The Rochester Lancers were an American soccer team that competed in the American Soccer League (ASL) from 1967 until 1969, and in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1970 to 1980. The team was based in Rochester, New York, and played home games at Holleder Memorial Stadium. The Lancers won the 1970 NASL Championship and was the only NASL team to compete in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The Lancers could not sustain their early success, posting two winning records and a few playoff appearances before folding after the 1980 season.
History
Founding and ASL years On March 23, 1967, it was announced Rochester, New York, had been granted a franchise in the upcoming professional American Soccer League (ASL) season. A group of local businessmen headed by attorney Rudy LePore formed Rochester Soccer Club, Inc. Roman Kucil, who had played for the Hungarian-Americans of the Rochester District Soccer League, was employed as manager of the team, which was officially named Rochester Lancers. On May 30, the Lancers played their first game, an exhibition game against German team SC Concordia von 1907, losing 4–2. The team's next match was another exhibition against Chelsea F.C., an English Football League First Division team, on June 13, 1967. The Lancers lost the match 6–1. On July 21, 1967, it was confirmed the Lancers would participate in the ASL's first division and would open the season on 27 August at home against Boston Tigers, and the teams would also play an exhibition match two weeks earlier.
A few days before the season, Rochester Lancers replaced manager Kucil with George Baker and signed seven players including Scottish forward Ken Allison and Brazilian Nelson Bergamo, who had played for Santos FC. In early October, Baker was replaced by general manager Charlie Schiano as acting coach. Sal DeRosa was hired and coached the team for the last four games of the season. In mid November, goal keeper Dick Howard joined the team; he allowed only two goals in his first four games with the club. The Lancers played their scheduled season finale against Philadelphia Ukrainians, losing 2–1 on December 17, 1967; however, the Lancers' 15-October match against Newark Ukrainian Sitch was postponed due to a conflict with the ASL All-Star game being held at Yankee Stadium. Originally rescheduled to be played in December, the game was not played until April 28, 1968. The match ended in 2–2 draw, securing a fourth-place finish for the Lancers in its debut season with a record of six wins, two draws and seven losses. Bergamo, who signed a new contract with the club a week earlier, scored a goal in the contest, finishing the season with 15 and leading the league. For the season, the team reported losses close to $50,000.
In early March 1968, the Lancers named Italian Ricardo Musci, who had spent the previous ten years coaching in Venezuela, as the team's new coach. On May 22, 1968, the Lancers hosted 1967–68 English First Division champions Manchester City F.C., losing 4–0 in the exhibition match; Francis Lee scored all four of City's goals. The Lancers' next match on June 11 was another exhibition match, this time against 1967–68 Scottish Cup champions Dunfermline Athletic F.C., who defeated the Lancers 8–1 with Barrie Mitchell scoring a hat-trick and Robert Paton scoring two goals. On June 25, the Lancers hosted Borussia Dortmund; the city provided a motorcade for the German team and presented them with the key to the city. The Lancers lost their third-consecutive match against international competition 6–0. In August, the Lancers signed a working agreement with the Detroit Cougars of the North American Soccer League, resulting in several Cougar players including goal keeper Dick Howard playing for Rochester Lancers. On October 15, Ricardo Musci was fired as coach after the team had compiled a record of four wins, three losses and one draw in league play, with an additional five loses in exhibition matches.
General manager Charlie Schiano again became interim coach. On November 7, 1968, it was announced Andrej Nagy, former manager of Washington Whips and Detroit Cougars, would take over as head coach of the Lancers from 1 February 1969; goalkeeper Howard was hired as assistant coach and ran training with Schiano, managing the touchline for the remaining games of the season. On December 1 that year, the Lancers finished the season with a 10–0 away victory against Hartford Kings, ending the 1968 American Soccer League season in second place with a record of six wins, five losses and one draw.
Six weeks before the start of the 1969 season, Andrej Nagy resigned his position and was replaced by former Canada men's national soccer team assistant coach Frank Pike. By the middle of March, GM Schiano had begun to revise the roster, having already signed Tony Lecce, Charlie Williams and Jorge Piotti. The team traded or released fourteen players from the 1968 roster, and ten new players joined the 1969 squad. Other notable additions included John Kerr, who had played with the team during the 1967 season; Canadian international Ralph McPate; and former captain of the NASL Houston Stars Hungarian-born Tibor Vigh. After playing seven games, the team was in first place in the ASL Northern Division and compiling a record of two wins and five draws. The Lancers fired coach Pike and replaced him with Jimmy Koerner on an interim basis.
At the beginning of July 1969, the Lancers defeated the Canada men's national team 4–0 in exhibition match held in Lincoln, Ontario, and in mid August, the team hosted an all-star team of players from the National Soccer League of Canada, defeating the visitors 2–1 for their seventeenth-consecutive match without a defeat. After a dispute with GM Charles Schiano over training, Koerner resigned his coaching position and was replaced by Augie Thomas on October 1, 1969. The Lancers finished the 1969 American Soccer League season with a record of twelve wins, five draws and three losses, and tied for first place with Syracuse Scorpions. The Scorpions defeated the Lancers in a single-game playoff 3–1. The day before the playoff match, Bob DiLuca was named ASL Rookie of the Year and Charlie Mitchell was named an all-star for the second-consecutive season.
Promotion to the NASL and early success
At the conclusion of the 1968 North American Soccer League season, the league announced it would suspend play for three-year period, during which league management would run an all-star team supported by eight of the current teams. This United States Soccer Federation (USSFA) rejected this plan and the league's 1969 season opened with five teams. Throughout mid 1969, there were rumors the Lancers might join the NASL; Dallas Tornado and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt visited Rochester and met with Lancers management in August. After the conclusion of the 1969 American Soccer League and North American Soccer League seasons, it was announced the Lancers and Washington Darts would join the NASL for the following season. On January 7, 1970, the Lancers hired Alex Perolli as head coach for a salary of $25,000. A few weeks before the start of the season, the team re-signed veterans Charlie Mitchell, Davie Thomson, and their leading scorer the previous season Carlos Metidieri. Five days before the start of the season, GM Charlie Schiano announced his resignation but returned to the position a week later.
The Lancers defeated Dallas Tornado 2–1 in their first game in the NASL in Texas but lost their home opener against defending champions Kansas City Spurs. For the 1970 season, the NASL invited four international teams to play each American team; the results of the match would count in league standings. The Lancers lost the first two of these international matches to Hertha BSC by 3–1 on May 12, 1970, and lost 1–2 against Coventry City on 26 May 1970. On July 12, the Lancers played Israeli team Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C.; the match finished in a scoreless draw; and on July 29, the Lancers defeated Portuguese club Varzim S.C. 3–2. Due to a dispute between Perolli and team management, GM Schiano coached the team in their 5–1 victory over St. Louis Stars on June 14; it was the team's first victory in eight games. Perolli coached the team for its next game in Dallas, but resigned his position on July 1, and Sal DeRosa returned from Syracuse Scorpions to take over as head coach. DeRosa brought several Syracuse players including goalkeeper Claude Campos, attacking Midfielder Frank Odoi and defender Winston Earle to Rochester. The Lancers finished the 1970 North American Soccer League season in first place in the Northern Division, winning the division title in the last game of the season against Kansas City Spurs, with a record of nine wins, nine losses and six draws. Facing Washington Darts in the two-legged championship final, the Lancers won the first game in Rochester 3–0 on September 5 and lost the away leg in Washington DC 3–1 on 13 September for an aggregate score of 4–3, winning the championship. The next month, Carlos Metidieri was voted the league's Player of the Year.
During the off-season, Rochester added several players from the now-defunct Kansas City Spurs, including the leading scorer Manfred Seissler, and signed defender Adolfo Gori from Juventus FC On 19 March 1971, the Lancers participated in the NASL's 1971 Hoc-Soc Tournament, the league's first foray into indoor soccer, which was hosted by St. Louis Stars. The Lancers played two games in the tournament and defeated Washington Darts 3–1 but lost to the Dallas Tornado 3–0. Due to new laws concerning tax exempt organizations, the Lancers were forced to play their first two home games at Silver Stadium, home of minor-league baseball team Rochester Red Wings, and there were rumors the Lancers might move to Miami if they if could not find a suitable stadium. Before the team's first international match of the season, however, an arrangement was made for the team to continue to use Aquinas Memorial Stadium.
For the 1971 season, the league again arranged for each team to host four international clubs and for the matches to count in league standings. Scottish club Heart of Midlothian F.C. was the first team to make the trip; they played the Lancers on May 26, ending in a 0–0 draw. On June 18, the Lancers defeated Italian team L.R. Vicenza 3–2 with Metidieri scoring three goals. The following month, the Lancers defeated Greek team Apollon Smyrnis F.C. 4–0 for their seventh-consecutive victory, equaling the NASL record. In August, the Lancers secured first place in the Northern Division with a 0–0 draw against Brazilian side Bangu Atlético Clube, the Lancers' last international opponent of the season. The Lancers finished the 1971 North American Soccer League season with a record of thirteen wins, six draws and five losses—the best record in the league and also leading the league in attendance with an average of 5,871 fans per game.
On September 1, 1971, the Lancers hosted Dallas Tornado in Rochester for the first game of a best-of-three semifinal series. The game ended with a 2–1 victory for Rochester after ninety minutes of regulation and six fifteen-minute overtime periods, totaling 176 minutes of play, setting the record for the longest game in league history. The Tornado evened the series with a 3–1 win in Dallas, before winning the series on September 8 by defeating the Lancers 2–1 in Rochester after 148 minutes of play, ninety minutes of regulation and four overtime periods. The day before the team was eliminated from the playoffs, league-leading scorer Carlos Metidieri was voted league MVP for the second consecutive season.
1971 CONCACAF Champions' Cup