| Club: | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Season: | 1975 indoor |
| Manager: |  Eddie Firmani |
| Chairman: |  Beau Rodgers |
| Chrtitle: | General manager |
| Owner: | George W. Strawbridge, Jr. |
| Stadium: | Bayfront Center |
| League: | NASL |
| League Result: | Regional: Champion League: Runners-up |
| League Topscorer: | Doug Wark (10 goals) |
| Highest Attendance: | 4,437 (Feb. 14 vs. Diplomats) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,032 (Feb. 16 vs. Comets) |
| Average Attendance: | 4,235 |
| American: | true |
| Pattern B1: | _greencollar |
| Pattern La1: | _tbrowdies13h |
| Pattern Ra1: | _tbrowdies13h |
| Pattern Sh1: | _green_border |
| Pattern So1: | _hoops_green_2 |
| Leftarm1: | 006600 |
| Body1: | ffffff |
| Rightarm1: | 006600 |
| Shorts1: | FFFFff |
| Socks1: | FDEE00 |
| Pattern B2: | _goldcollar |
| Pattern La2: | _tbrowdies13h |
| Pattern Ra2: | _tbrowdies13h |
| Pattern Sh2: | _norwich1617h |
| Pattern So2: | _hoops_green_2 |
| Leftarm2: | 006600 |
| Body2: | 006600 |
| Rightarm2: | 006600 |
| Shorts2: | 006600 |
| Socks2: | FDEE00 |
| Prevseason: | first season |
| Nextseason: | 1976 |
The 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the first indoor season of the club's existence. It also marked the first time the expansion Rowdies participated in any North American Soccer League sanctioned competition.
The Rowdies' jersey used during the 1975 indoor season was different than later indoor and outdoor years in that the neckline was merely a cuff rather than the full collar style that became so familiar in all of Tampa Bay's later NASL campaigns.[1] [2] [3] Photographic evidence also indicates that the cuff-style jersey saw limited use during the 1975 outdoor season, but by season's end it disappeared altogether.[4] [5]
George Strawbridge, Jr., owner Beau Rogers, general manager Eddie Firmani, head coach Chas Serednesky, business manager Alfredo Beronda, equipment managerIn part because of the success of the spring 1974 indoor tour by the Red Army team the NASL decided to hold an indoor tournament of its own.[6] Of the 20 franchises in the league, sixteen participated. Teams were separated into four regional groups of four. The Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, was chosen as one of the Regional venues, with the Rowdies as hosts for Region 3. The San Jose Earthquakes were given the honor of hosting the championship semifinals and finals at the Cow Palace.[7]
The winner of the Region 3 would gain an automatic place in the Championship tournament four weeks later in California. In their first tournament game the Rowdies had no trouble with the Washington Diplomats, winning by a score of 7–2.[8] Two nights later Tampa Bay had a tougher task in coming from behind to defeat the Baltimore Comets, 8–6. Those two victories left the Rowdies tied with the Miami Toros in the standings, however the tie-breaker was goal differential. Tampa Bay's plus-7 goal margin narrowly edged out the Toros’ plus-6, and the Rowdies advanced. Ringo Cantillo was named MVP of the Region, edging out Miami's Nico Bodonczy by one vote.[9]
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 4 | ||
| 2 | Miami Toros | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 4 | ||
| 3 | Baltimore Comets | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 19 | align=center | -5 | 0 | |
| 4 | Washington Diplomats | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 14 | align=center | -8 | 0 |
Tampa Bay was paired up with the New York Cosmos in the semifinals, while the other semifinal had San Jose clashing with the Dallas Tornado. Led by Doug Wark’s record six-goal performance, the Rowdies jumped out to an early 3–0 lead, and never looked back, as they dispatched the Cosmos, 13–5, to advance to the final on Sunday.[10]
On March 16, 1975, the Tampa Bay faced a heavily favored San Jose Earthquakes team in the Rowdies first of what would be many championship finals, against. With the score 6–1 at the end of the first period, and 8,618 fans behind them, San Jose showed exactly why they were tabbed to win the tournament. From there the home team cruised to an 8–5 victory. In addition to the Rowdies’ runner-up performance, Doug Wark was named to the All-Tournament squad and was the second leading scorer in the tournament.[11]
| Pos | Team | G | W | L | GF | GA | GD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 4 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 17 | +20 | |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 | 3 | 1 | 33 | 21 | +11 | |
| 3 | Dallas Tornado | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 12 | +2 | |
| 4 | New York Cosmos | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 27 | align=center | -9 |
| 5 | Miami Toros | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 12 | +6 |
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Doug Wark | 4 | 10 | 0 | 20 | |
| align=left | Ringo Cantillo | 4 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |
| align=left | Bernard Hartze | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | |
| align=left | Farrukh Quraishi | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | |
| align=left | Zygmunt Lezak | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | |
| align=left | Eddie Engerth | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | |
| align=left | Nick Papadakis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| align=left | Mike Connell | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| align=left | John Boyle | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| align=left | Lima | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| align=left | Alex Pringle | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| align=left | Randy Garber | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| align=left | Javier Alvarez | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| align=left | Bob Isaacson | - | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses
| Player | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | 4 | 210 | 21 | 5.25 | 3 | 1 | ||
| align=left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Since Tampa Bay was a newly formed club, the entire roster was new.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | DF | No details available | December 1974 | [12] [13] | |||
| 1 | GK | Contract purchased from Dundee | December 1974 | ||||
| 7 | MF | No details available | December 17, 1974 | [14] | |||
| 2 | DF | 1st overall pick of NASL college draft | January 18, 1975 | [15] | |||
| 10 | FW | Philadelphia amateur team | Former Hartwick College player | January 20, 1975 | [16] | ||
| 6 | DF | No details available | January 20, 1975 | ||||
| 11 | DF | Purchased from Rochester | January 27, 1975 | [17] | |||
| 4 | DF | Obtained release after 5-month pursuit | February 6, 1975 | [18] | |||
| 9 | MF | none | Free agent | February 9, 1975 | [19] | ||
| 8 | MF | 2nd round of college draft | February 9, 1975 | ||||
| 12 | FW | 3rd round of college draft | February 9, 1975 | ||||
| 13 | DF | 4th round of college draft | February 9, 1975 | ||||
| 12 | FW | Free transfer | March 11, 1975 | [20] | |||
| 15 | FW | none | Added as an emergency player | March 11, 1975 | |||
| 1 | GK | No contract, to keep amateur status | January 1975 | [21] |
none
| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Details | Start | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | MF | Indoor season loan | February 9, 1975 | |||
| 9 | MF | Indoor loan with option for transfer | March 11, 1975 | |||
| 13 | MF | Polonia NY | Indoor loan with option for transfer | March 11, 1975 | ||
