Earthquakes history -- NASL style!, Part 2

During that period of 1984-1996 with the folding of the NASL and pre MLS, we had absolutely no outlet other than Soccer America to read about the game. there was no Internet and the information was next to nothing.

I remember having to call the San Jose Mercury New Sports Department around 1993 or 94 trying to get weekly scores from European leagues as they would rarely print any articles other than maybe David Payne talking about the WSA Quakes and SF Bay Blackhawks.

There was another local publication called Soccer Magic we used to get at but they mostly discussed local stuff like college and youth.

Prior to Soccer Digest, there was Soccer Corner magazine which was very informative until they folded.

 

I have a couple of issues of Soccer Corner.
And I still have my copies of Soccer Digest from 1978-1986.
I subscribed to Soccer America from 1984-1987 then again for a few years, from 1994 until 1997. I still have them boxed up in a storage unit.
I remember Clay Berling also co-hosting a local Bay Area show on soccer news that was shown on channel 20 on Sunday evenings. The only reason the show stopped around 1980-81 was because channel 20 changed ownership and with it went the format of international programming.
I regard Clay Berling and Toby Charles as my two soccer heroes for perking my interest in the sport.

 

Did You Know? Of the 1,420 registered players who competed in the NASL from 1968-84, 59 came from either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, which equates to 4.5 percent of the league's player pool. Notables include George Best, Bill Irwin, Victor Moreland, Billy Caskey, Fran O'Brien, David McCreery, Jimmy Nicholl, Jimmy Conway, Dave Clements and Martin Donnelly (pictured).

 

Soccer Made in Germany with Toby Charles announcing was must watch soccer for me.

 

My first glimpse of German and/or European soccer was with Toby Charles and Soccer Made in Germany!

Never realized he was related to John Charles.

 

Article where I learned a few more things about Toby Charles.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/german-...93361/toby-charles-and-soccer-made-in-germany

 

Toby liked the phrase, "he had him at sixes and sevens", (which means a state of disarray or confusion), which he used when one player completely turned another on the dribble.

 

Soccer in the 1970s: Oakland Stompers goalkeeper Shep Messing joins singer Dolly Parton to celebrate her "Playboy" magazine cover appearance in 1978.

 

Happy 62nd birthday to Joe Morrone Jr., the son of legendary University of Connecticut coach Joe Morrone, who won All America honors and the Hermann Trophy for the Huskies in 1980, then was the 1st overall pick of the 1981 NASL Draft and won the NASL Rookie of the Year after scoring 8 goals for the Tulsa Roughnecks, and later played for the San Jose Earthquakes (1982) and MISL's Pittsburgh Spirit (1983-84).

 

Sad to report that Peter Lorimer, the Scottish midfielder who debuted at the age of 15 for Leeds United and went on to score a club-record 236 goals before a 5-year stay in the NASL, died this week after suffering a long-term illness. He was 74. Lorimer scored 33 goals in 129 games with the Toronto Blizzard (1979-80) and Vancouver Whitecaps (1981-83), and his 55 assists rank 20th all-time. Lorimer earned all-NASL honors in 1981.

For more, visit:
https://apnews.com/.../europe-england-sports-europe-leeds...

 

If, back in the day, you heard somebody self-narrating the action during training or pick-up with a faux-Brit accent, they were channeling Toby Charles.

"Oh, and it must be!..........Yes, it's therrrre..........!"

 

I know, I did it all the time!

 

Anyone remember this show?

 

San Jose Earthquakes beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3–2 on July 22, 1981!

Mustafa Hukić scored the golden goal in Overtime for the winner off George Best's rebound shot!

This was the night Best scored his most famous goal.

 

Mirko "Mark" Liveric 1976

 

That other team looks like they’re wearing Puma shirts with adidas shorts. [emoji1]

 

Not sure who the opponent was but no NASL ever employed Puma as a manufacturer to my knowledge.

At that time, 1976, Adidas was king.

North American Soccer League Jerseys (nasljerseys.com)v

 

For more, visit https://www.irishtimes.com/.../former-england-striker...

 

Worthington had a couple of notable encounters with the Quake's John Rowlands...one leaving Worthington with blood running down his face and Rowlands with Worthington's saliva running down his face. It was early in that game, played at Spartan Stadium, and both were sent to the showers, leaving a 10 x 10 game to be played. Given the situation, it was probably one of the fairest double reds you might find.

 

I remember that game. Both received a red card and were escorted off the field with a police escort.

John Rowlands from Liverpool was a forward with the Seattle Sounders then was converted to center defender with the Quakes. He was a former boxer in England and I remember him deckling Worthington with a right cross giving Frank a bloody nose.

The game was played on July 11, 1979 against the Philadelphia Fury at Spartan Stadium and ended 4–4 in regulation on goals by Tommy Armstrong, Gunter Etterich, Bernie Gersdorff and Ian Wood. The Quakes won in a shootout I believe.

John was a lower division player and Frank was a fairly big time first division English international but was not intimidated by any of the big stars playing in the NASL. He took it to Pele , Chinaglia , Beckenbauer and Best and stood up to all of them. He was playing his last NASL season in 1979 and maybe only a few games in 1980 before being released.

The next year he played with Guido's Italia in the Peninsula Soccer League and I use to watch him at the soccer games at Watson Bowl. A year or so after that he started the Britannia Arms Pub and founded the San Jose Oaks amateur team I believe along with Tom Cauge Sr.

Rowlands moved to Florida and opened a number of bars and restaurants, before later returning to the UK. Sadly, he died on April 13th 2020 in Holyhead at the age of 73, from COVID-19.

 

Great memory. I was at that game. I think the second goal in that match involved what appeared to be a foul in the box but the refs allowed the Quakes to play on and they scored.

that goal was the perfect example of the type of rebounds the old square posts would give.