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Oakland Stompers

Oakland Stompers
Full nameOakland Stompers
Nickname(s)Stompers
Founded1978
Dissolved1978; 47 years ago (1978)
StadiumOakland–Alameda County Coliseum
Capacity50,000
ChairmanMilan Mandarić
General ManagerDick Berg[1]
LeagueNASL

The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with a 12–18 record, in third place and out of playoff contention.

Team history

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At the end of the 1977 NASL season, Silicon Valley businessman (and former owner of the San Jose Earthquakes) Milan Mandarić bought the Connecticut Bicentennials and relocated them to Oakland.[2] The club, renamed the Stompers, hired Mirko Stojanović as head coach and signed a 10-year lease at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum,[3] previously home of the NASL's Oakland Clippers in 1967–68.[4] The team signed Shep Messing for $100,000 making him the highest-paid American soccer player at the time.[5][6]

The club drew 32,104 in their home opener against cross-Bay rivals San Jose Earthquakes on April 2, 1978, with about half of those in attendance being supporters of the visiting team. (At the time, it was the largest crowd ever to see a club soccer match in California.)[7][5] After eight games and a record of 4-4, the team fired Stojanović and replaced him on an interim basis with Jack Hyde.[1] Hyde was in turn replaced by Ken Bracewell who had previously coached the Denver Dynamos.[8] In July, the team was averaging 12,200 fan in attendance,[9] but ended the season in third place and with a slight dip in attendance, 11,929 fans at seasons end.[10] (The Coliseum was a lonely place in the summer of '78: the Stompers' co-tenants, baseball's Oakland Athletics, attracted just 7,218 fans per home date.)

Following the season, the team moved to Edmonton, Alberta where they were renamed the Edmonton Drillers.[11]

Year-by-year

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Year League W L Pts Regular Season Playoffs Avg. Attend. Ref
1978 NASL 12 18 103 3rd, American Conference, Western Division Did not qualify 11,929 [10]

Honors

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U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame

Coaches

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Messing faces former mates". St. Petersburg Times. May 17, 1978. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Slater, Matt (March 16, 2015). "Milan Mandaric: Football's Mr Fixit says farewell". BBC Sport. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  3. ^ "Stojanovic Will Coach Stompers". Gettysburg Times. November 8, 1977. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  4. ^ Chazaro, Alan. "The Forgotten Legacy of Oakland's 'Outlaw' Soccer Team". thebolditalic. Medium. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Messing Has Summer In the Right Place(s)". Observer-Reporter. April 4, 1978. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  6. ^ "People". TIME. Time Inc. March 20, 1978. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  7. ^ "Messing faces former mates". Lewiston Morning Tribune. July 21, 1978. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  8. ^ "Cosmos rally past Kicks 4-2". St. Petersburg Times. June 14, 1978. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  9. ^ "Soccer attendance up, but figures misleading". Lewiston Morning Tribune. July 8, 1978. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "North American Soccer League". Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  11. ^ "Stompers turn into Drillers". Lewiston Morning Tribune. March 9, 1979. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  12. ^ "Hall of Fame selects 6". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. May 21, 1997. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  13. ^ "Hall of Famers". indoorsoccerhall.com. September 1, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
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