The 1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fourth indoor season of the club's existence.
| 1978 indoor season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner |  George Strawbridge, Jr. | ||
| General manager | Chas Serednesky, Jr | ||
| Manager |  Gordon Jago | ||
| Stadium | Bayfront Center | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: All:  Derek Smethurst (14 goals) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 6,410 (Feb. 3 vs. Diplomats) & (March 10 vs. Kicks) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 2,600 (May 3 vs. Norwich City) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 5,641 | ||
Overview
Though it had appeared, after the success of an international friendly between Tampa Bay and Zenit Leningrad in 1977,[1] that the North American Soccer League was finally poised to sanction a full indoor season for 1978,[2] the owners ultimately pulled the plug on the idea for the second straight year with a majority "no" vote.[3][4][5] The NASL however did not restrict teams from scheduling matches on their own.
Tampa Bay scheduled nine indoor games for 1978, eight of which were played. The Rowdies first match on January 28 against the Washington Diplomats also marked Gordon Jago's debut as Rowdies head coach.[6][7] This was followed by two more matches with Washington. What would have been the fourth match of the season was canceled because the roof of the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum, where the Rowdies were scheduled to take on the Rochester Lancers, collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowfall in the early morning hours of January 18.[8][9] The next two matches, both against the Tulsa Roughnecks, marked the Roughnecks' first ever match and first ever match in Tulsa, played on February 11 and 14 respectively.[10] This was followed by matches against the Dallas Tornado and Minnesota Kicks. The Rowdies' final match was nearly two months later, an international friendly against Norwich City on May 3. All home games were played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Club
Roster
Management and technical staff
George W. Strawbridge, Jr., owner- Chas Serednesky, Jr., general manager
Gordon Jago, head coach- Ken Shields, trainer
- Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager
Competitions
Results summaries
Match reports
| January 28, 1978 1 | Washington Diplomats | 7–6 (OT) | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Washington, D.C. |
| 8:00 PM | Welch  0:52' (Garber)Welch 3:57' (Pringle)Welch 4:16'Garber 20:18' (Steele)Garber 22:24' (Steele)Garber 55:30' (Steele, Demkowski)Askew  63:04' (Demkowski) | Report | Smethurst 2:11' (Bandov) Smethurst 20:36' (Marsh)Alston 25:15' (Fink)Smethurst 28:14'Smethurst 40:19' (Quaraishi)Fink 41:23' (Smethurst, Wegerle) | Stadium: D.C. Armory Attendance: 3,662[11] |
| January 29, 1978 2 | Washington Diplomats | 3–11 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Washington, D.C. |
| 3:00 PM | Welch 42:52' Garber 55:47' (Darrell)Steele 57:24' (Welch) | Report | Crudo 10:48' (Marsh) Fink 14:32' (Smethurst)Wegerle 20:25'Fink 21:25' (Quaraishi)Quraishi 30:39' (Crudo)St. Lot 31:26' (Wegerle)Quraishi 36:23'Fink 37:57'Quraishi 40:46'Marsh 46:27'Marsh 59:09' (Eagan) | Stadium: D.C. Armory Attendance: 3,111 |
| February 3, 1978 3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6–5 | Washington Diplomats | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 PM | Smethurst 20:08' (Marsh) Lindsay 25:10' (Quraishi)Lindsay 28:36' (Marsh)Auguste 53:31' (Marsh, Smethurst)Smethurst 54:24'Crudo 57:10' (Alston) | Report | Welch 3:13' Askew 37:20' (Welch)Steele 43:00'Darrell 44:13' (Garber)Welch 48:38' (Fink) | Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 6,410 Referee: Fred Usher |
| February 5, 1978 4 | Rochester Lancers | Canceled | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Hartford, Connecticut |
| Cancelled due to roof collapse | Report | Stadium: Hartford Civic Center Coliseum | ||
| Note: Cancelled due to roof collapse. | ||||
| February 11, 1978 5 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7–3 | Tulsa Roughnecks | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 PM | Smethurst 4:29' (Lindsay) McLeod 13:58'Fink 26:15'Quraishi 29:59' (St. Lot)Fink 30:29' (Eagan)Wegerle 41:05'McLeod 49:38' (Eagan) | Report A Report B | Dovedon 7:01' García 8:34' (Stamenkovic)Ferrel 11:26' (Molnar) | Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 6,384 |
| February 14, 1978 6 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 6–11 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 8:00 PM (CST) | Stamenkovic 2:27' Molnár 16:25'Ferrel 25:23' (Stamenkovic)Molnár 46:04' (Dovedan)McKeown 52:25' (Dovedan)Molnár 58:53' | Report | McLeod 7:54' (Crudo) Wegerle 5:17' (Eagan)Smethurst 7:02'Fink 9:05' (Wegerle)Lindsay 13:11' (Wegerle)Smethurst 33:07' (Marsh)Smethurst 34:22' (Connell)Smethurst 41:29' (Bandov)St. Lot 53:34' (Bandov)Marsh 54:51' (Smethurst)Smethurst 56:37' (Lindsay) | Stadium: Tulsa Assembly Center Attendance: 3,250 |
| February 18, 1978 7 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7–3 | Dallas Tornado | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 PM | Fink 15:56' (Bandov) Smethurst 29:45' (Marsh)Marsh 42:50' (Eagan)Marsh 43:37'McLeod 45:49' (Bandov)Smethurst 51:49' (Marsh)McLeod 53:14' (Eagan) | Report | Newman 19:37' (Ryan) Newman 23:50' (Ryan)Stahl 41:04' | Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 6,399 |
| March 10, 1978 8 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 11–2 | Minnesota Kicks | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 PM | McLeod 3:49' (Marsh) Eagan 4:25' (Fink)Marsh 11:22'Eagan 12:46' (Alston)Alston 14:18'Alston 20:40' (Marsh)Eagan 45:00' (Alston)Marsh 52:10' (Fink)Wegerle 56:39' (Quraishi)Wegerle 58:51' (Marsh)Fink 59:57' | Report | Willey 8:10' (Hamilton) Vujkovic 23:46' | Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 6,410 |
| May 3, 1978 9 Int’l friendly | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10–11 (OT) | Norwich City | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 8:00 PM | Paddon 11:20' Fink 18:56' (Marsh)McLeod 19:23' (Papandrea)Wegerle 24:45'Bandov 27:40' (Fink)McLeod 39:57' (Fink)Marsh 50:05' (Eagan)Connell 53:48' (Marsh)Marsh 54:07' (Connell)Robb 59:44' | Report 1 Report 2 | Sainty 17:55' (Suggett) Sainty 24:16' (Bond)Ryan 25:18' (Sainty)Peters 26:21'Peters 30:45' (Nightengale)Ryan 33:58'Suggett 34:58'Sainty 41:28'Peters 53:14' (Sainty)Suggett 59:32' (Ryan)Peters 63:43' (Suggett) | Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 2,384[12] Referee: Sam Homich |
Statistics
Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Derek Smethurst | 6 | 14 | 4 | 32 |
| Rodney Marsh | 8 | 9 | 13 | 31 |
| Joey Fink | 8 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| Wes McLeod | 5 | 8 | 0 | 16 |
| Steve Wegerle | 7 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| Kevin Eagan | 7 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| Farrukh Quraishi | 7 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| Adrian Alston | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Mark Lindsay | 7 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| Boris Bandov | 6 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Tony Crudo | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Frantz St. Lot | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Mike Connell | 8 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Arsène Auguste | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| David Robb | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Graham Paddon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Luis Papandrea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Guy Newman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes; SV = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses
| Player | GP | Min | SV | GA | GAA | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston DuBose | 7 | 428 | 111 | 35 | 4.91 | 5 | 2 |
| Paul Hammond | 1 | 60 | 11 | 5 | 5.00 | 1 | 0 |