| Club: | Fort Lauderdale Strikers |
| Season: | 1978 |
| Manager: | Ron Newman |
| Owner: |  Elizabeth Robbie |
| Chairman: | Beau Rodgers |
| Chrtitle: | General manager |
| Stadium: | Lockhart Stadium |
| League: | NASL |
| League Result: | American Conference: Finalist |
| League Topscorer: | David Irving (16 goals) |
| Season Topscorer: | David Irving (23 goals) |
| Average Attendance: | 10,479 |
| American: | True |
| Pattern La1: | _red_hoops |
| Pattern B1: | _Fort12Home |
| Pattern Ra1: | _red_hoops |
| Pattern Sh1: | _udeg1718h |
| Pattern So1: | _redstripe |
| Leftarm1: | FFCC00 |
| Body1: | FFCC00 |
| Rightarm1: | FFCC00 |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
| Pattern La2: | _redborder |
| Pattern B2: | _horizontalonwhite |
| Pattern Ra2: | _redborder |
| Pattern Sh2: | _redbottom |
| Pattern So2: | _redstripe |
| Leftarm2: | FFFFFF |
| Body2: | FFFF99 |
| Rightarm2: | FFFFFF |
| Shorts2: | FFFFFF |
| Socks2: | FFFFFF |
| Prevseason: | 1977 Strikers |
| Nextseason: | 1979 Strikers (indoor) |
The 1978 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season was the second season of the Fort Lauderdale Striker's team, and the club's twelfth season in professional soccer. This year the team were a finalist in the North American Soccer League American Conference.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 7, 1978 | Washington Diplomats | D.C. Armory | 9–2 | 2,384 (indoor) | Fearnley, Proctor |
| January 8, 1978 | Washington Diplomats | D.C. Armory | 8–5 | 2,163 (indoor) | Vaniger (2), Hamlyn, Aguirre, Nanchoff |
| February 6, 1978 | Stockport County F.C. | Edgeley Park | 2–4 | Irving, Whittle, Gemeri, Hughes | |
| February 8, 1978 | Blackpool F.C. | Bloomfield Road | 3–2 | ||
| February 10, 1978 | Workington A.F.C. | Borough Park | 0–0 | 6,127 | |
| February 13, 1978 | Portsmouth F.C. | Fratton Park | 2–2 | Irving (2) | |
| February 15, 1978 | Port Vale F.C. | Vale Park | 4–2 | 1,877 | |
| February 18, 1978 | Swindon Town F.C. | County Ground | 6–3 | 1,173 | Irving (2), Fowles |
| February 26, 1978 | FIU Sunblazers | FIU Soccer Stadium | 4–2 | Irving, Bodonczy | |
| March 4, 1978 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Dade North Stadium | 2–0 | 3,248 | Irving, Fowles |
| March 8, 1978 | Detroit Express | Bryant Stadium | 2–3 | 350 | Irving (2), Bodonczy |
| March 18, 1978 | Minnesota Kicks | Lockhart Stadium | 1–2 | 2,333 | Vaniger |
| March 23, 1978 | Washington Diplomats | Leonard High School | 1–0 | 2,800 | Irving |
| March 25, 1978 | Philadelphia Fury | City Stadium | 0–1 (SO) | shootout tiebreaker | |
| May 10, 1978 | Blackpool F.C. | Lockhart Stadium | 2–1 | 5,173 | Gary Jones (2) |
| May 15, 1978 | Blackpool F.C. | Atlanta | 0–2 | 9,658 (in Atlanta) | |
| style=font-size:85% align=center rowspan=3 width=15% | August 9 | width=24% align=right | New England Tea Men | align=center width=13% | 1–3 | width=24% | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | style=font-size:85% rowspan=3 valign=top | Schaefer Stadium • 18,672 |
| align=right valign=top | valign=top | align=left valign=top |
In 1978, if a playoff series was tied after two games, a 30 minute, golden goal, mini-game was played. If neither team scored in the mini-game, they would move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. *Teams were re-seeded for the Conference Semifinals based on regular season point totals. This affected only one of the four series; Tampa Bay versus San Diego.[1]
| width=180 | Higher seed | width=5 | width=180 | Lower seed | width=80 | Game 1 | width=80 | Game 2 | width=100 | Mini-game | width=270 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Express | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3–4 (SO, 2–3) | 1–0 | 0–1 | August 13 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,517 August 16 • Pontiac Silverdome • 32,219 |
| width=180 | Higher seed | width=5 | width=180 | Lower seed | width=80 | Game 1 | width=80 | Game 2 | width=100 | Mini-game | width=270 | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 (SO, 2–1) | August 20 • Lockhart Stadium • 16,286 August 23 • Tampa Stadium • 37,249 |