Happy 80th birthday to Jamaica international Art Welch (number 7), who joined with his twin brother, Asher, to play for the Baltimore Bays during the inaugural NASL season in 1968, the built a 13-year career with Baltimore (1968-69), the Atlanta Chiefs (1970-72), Atlanta Apollos (1973), San Jose Earthquakes (1974-75), San Diego Jaws (1976), Vancouver Whitecaps (1976), and Washington Diplomats (1977-80) that comprised 45 goals in 194 games -- good for 37th on the all-time NASL goalscorer list -- along with 2 all-NASL selections, a trip to the 1971 NASL finals, and the 1975 NASL Indoor championship --and also included 2 MISL campaigns with the Wichita Wings (1979-80) and the San Francisco Fog (1980-81). Did You Know? Paul Child ranks 5th on the NASL's all-time goalscorers list with 102 and 12th among the MISL's all-time goalscorers with 266. NASL Dateline: On 12 April 1980, Steve Moyers scored 2 goals and Laurie Abrahams added a 3rd as the California Surf beat the Tulsa Roughnecks, 3-2, before 14,730 at Skelly Stadium.… Happy 69th birthday to Joseph "Sepp" Gantenhammer, the standout Long Island University goalkeeper who was a 2nd-round pick of the Washington Diplomats in the 1978 NASL Draft, but hit his stride in the MISL, making 75 appearances over 7 seasons with the Pittsburgh Spirit (1978-79), Houston Summit (1979-80), Baltimore Blast (1980-82), Memphis Americans (1983-84), winning the 1980 MISL Goalkeeper of the Year Award, making the 1981 MISL All Star team, and reaching the 1980 MISL Finals MISL Dateline: On 14 April 1992, Kevin Crow scored at 5:34 of overtime to rally the San Diego Sockers to a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Blast and take a 2-games-to-1 lead in the best-of-7 MSL Semifinals before 4,184 at the Baltimore Arena. NASL Dateline: On 13 April 1977, new signing Steve Hunt scored his 1st goal for the New York Cosmos and Jadranko Topic added a 2nd in a 2-1 win over Team Hawaii before 12,877 in Aloha Stadium.… NASL Dateline: On 12 April 1981, NASL Director of Operations Ted Howard declared that indoor star Steve Zungul would not be allowed to join an NASL team for the upcoming season because the league would only accept players on year-round contracts, and New York Arrows owner John Luciani refused to sell the Yugoslavian standout. The New York Cosmos, Tampa Bay Rowdies and San Diego Sockers had all expressed interest in signing Zungul - who recently completed a FIFA outdoor ban for leaving Hadjuk Split without permission in 1978 - but the NASL's ban on indoor loans killed such deals. Said a frustrated Zungul: "I am free to play outdoors if somebody buys my contract. I want to play outdoors. I want to show what I can do.' NASL Action: Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper Winston DuBose goes up to snare a high ball away from New York Cosmos forward Giorgio Chinaglia at Giants Stadium.… NASL Dateline: On 11 April 1982, goalkeeper Mike Hewitt made 6 saves and the San Jose Earthquakes kicked off the 1982 NASL season with a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders before 4,954 in the Kingdome
Gotta love Joe Silveira! Happy 65th birthday Joe Silveira (number 21), the Portuguese-American midfielder who shone at San Jose State and signed with the hometown Earthquakes in 1980, making 47 appearances over 3 NASL seasons with San Jose (1980-82) and the Jacksonville Tea Men (1982), while also playing indoors with the Phoenix Inferno (1982-83) and the Phoenix Pride (1983-84).
NASL Dateline: On 28 April 1980, the NASL becomes the 1st professional sports league in North America to employ women officials when it adds Betty Ellis of California to the referee corps for the 1980 NASL season. Ellis, a widowed mother of 5 and a teacher of children with disabilities in her day job, debuts on Mother's Day that season and works NASL games for 4 seasons. Although subjected to catcalls from the stands and often forced to dress in men's urinals, she generally drew high praise from players, coaches, and fellow referees, and opened the door for women officials in soccer and other major sports. Said Vancouver Whitecaps forward Ray Hankin: "If they are all as good as her, we should have more of them." NASL Media: Gordon Bradley, Washington Diplomats… Did You Know? Trevor Whymark's 25 goals represented 24 percent of the Vancouver Whitecaps' entire offensive output over the 1979 and 1980 NASL seasons. Happy 69th birthday to Mick Poole, the Rochdale goalkeeper who made 219 appearances over 7 seasons with the Dale, but was loaned to the NASL as a 19-year old in 1974 and became a mainstay in North America too, posting 16 career shutouts for the Denver Dynamos (1974) and Portland Timbers (1977-80), then helping the Houston Summit reach the 1979 MISL finals -- and making the 1980 MISL All Star team -- and later playing for the Baltimore Blast (1982-83). NASL Dateline: On 23 April 1978, Dennis Tueart repaid the New York Cosmos' $500,000 transfer from Manchester City by scoring in his debut to give New York a 3-1 win over the Dallas Tornado before 50,167 at Giants Stadium. NASL Memories: Thompson Usiyan was a Nigerian international who spent his entire college and professional soccer career in North America, becoming a much-feared goalscorer and a much-beloved teammate. Born on 27 April 1956, Usiyan helped Nigeria qualify for the 1976 Olympic Games, but an African and Arab boycott prompted him to look for other options. He set the NCAA Division I career scoring record with 109 goals at Appalachian State University, then was taken with the 10th overall pick by the Montreal Manic in the 1981 NASL Draft and went on to notch 22 goals in 3 NASL seasons with Montreal (1981-82) and the Tulsa Roughnecks (1983). But Usiyan was far more successful indoors, finishing as the 16th all-time leading scorer after 8 MISL seasons with the Minnesota Strikers (1984-87), Los Angeles Lazers (1987-88), St. Louis Storm (1989-91) and San Diego Sockers (1991-92), making 2 MISL All Star teams, reaching the 1986 MISL Championship Series and winning the 1992 MISL title. Sadly, Usiyan died in 2021 at the age of 65. NASL Dateline: On 27 April 1974, Kyle Rote Jr. signed a contract at 4:20 a.m. that raised his salary from $1,500 to $15,000, then went out and scored the opening goal a few hours later to key the Dallas Tornado's 2-1 win over the St. Louis Stars in the 1974 NASL season opener before a Texas Stadium crowd of 23,904, the largest turnout in NASL history at that time.… MISL Dateline: On 24 April 1985, the San Diego Sockers got a goal from Brian Quinn at 11:45 of overtime to best the Kansas City Comets, 4-3, in Game 1 of the MISL Quarterfinal Series before 7,552 at the San Diego Sports Arena.… Soccer in the 1970s: "Krazy George" Henderson's dramatic entrances into Spartan Stadium included, on occasion, the Herfy's delivery van.
MISL Dateline: On 4 May 1981, the San Francisco Fog ceased operations following a single MISL season in which the club finished dead-last with an 11-29 record, averaged a league-low 2,500 in attendance at Cow Palace, and lost an estimated $1 million. Owner Dr. David Schoenstadt - who had moved the team to the Bay Area after purchasing the moribund Detroit Lightning franchise the year before - relocated again to Kansas City, where the re-named Comets became one of the MISL's most successful teams of the 1980s.
Soccer in the 1970s: The San Jose Earthquakes toured the U.S. Capitol during a trip to the nation's capital in the 1977 NASL season.
NASL Dateline: On 11 May 1975, John Rowlands scored for the 2nd straight game and the Seattle Sounders won their 3rd in a row in a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Aztecs before 15,879 at Memorial Stadium.
The Quakes family is saddened to learn of the passing of Derek Sanderson, a San Jose native who played for the club during the 1980s. Our thoughts are with his family and friends 💙. pic.twitter.com/Ai0QBjz2X2— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) May 16, 2024
I heard this the yesterday. He had kindey problems. Very sad and too young to die! RIP Derek Sandreson!
Happy 94th birthday to veteran Soccer America columnist Paul Gardner (pictured at left), the British-born conscience of American soccer for more than a half-century while writing for publications such as Sports Illustrated, World Soccer, the New York Times and USA Today, and broadcasting with CBS, NBC and ESPN, among others. He has written more than 1,000 columns for Soccer America, covered 9 FIFA World Cups, paired with Jim McKay to anchor NASL coverage for ABC-TV, and authored 8 books, including "The Simplest Game" and "SoccerTalk: Life Under the Spell of the Round Ball." Gardner was honored with the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame's Colin Jose Media Award in 2010 and received the inaugural Media Career of Excellence Award from United Soccer Coaches in 2020. Happy 68th birthday to U.S. international Louie Nanchoff (pictured at right), the Yugoslavian-born forward who was the younger of 2 brothers to play in the NASL, but also shared All-American honors with his brother George in 1977 at the University of Akron -- the first time brothers earned that honor in NCAA soccer in the same year -- then was selected by the Colorado Caribous in the 1978 NASL Draft and went on to score 11 goals in 55 games with Colorado (1978) and the Atlanta Chiefs (1979-80) before committing to MISL in 1979 and rolling up 182 career goals with the Philadelphia Fever (1980-82), Cleveland Force (1982-85), Dallas Sidekicks (1985-86), St. Louis Steamers (1986-87) and Kansas City Comets (1987-88), while playing for the U.S. team that was barred from playing in the 1980 Olympic Games due to the American boycott. NASL Dateline: On 13 May 1984, Roberto Bettega (pictured) and Patrick "Ace" Ntsoelengoe scored to lead the Toronto Blizzard past the Tulsa Roughnecks, 2-0, in the season-opener for both teams before 10,710 at Varsity Stadium.… NASL Action: Tampa Bay Rowdies goalkeeper Zeljko Bilecki races Vancouver Whitecaps defender Bob Lenarduzzi for the ball during Soccer Bowl '79 at Giants Stadium. Happy 68th birthday to striker Tony Graham (bottom row, 4th from left), the University of San Francisco star who signed with the Oakland Stompers for the 1978 NASL season and later played with the ASL's Columbus Magic, but primarily excelled indoors with the Cincinnati Kids (1978-79), St. Louis Steamers (1979-80), Cleveland Force (1980-81) and Denver Avalanche (1980-81). NASL Dateline: On 13 May 1978, Seattle Sounders defenders Adrian Webster (number 16) and Mike England scored to key a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes before 24,273 at the Kingdome. NASL Dateline: On 12 May 1984, Fran O'Brien and David Cross scored to lead the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 2-0 win over the San Diego Sockers in the season-opener for both teams before 15,718 at B.C. Place Stadium. Gary Singh and Chris Dangerfield (with Kelly Gray)
RIP Ian 'Chico' Hamilton! Ex-midfielder Hamilton dies aged 73 Ex-Chelsea, Aston Villa and Sheff Utd player Ian 'Chico' Hamilton dies - BBC Sport Ian 'Chico' Hamilton dead at 73: Chelsea's youngest ever player and goalscorer dies as tributes pour in | The Sun
The Great San Jose Earthquake of 1974! NASL Legends: Fred Guzman, covered the original San Jose Earthquakes in the NASL Fred Guzman (left), with Pele, wrote for the San Jose Mercury News back in the day.
David Dufty, “Player of the Future”, circa 1975. He donated this kit to History San Jose. Garage man cave.
Happy 80th birthday to Volker Fass (number 4), the West German defender who interrupted a 9-year career with Kickers Offanbach and SC Freiburg to spend the 1978 NASL season on loan to the Oakland Stompers (14 games) and San Jose Earthquakes (12 games), and later became one of the most influential orthopedic surgeons in soccer, earning a FIFA Diploma for Soccer and Sports Medicine. Happy 75th birthday to Hungary international József "Joe" Horváth, who played with top teams in Hungary and West Germany, then jumped to the NASL in 1978 and notched 21 goals and 42 assists in 96 games with the Lancers (1978), Washington Diplomats (1979-80) and and San Jose Earthquakes (1981), earning all-NASL honors in 1978, while also playing indoors with the MISL's Buffalo Stallions (1979-80) and New Jersey Rockets (1980-81). Happy 69th birthday to Steve Litt (number 5), the Luton Town defender who jumped to the NASL in 1976 and became a mainstay of the Minnesota Kicks line-up, helping the team reach Soccer Bowl '76, scoring 11 goals in 153 games and earning 2 all-NASL selections, then transferring to the San Jose / Golden Bay Earthquakes in 1982 where he played another 67 games, helping the team to the NASL's 3rd-best record in 1983 at 20-10, and later playing in the MISL with the Minnesota Strikers (1984-85). NASL Dateline: On 21 May 1979, New York Cosmos star Giorgio Chinaglia became the 3rd NASL player to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, joining Bob Rigby (1973) and Pelé (1975). NASL Media: Pelé and Kyle Rote Jr.at Soccer Bowl August 24 , 1975 at Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California Happy 66th birthday to Ko "Jon" Pot (number 3), the Dutch defender who developed through the DWS youth system in Amsterdam, then jumped to the NASL in 1980 and made 63 appearances for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers over 3 seasons, helping the team reach Soccer Bowl '80.… NASL Memories: The San Diego Sockers celebrate the 1983-84 NASL Indoor title. MISL Dateline: On 18 May 1986, Gregg Thompson scored the game-winning goal with 30 seconds left to play as the Minnesota Strikers beat the San Diego Sockers, 4-3, in Game 4 of the MISL Championship Series before a Met Center crowd of 15,849 - the largest attendance at that time to see an indoor soccer game in Minnesota - and took a 3-games-to-1 lead in the final round.…