Baltimore Bays
North American Soccer League (1968–1969) | |||
|
The Baltimore Bays were a professional
History
Origins
In 1966 several groups of entrepreneurs were exploring the idea of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. Two of these groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and franchise rights were awarded to ten ownership groups. Two of these ownership groups, one led by Earl Foreman and another by Murdaugh Stuart Madden, sought to locate a team in Washington, D.C., and placed bids for a lease at the District of Columbia Stadium. After the lease was awarded to Foreman's group, whose team would become the Washington Whips, Madden looked for another location for his team, eventually selling his franchise rights for $60,000 to the Baltimore Orioles in a deal announced on November 28, 1966. A month later, the team hired Clive Toye to act as the team's Vice President and General Manager. On January 10, 1967, the team name of Bays was revealed. Baltimore Orioles owner Jerold Hoffberger, who was also the owner of National Brewing Company chose the team's kit colors red and gold to match the brewing company's color scheme.[1] Former Ipswich Town forward Doug Millward was brought in to be the club's head coach.[2]
National Professional Soccer League, 1967
The Bays opened their first season at home on April 24, 1967, in a nationally televised game against the Atlanta Chiefs, winning the game 1–0 and receiving a standing ovation from the 8,434 fan in attendance.[3] The game was the first professional soccer match to be televised in the United States.[4] The team finished the season first in the Eastern Division with a record of fourteen wins, nine loses and nine draws, scoring 53 goals with an average attendance of 5,838.[5] The Bays faced the Oakland Clippers for the 1967 postseason championship final in two-game aggregate match. Baltimore won the first leg 1–0 but lost the second game 4–1, giving the Clippers a 4–2 aggregate victory for the championship.[1][6] Between the two matches, it was reported by that a decision to fire Millward was made sometime in August when the coach had inquired about his future with the club.[1] Gordon Jago was named his replacement on October 24, 1967.[7] For the season, the Bays recorded a loss of $400,000.[8]
North American Soccer League, 1968–1969
With the merger of the
Baltimore was one of only five teams remaining in the NASL for the 1969 season. Having played home matches at Memorial Stadium for the previous two seasons, the team moved to Kirk field, a high school football field, for the 1969 season.[11] The 1969 season was split into two parts. The first, called the International Cup was a double round-robin tournament with teams imported from England and Scotland representing the remaining five cites. Baltimore was represented by the West Ham United F.C. which finished the tournament in second place.[12] The second half of the season the teams competed with their normal rosters. The Bays finished this second half of the season with only two wins and averaging 1,601 fans a game.[5] On September 24, 1969, citing loses of over $1,000,000, executive vice president Joe Hamper announced the team was ceasing operations.[13]
Year-by-year
Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Regular season | Playoffs | Avg. attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1967 | NPSL | 14 | 9 | 9 | 162 | 1st, Eastern Division | Runners-up (Oakland) | 5,838 |
1968 | NASL | 13 | 16 | 3 | 128 | 4th, Atlantic Division | Did not qualify | 4,628 |
1969 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 42 | 5th | 1,238 |
Honors
- 1967 -runners up
- 1967 Eastern Division
- 1996 Gordon Bradley
- 2003 Clive Toye
- 2013 Gordon Jago
Rookie of the Year
All-Star first team selections
All-Star second team selections
|
Coaches
- Doug Millward (1967)
- Gordon Jago (1968–69)
Notes
- ^ 17 teams contested the 1968 NASL season with three teams folding before the season began
References
- ^ ISBN 9781442238954.
- ^ "Bays Name Millward As Coach". Reading Eagle. January 17, 1967. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "Pro Soccer Games Draw 46,547 Fans". The Norwalk Hour. April 17, 1967. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ Seal, Brian (April 17, 2017). "The 50th Anniversary Of The First Professional Soccer Match To Be Televised In The United States - Howler Magazine".
- ^ a b c "North American Soccer League". RSSSF. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "NASL Retro: Oakland Clippers Derrotan Baltimore Bays". September 10, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "Bays Name Soccer Coach". The Portsmouth Times. October 24, 1967. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780807843239.
- ^ "Differences Settled, Soccer Leagues Merge". The Phoenix. December 14, 1967. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "Soccer Player files big suit against teams". Herald-Journal. June 18, 1968. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ Gaschnitz, K. Michael (2008). Statistical Encyclopedia of North American Professional Sports: 1994-2006; Individual teams through Florida Marlins. McFarland & Company. p. 1152.
- ISBN 9780954013479. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "Baltimore Team Loses Millions". The Calgary Herald. September 25, 1969. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
- ^ "Home - Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame".