Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984)
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The Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) were a North American Soccer League (NASL) team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It played its home games at Skelly Stadium on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The team, previously Team Hawaii, moved to Tulsa after the 1977 season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1983, Alex Skotarek became general manager and led one of the lowest-budgeted teams in the NASL to a championship, defeating Toronto, 2–0, at Soccer Bowl '83.
Shortly after the Tulsa Roughnecks victory of the 1983 Soccer Bowl, President Ronald Reagan sent congratulatory remarks to the team as they carried the trophy in a celebration parade through downtown Tulsa. Until the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA Finals in 2025, the Roughnecks were the only major professional team from Oklahoma to win a championship.
Highlights
The Roughnecks first match was a 6–5 indoor loss on February 11, 1978, at the Bayfront Center versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Three nights later in their home debut, the same two teams faced off in front of the first 3,250 Roughnecks fans at the Tulsa Assembly Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A few weeks later they would capture the Skelly Indoor Invitational which they hosted.<ref name="Tulsa Kicks Up">Template:Cite news</ref> Over the years Tulsa regularly appeared in the NASL playoffs. They won the NASL title in Soccer Bowl '83, defeating the Toronto Blizzard at BC Place Stadium (Vancouver) by a score of 2–0 before a paid attendance of 60,051.<ref name=crowds>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The team's all-time win–loss record was 104–106. The Roughnecks' home games consistently drew better-than-league-average attendance with the annual record occurring during the 1980 season when the team averaged 19,787 spectators over 16 games for a total attendance that year of 316,593 (placing the Roughnecks at No. 5 between the Seattle Sounders and the Washington Diplomats). The largest home game attendance for Tulsa occurred on April 26, 1980, when 30,822 fans watched the Roughnecks' 2–1 victory over the New York Cosmos at Skelly Stadium. The highest attendance for any Roughneck game occurred on August 26, 1979, when Tulsa met the Cosmos in New York for a NASL playoff game before a crowd of 76,031.<ref name=crowds/>
Post-NASL
When, in August 1984, the Major Indoor Soccer League rejected the Roughnecks' application to join several other NASL teams in participating in the MISL's 1984-85 season (citing the town's small market status and subpar arena), team owners decided to fold the financially struggling franchise as of the end of the NASL season in September. Former general manager Noel Lemon and a handful of local investors were not ready to give up on soccer in Tulsa, and they were granted permission in January 1985 to revive the name and put together a team to play outdoors that summer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Before this club could take the field, though, the NASL completed its long, slow collapse and cancelled the upcoming 1985 season in March. Lemon's new Roughnecks, which featured several holdover players from the previous iteration of the team, carried on as an independent club and pieced together a 20-game exhibition schedule against teams from the MISL, WACS, Europe and South America, as well as former NASL and USL sides that had not folded.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Excluding several cancelations along the way, the team compiled a record of 8–2–1, before suspending operations on July 17, 1985.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Famous Roughnecks players include Iraj Danaeifard, Alex Skotarek, Charlie Mitchell, Billy Caskey, Victor Moreland,<ref name="tbcn140130">Template:Cite news</ref> Barry Wallace, Alan Woodward, Zeljko Bilecki, Carmelo D'Anzi, Winston DuBose, Njego Pesa, Laurie Abrahams, Chance Fry, Terry Moore and David McCreery.
Year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Reg. season | Playoffs | Avg. attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | NASL indoor | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | N/A | Won, Skelly Invitational | 2,250 | |
| 1978 | NASL | 15 | 15 | 0 | 132 | 2nd, National Conference, Central Division | Lost 1st Round (Minnesota) | 11,256 | |
| 1979 | NASL indoor | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | N/A | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
6,340 |
| 1979 | NASL | 14 | 16 | 0 | 139 | 3rd, National Conference, Central Division | Won Conference Quarterfinal (Minnesota) Lost Conference Semifinal (New York) |
16,426 | |
| 1979–80 | NASL Indoor | 7 | 5 | 0 | — | 3rd, Western | Lost 1st Round (Minnesota) | 4,657 | |
| 1980 | NASL | 15 | 17 | 0 | 139 | 3rd, National Conference, Central Division | Lost 1st Round (New York) | 19,787 | |
| 1980–81 | NASL Indoor | 9 | 9 | 0 | — | 2nd, Southern Division | did not qualify | 5,288 | |
| 1981 | NASL | 17 | 15 | 0 | 154 | 3rd, Central Division | Lost 1st Round (Minnesota) | 17,188 | |
| 1981–82 | NASL Indoor | 10 | 8 | 0 | — | 3rd, American Conference, Central Division | Won 1st Round (Chicago) Lost Semifinal (Tampa Bay) |
5,308 | |
| 1982 | NASL | 16 | 16 | 0 | 112 | 2nd, Southern Division | Lost 1st Round (New York) | 14,554 | |
| 1983 | NASL Indoor Grand Prix | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | 3rd in Grand Prix preliminary rounds | Lost Semifinal (Tampa Bay) Won 3rd place match (Ft. Lauderdale) |
3,293 | |
| 1983 | NASL | 17 | 13 | 0 | 145 | 1st, Southern Division | Won 1st Round (Ft. Lauderdale) Won Semifinals (Montreal) Won Soccer Bowl '83 (Toronto) |
12,415 | |
| 1983–84 | NASL Indoor | 11 | 21 | 0 | — | 6th | did not qualify | 3,707 | |
| 1984 | NASL | 10 | 14 | 0 | 98 | 4th, Western Division | did not qualify | 7,797 | |
| 1985 | Independent | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | friendlies only | none | 3,651 |
Honors
Template:Col-begin Template:Col-breakNASL championships (2)
Division champions (1)
- 1983 Southern Division
Rookie of the Year
- 1981 Joe Morrone, Jr.
Soccer Bowl MVP
- 1983 Njego Pesa
Indoor Tournament MVP
- 1978 Nino Zec & Tibor Molnar
- 1983 Laurie Abrahams (offensive)
Indoor leading goal scorer<ref name="news.google.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 1978 Nino Zec & Milan Dovedan (5 goals)
- 1983 Laurie Abrahams (12 goals)
Indoor Leading Scorer<ref name="news.google.com"/>
- 1978 Nino Zec (5 goals, 2 assists, 12 points)
- 1983 Laurie Abrahams (12 goals, 6 assists, 30 points)
Indoor Assists Leader
- 1979–80 Steve Earle (18 assists)
Template:Col-break All-Star first team selections
- 1983 Barry Wallace
All-Star second team selections
- 1981 Barry Wallace
- 1982 Barry Wallace
- 1984 Terry Moore & Victor Moreland
All-Star honorable mentions
- 1981 Duncan McKenzie
- 1982 Laurie Abrahams
- 1984 Ron Futcher
Indoor All-Tournament Team
Indoor All-Stars
- 1981–82 Barry Wallace
- 1983–84 Barry Wallace (starter) & Zequinha (reserve)
Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame
- 2004 Bob Bolitho
- 2005 Terry Moore
- 2008 Jack Brand
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- 2012 Kim Roentved
Ownership & Staff
- Template:Flagicon Carl Moore – Co-Owner (1978–83)
- Template:Flagicon Mike Kimbrel – Co-Owner (1978–83)
- Template:Flagicon Rick Lowenherz – Co-Owner (1978–83)
- Template:Flagicon Fred Williams – Co-Owner (1978–83)
- Template:Flagicon Jim Boeh – Communications Director
- Template:Flagicon Noel Lemon – General Manager (1978–1981
- Template:Flagicon Alex Skotarek – General Manager (1983)
- Tulsa Cable – Owner (1984)
Players
- Template:Flagicon Zequinha (1983–84)
- Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Željko Bilecki (1981–82)
- Template:Flagicon Bob Bolitho (1980–81)
- Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Jack Brand (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Dean DiTocco (1978–80)
- Template:Flagicon Terry Moore (1982–84)
- Template:Flagicon Kim Roentved (1982)
- Template:Flagicon Laurie Abrahams (1979, 1982–83)
- Template:Flagicon Colin Boulton (1978–79) [1]
- Template:Flagicon David Bradford (1982/1984)
- Template:Flagicon Viv Busby (1981–82)
- Template:Flagicon Chris Dangerfield (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Terry Darracott (1979) [2]
- Template:Flagicon Roger Davies (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Alan Dugdale (1980–81)
- Template:Flagicon Steve Earle (1978/1980)
- Template:Flagicon Lil Fuccillo (1983)
- Template:Flagicon Ron Futcher (1983–84)
- Template:Flagicon David Irving (1980) [3]
- Template:Flagicon David Johnson (1984)
- Template:Flagicon Jimmy Kelly (1980–81)
- Template:Flagicon Duncan McKenzie (1981)
- Template:Flagicon David Nish (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Tommy Ord (1980)
- Template:Flagicon Colin Waldron (1978) [4]
- Template:Flagicon Barry Wallace (1980–85) [5]
- Template:Flagicon Alan Woodward (1979–81) [6]
- Template:Flagicon Franz Gerber (1982)
- Template:Flagicon Johannes Edvaldsson (1980–81)
- Template:Flagicon Iraj Danaeifard (1980–85)
- Template:Flagicon Don O'Riordan (1979–80)
- Template:Flagicon Carmelo D'Anzi (1983)
- Template:Flagicon Thompson Usiyan (1983–84)
- Template:Flagicon Billy Caskey (1978–85)[7]
- Template:Flagicon David McCreery (1981–82)
- Template:Flagicon Chris McGrath (1981–82)
- Template:Flagicon Victor Moreland (1978; 1980–85)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Template:Flagicon Adam Krupa (1981–85)
- Template:Flagicon Charlie Mitchell (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Davie Robb (1980) [8]
- Template:Flagicon Eric Robertson (1980)
- Template:Flagicon Delroy Allen (1980–82)
- Template:Flagicon Matt Bahr (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Winston DuBose (1982–85)
- Template:Flagicon Gene DuChateau (1979–81)
- Template:Flagicon Chance Fry (1983–85)
- Template:Flagicon Billy Gazonas (1978–1980)
- Template:Flagicon Joe Morrone, Jr. (1981–1982)
- Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Njego Pesa (1982–83)
- Template:Flagicon Bill Sautter (1978–79)
- Template:Flagicon Alex Skotarek (1978–81)
- Template:Flagicon Brian Shugart
- Template:Flagicon Ron Davies (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Clive Griffiths (1980)
- Template:Flagicon Wayne Hughes (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Petar Nikezić (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Nino Zec (1978, 1983–84)
Many former players have found employment as paid trainers of youth soccer teams for clubs such as the Tulsa United, Tulsa Soccer Club (TSC), Tornado Soccer Club, and Hurricane Football Club (HFC).
Coaches
- Template:Flagicon Bill Foulkes (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Alex Skotarek (1978)
- Template:Flagicon Alan Hinton (1979)
- Template:Flagicon Charlie Mitchell (1980–1981)
- Template:Flagicon Terry Hennessey (1981–1983, won 1983 Soccer Bowl)
- Template:Flagicon Steve Earle (1983–84 indoor season only)
- Template:Flagicon Wim Suurbier (1984)
External links
- Jimmie Tramel, "Roughnecks a colorful, talented group", Tulsa World, June 26, 2006.
- J Hutcherson, "Tulsa's Charity Case" at USSoccerPlayers.com.
- Clive Gammon, "Blowing Out the Blizzard", [10], October 10, 1983.
- "Sports People; Too Rough In Tulsa", The New York Times, November 17, 1983.
See also
References
Template:Tulsa Roughnecks Template:North American Soccer League (1966–85)
- Football team templates which use American parameter
- Football team templates which use short name parameter
- Tulsa Roughnecks
- Association football clubs established in 1977
- Association football clubs disestablished in 1985
- Sports in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams
- Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
- Defunct soccer clubs in Oklahoma
- Soccer clubs in Oklahoma
- 1977 establishments in Oklahoma
- 1985 disestablishments in Oklahoma