cubillas, Gerd Müller

1980 Ray Hudson

1982 Teófilo Cubillas, Jan van Beveren All-Star Honorable Mentions

1978 George Best, Maurice Whittle

1980 Jan van Beveren

1982 Ray Hudson, Branko Segota

1983 Ray Hudson, Bruce Miller

Head Coaches

Ron Newman (1977-1979)

Cor van der Hart (1980)

Eckhard Krautzun (1981-1982)

David Chadwick (1983-1984)

Famous players

Gordon Banks (1977-78)

Bobby Bell (English footballer) (1977)

George Best (1978-79)

Ian Callaghan (1978)

David Chadwick (1977-79)

Bobby Corish (1979)

Teófilo Cubillas (1979-83)

Gordon Fearnley (1977-78) 22 apps 2 goals

Elías Figueroa (1980-1981)

Ken Fogarty (1979-83) (External Link

)

John Hickton (1978) (External Link

)

Ray Hudson (1977-83) 176 apps 42 goals

David Irving (footballer) (1978-80) (External Link

)

Gary Jones (1978-1979) 18 apps 2 Goals

Brian Kidd (1982-83) 51 apps 34 goals

Gerd Müller (1979-81)

Tim Parkin (1977)

Norman Piper (1977-78)

Billy Ronson (1978) 17 apps 1 Goal

Jan van Beveren (1980-83)

Denny Vaninger (1978-79)

Keith Weller (1980-83)

Tony Whelan (1977-79;1981)

Yearly Average Attendance

1977 - 8,148

1978 - 10,479

1979 - 13,774

1980 - 14,360

1981 - 13,324

1982 - 12,345

1983 - 10,823Further Information

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