The 1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the fourth indoor season of the club's existence.
Overview Though it had appeared, after the success of an international friendly between Tampa Bay and Zenit Leningrad in 1977, that the North American Soccer League was finally poised to sanction a full indoor season for 1978, the owners ultimately pulled the plug on the idea for the second straight year with a majority "no" vote. 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. 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. 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. 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
No.PositionNationPlayer
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
Statistics
Scoring GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points Player GP G A PtsDerek Smethurst614432Rodney Marsh891331Joey Fink810626Wes McLeod58016Steve Wegerle76416Kevin Eagan73713Farrukh Quraishi74412Adrian Alston4339Mark Lindsay7328Boris Bandov6157Tony Crudo7226Frantz St. Lot7215Mike Connell8124Arsène Auguste7102David Robb1102Graham Paddon1102Luis Papandrea1011Guy Newman1000
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 LWinston DuBose 7 428 111 35 4.91 5 2Paul Hammond 1 60 11 5 5.00 1 0
See also
1978 team indoor stats
References