Happy 61st birthday to U.S. international Gary Etherington, the English-born attacker who joined the New York Cosmos as an 18-year old sensation in 1977, earned the NASL Rookie of the Year Award, won 2 Soccer Bowl titles, and scored 15 goals in 152 games over a 6-year career that included the Los Angeles Aztecs (1980) and San Jose Earthquakes (1981-82).
One of my enduring memories from the NASL days was Seattle's Roger Davies punching Alberto in the mouth in a game at the Kingdome.
The final weekend of the brief indoor tournament held at the Cow Palace. Tournaments were also held at other cities to determine which teams would play in the final 4 at the Cow Palace. The first tournament for the Quakes was also at the Cow Palace, with San Jose winning that one, to qualify for this final 4. In the first tournament, the Quakes had a tough game against Vancouver, with goalie Mirko Stojanovic having a tremendous effort against the Whitecaps. He was so good that he declared himself to be the best goalie in North America and demanding more money to play for the Quakes again. They cut him from the team, putting backup Mike Ivanow in goal. The Quakes proceeded to win this tournament too, although both games were close. In the final, they barely got by the Rowdies for the championship.
Interesting story about Mirko Stojanovic. I'm wondering if it was Milan Mandaric who didn't want to pay him or the other investors that were on the board of directors? When Mandaric founded the Oakland Stompers in 1978, he brought Stojanovic with him as an assistant coach. Here he is pictured with Shep Messing
I was pumped to "try" to cover the only man (Geoff Hurst) to ever score a hat trick in a World Cup Final!
The above Trevor Francis scored 36 goals in 33 matches for the Detroit Express. I recall him scoring 5 in one match, but can't remember who the opponent was.
Trevor scored 5 goals against the Quakes on July 12, 1978 in a 10-0 loss.... I believe he scored another one or two at Spartan Stadium a week later as the Detroit won 4-3....