The 1979–80 Tampa Bay Rowdies indoor season was the sixth indoor season of the club's existence.

Overview The 1979–80 indoor season was the Tampa Bay Rowdies' sixth season of existence, and their sixth season of indoor play. As in previous years, all home games were played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the first fully sanctioned indoor season in the North American Soccer League’s history and Tampa Bay lost only once at home. The Rowdies finished second in the Eastern Division, and qualified for the playoffs with an 8–4 record. They won five of six matches in the playoffs en route to winning the Eastern Division crown, the NASL indoor championship, and a 13–5 overall finish. Yugoslavian, Petar Baralić led the club with 21 goals in the regular season, and 23 across all competitions.

Playoffs The Rowdies completely dismantled Detroit in the first round with a 12–1 victory. In the Eastern Division championship series they swept top-seeded Atlanta, 7–3 and 6–5. In the Championship finals Memphis took the first game, by a count of 5–4. Tampa Bay stormed back on the return leg, 10–4, to set up a tiebreaker. Peter Anderson scored the only goal of the deciding mini-game to give the NASL indoor title to the Rowdies. South African, Steve Wegerle led the team in the postseason with 11 goals. While presenting the championship trophy to Rowdies captain Jan van der Veen, NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam said, “It was only fitting, because Tampa Bay was instrumental in the development of indoor soccer.”

Club

Roster No.PositionNationPlayer*trialist player

Management and technical staff George W. Strawbridge, Jr., owner Chas Serednesky, Jr., general manager Gordon Jago, head coach Keith Peacock, assistant coach Ken Shields, trainer Alfredo Beronda, equipment manager

Honors NASL Indoor Champions: 1979–80 NASL Eastern Division Indoor Champions: 1979–80

Regular season Final standings W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, % = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Avg Att = Average Home Attendance Eastern DivisionWLGB%GFGAAvg Att Atlanta Chiefs 10 2 – .83370465,069 Tampa Bay Rowdies842.66775645,910 Detroit Express753.58370693,937Fort Lauderdale Strikers 39 7.25058651,724 New England Tea Men 2108.16752813,249

Results DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersNovember 27, 1979Fort Lauderdale StrikersA4–62,834Anderson (2), Baralic (2), Van der Veen (2)December 3, 1979Atlanta ChiefsA5–4(OT)6,144Baralic (2), McLeod (2)December 7, 1979Detroit ExpressH11–75,910 Van der Veen (4), Wark (3), Auguste, Gorman, Baralic, McLeodDecember 15, 1979Atlanta ChiefsH6–25,262Baralic (2), Wark, McLeod, Anderson, QuriashiDecember 22, 1979New England Tea MenH5–45,675Baralic (2), Anderson, Gorman, ConnellDecember 28, 1979New England Tea MenA6–83,310Baralic (2), Wegerle (2), McLeod, Wark, Van der Veen, AndersonJanuary 2, 1980Atlanta ChiefsA3–25,425 McLeod (2) January 12, 1980Fort Lauderdale StrikersH6–56,243Baralic (2), McLeod (2), Anderson, Gorman January 22, 1980Detroit ExpressA5–4(OT)3,787Fabbiani, Baralic, Wark, Anderson February 1, 1980New England Tea MenH7–6(OT)6,223McLeod (3), Baralic (3), Connell February 6, 1980Fort Lauderdale StrikersA8–101,468Fabbiani (4), Wegerle (2), Auguste, McLeod, Van der Beck, Baralic February 10, 1980Detroit ExpressH6–96,145Baralic (3), Fabbiani, Van der Beck, Wegerle

Playoffs Bracket

Results DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersFebruary 19, 1980Detroit ExpressH12–14,880Fabbiani (3), Wegerle (3), McLeod (2), Connell, Baralic, Gorman, Anderson February 23, 1980Atlanta ChiefsH7–35,545 Wegerle (4), Fabbiani (2), Gorman February 25, 1980Atlanta ChiefsA5–6(OT)6,141McLeod (2), Wegerle (2), Baralic, Quraishi February 29, 1980Memphis Rogues (Finals)A5–49,081Fabbiani (2), Wegerle, Van der BeckMarch 2, 1980Memphis Rogues (Finals)H10–45,545Van der Beck (2), Connell (2), Fabbiani (2), Anderson (2), Wegerle, McLeod March 2, 1980Memphis Rogues (Finals)H1–0(Mini-game) Anderson

Statistics

Season scoring GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points, Pen = Penalty Minutes Player GP G A Pts PenPetar Baralić122110512Wes McLeod121312382Peter Anderson11711251Jan van der Veen877214Óscar Fabbiani467191Steve Wegerle1156162Doug Wark862140John Gorman1235112Mike Connell1126106Perry Van der Beck92266Farrukh Quraishi121468Arsène Auguste122154Sandje Ivanchukov120220Željko Bilecki120222Tommy Maurer60000Timothy Collins50000Winston DuBose10000Kevin Clinton10000

Season goalkeeping Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses Player GP Min Svs GA GAA W LŽeljko Bilecki 12 683 173 54 4.74 8 4Kevin Clinton 1 30 13 6 12.00 0 0Winston DuBose 1 15 1 1 4.00 0 0

Playoff scoring GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points Player GP G A PtsSteve Wegerle611729Óscar Fabbiani69927Wes McLeod65616Peter Anderson64311Perry Van der Beck63410Petar Baralić6259John Gorman6248Mike Connell6317Farrukh Quraishi6113Sandje Ivanchukov6022

See also 1979–80 NASL Indoor season 1980 in American soccer Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)

References

External links 1979–80 Rowdies stats 1980 in American Soccer