1975 NASL Champions

1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies "Fannies" Day

This site is not affiliated with the team or the NASL

Coach Eddie Firmani
"Il Tacchino D'Oro"  (The Golden Turkey)

Eddie Firmani was one of the great South African players to play for Charlton. He scored 89 goals in 177 appearances in his two spells at The Valley, although he was often played out of position.  When he was transferred to Sampdoria he was the most expensive Football League player ever. He was manager of Charlton from September 1967 to March 1970. Although this was an up-and-down spell, he went on to subsequent success in the North American Soccer League.

Read about his career, how he got his nickname and see more pictures.
 

Derek Smethurst chats with a young fannie
"What do you mean your favorite player is Rodney Marsh?!?!?"
 
Soccer Offense for Winning
by Derek Smethurst, 2000 - 112 pages
Soccer Technique for Winning
by Derek Smethurst, 2000 - 166 pages
Soccer Practice for Winning
by Derek Smethurst  - 2004 - 176 pages

Now an accomplished author and sports consultant, Derek has served as Technical Advisor / Trainer at the University of South Florida and MLS/Youth Soccer.  He now lives in Valrico, FL, and runs a soccer camp. 

Read about Derek's career and success in the NASL, and see more pictures.

 

 

 

Mark "Jaws" Lindsay

Mark was born March 6, 1955 in London, England and played for a time in South Africa and with then 3rd Division Crystal Palace when loaned to the Rowdies in 1975.

Before there was the book and movie about the shark, there was Mark "Jaws" Lindsay.  Mark was the life of the party on Tampa Bay bus and plane trips, Fannies functions or any get-together. Known for his constant and witty chatter on and off the field, his non-stop dialogue earned him his nickname.
On road trips, Lindsay was the humor ringleader along with teammates Paul Hammond and Stewart Jump; the three were teammates at Crystal Palace in England before coming to the Rowdies.  Together they would ad-lib comedy routines, keeping the team loose and well-entertained.  His favorite act was doing impressions, from Scullion's Scottish brogue to John Wayne and even wrestler Dusty Rhodes.

Lindsay joined the Rowdies in order to gain experience and confidence to take with him back to England. A tireless midfielder and the speediest on the Rowdies' '75 roster, Lindsay was relentless in his pursuit of regaining the ball.  He continually led the team in steals, averaging 13 takeaways per game in his time with the Rowdies.  His sneak attacks on unsuspecting opponents helped swing momentum to the Rowdies' side, start fast breaks and generally demoralize the opposition. 

Aug. 20, 1975 article:
Rowdies Jokester Is All Business On The Field

May 19, 1977 article:
Lindsay's Bag; Laughs & Steals

Mark's continuous motion and ability to stay with his man all the way across the field, combined with his speed, made him a valuable member of the Rowdies squad.  His versatility allowed him to play a number of positions, including midfield and defender.

Mark played in 59 games from 1975 through 1977 for the Rowdies before his moving on to the Houston Hurricane in 1978 where he scored 4 goals and 4 assists.  He played there 2 games in the '79 season before joining the California Surf where he scored 10 goals and 18 assists outdoors from 1979 through 1981.  He also played indoors for the Surf, tallying 15 goals and 30 assists. 

 



 

Lindsay & Glover celebrate
Steve Wegerle's goal

In 1982, Mark joined the Jacksonville Tea Men before playing 2 seasons in the MISL, one with the Baltimore Blast in '82-'83 and one with the LA Lazers for '83-'84.  He ended his playing career with the Rowdies in 1984.

Mark's player stats and action photos

 

 

Arnold "El Grandóte" Mausser

Arnold "Arnie" Mausser was born February 28, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York.  During his career he played with 8 different NASL teams from 1975-1984 and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser is considered to be one of the finest goalkeepers the United States has ever produced. He is known as the trailblazer for future US goalkeepers such as Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, and Brad Friedel. He was a big man (standing 6' 5") who threw with his right hand, but kicked with his left foot.  Mausser was one of the few goalkeepers who was not a product of the America college system.

Arnie grew up in Brooklyn with two younger brothers, and played numerous sports, his favorite being basketball. In the eighth grade he began playing soccer and because of his size, played goalkeeper. As he got older he trained with numerous local teams, eventually catching the eye of the coach of the Rhode Island Oceaneers of the American Soccer League (ASL). He signed with the team in 1974 and played a single season, going unbeaten at 24-0-1.

In 1975, Mausser joined the Hartford Bicentennials of the North American Soccer League (NASL), tending the net for all but 15 minutes of the season.  He remained with the team for only a single season before moving to the Tampa Bay Rowdies for the 1976 season. Arnie logged 2,162 minutes in 1976, making 200 saves and finishing 4th in the league with a 1.17 goals against average.  In 1976, he was honored with the Pele award on national television as top American player in the NASL.

His excellent play with the Rowdies (6 shutouts and 28 goals scored against him in 24 games) led to his selection as a first team NASL All Star. Despite his success with the Rowdies, coach Eddie Firmani preferred English goalkeeper Paul Hammond who had spent the 1975 season with the Rowdies. As a result, Firmani traded Mausser in 1977 to the Vancouver Whitecaps after the Rowdies signed Hammond.

After one season, he moved from Vancouver to the Colorado Caribous. After one season in Colorado, he moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Then he was traded from the Strikers to the New England Teamen during the 1980 season. At the end of the season, the Teamen moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where Mausser spent the next two seasons as part of the Jacksonville Tea Men.

Mausser's strong play earned him the starting goalkeeper position for the national team with which he earned 35 caps, for shut outs, between 1975 and 1985. He generally played well for the national team, earning 10 shutouts. In 1985 the U.S. just missed qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in the last home match with Costa Rica in Torrance, California.  Mausser played one more game for the national team, against by England on June 16.

Mausser was a member of Team America, the short lived USSF attempt to form the United States men's national soccer team into a quasi-professional team.


1982 Team America, click to enlarge

In 1984, he played the NASL's last outdoor season back with the Rowdies. When the NASL folded, he briefly played with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He would also play a season with the Buffalo Stallions of the MISL.

In 1988 he moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, now of the American Soccer League and then to the Albany Capitals of the American Professional Soccer League for the 1990 season. He ended his career back with the Strikers for another two seasons before retiring in 1992.

Arnie got his nickname of "El Grandóte" (The Big One) from Mexican soccer fans during his exploits with the US National Team.

In 1986, Winston Dubose and Mausser played in Tampa's "1986 Coca-Cola Classic Int'l Soccer Series" as guests on a team consisting of the Queens Park Rangers.  The team, who at the time included Steve and Roy Wegerle, had varying rosters and coaches for each game in the series, most notably, coaches Rodney Marsh and Pele.  Other Rowdies included Wes McLeod, Tatu, Mike McConnell and Mannie Rojas.


1986 Coca Cola Classic, Tampa - Arnold Mausser back row, gold jersey.  Front row left, Roy Wegerle and front row, second from right, Steve Wegerle.  Click photo to enlarge.

Mausser was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.  He is now the president of Sun Flare Marketing, a computer systems design service specializing in website hosting, design, and brochures in Ft. Meyers, Florida.

 

Arnie's Soccer Hall of Fame entry

Arnie's  stats, team & action photos

 

 

 

Clyde Best
Read about his career & success with the Rowdies

Stewart "Scully" Scullion
Read about his career & success with the Rowdies

 

 

 

After the '76 season with the Rowdies, Rodney signed for Cork Hibernians before briefly returning to Fulham during the 1976-77 season; linking up with old friends George Best and Bobby Moore to play for the last time together in England. 

Rodney returned to the Rowdies in 1977, was a first-team all star selection in 1978, and played with the Rowdies until 1979.  In all, he played 4 seasons for the Rowdies, scoring 48 goals in 94 games. He appeared in Soccer Bowl '79 (having missed Soccer Bowl '78 due to a leg infection). He was also named to two NASL All-Star teams.

He was a fine player, a marvelous showboat, peerless in the put-upon fall after a penalty he would allege, the best known of all the Rowdies. His fascinating skills, coupled with his outlandish showmanship and tantalizing unpredictability incited the cheers of hundreds of thousands of fannies.

Rodney Marsh arriving at Tampa International Airport from England for the 1977 NASL season.  Reporter is Bob South.
 

Rodney Marsh
"The Clown Prince of Soccer"

Rodney William Marsh was born October 11, 1944 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. He was named after the HMS Rodney by his father, who served on the battleship. He played for Fulham F.C., Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City and the England national team before joining the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

 

Marsh was one of a generation of highly talented "maverick" players that emerged in English football during the 1960s and 1970s.  He began his career as a 15-year-old youth player at West Ham and and a year later went on to play for Fulham, for whom he made his debut in 1963.  During his time at Fulham, in the act of heading a spectacular goal, a collision with a goal post and an opposing defender cost him the hearing in his left ear. The result: an outwardly engaging but personal lifetime habit of tilting his head to one side during conversation. 

 

He was Fulham's top scorer with 18 goals the season before he was sold in 1966 at age 21 to join the Queens Park Rangers, then in the 3rd Division.  Rangers supporters who had been used to good honest hard working forwards suddenly had a skillful forward with bewitching trickery that mesmerized opposing defenses. With his teammates help, Rodney was able to use his full repertoire of tricks to dismantle most teams. In the league, the Rangers scored 103 goals, 30 of them were by Rodney in 41 appearances.

 

Marsh was adored by the locals, becoming 3rd Division and 2nd Division Champions, and inspiring triumph at Wembley in a League Cup Final, coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the final, with Marsh scoring the equalizer. Rodney scored 44 goals in 53 games in one season and a total of 134 goals in 242 appearances.  Rodney became the crowd favorite and the fans used to chant 'Rod-nee-Rod-nee' which went right around the ground.  The following year, QPR was promoted again to reach the First Division. 

Marsh was picked to the England National Team while a 3rd Division player, unheard of in today's profession.  He made his debut against Switzerland in 1971 and won a total of nine caps, scoring one goal, which came in a 3-0 victory over Wales.

 

For a big man (over 6ft) he had incredible ball control and had a trick where he could pass to himself as he was running.  He used to pass with his right foot but the ball would hit his left foot as he was running, making the ball veer the other way, which threw the defense and he could amble towards goal.

Rodney can be remembered as an extrovert who seldom did the expected during his career in England.  Fans at Ipswich will remember a penalty kick he was awarded against them.  Rodney ran toward the ball from the halfway line, swerving, jumping in the air and looking as though he was pedaling a bike.  He got to the ball at the penalty spot, stopped, the goalie dived and he rolled it into the other corner. In 211 league appearances with QPR, Rodney scored 106 goals. All memorable.

In 1972 he signed with Manchester City for a then club record transfer fee of £200,000. Despite his claim that his style simply did not suit that of the team, he became one of City's star players, scoring 19 goals in 1972-73 and often dazzling the crowd with his skills. Marsh led the club to a League Cup final in 1974, but were beaten by the Wolverhampton Wanderers. He left the club shortly into the 1974-75 season after disagreements with new manager Tony Book.

Rodney left Manchester City in 1976 with the exodus of international footballers to play in the NASL. He signed with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1976 where he made over 100 appearances and became the fan’s favorite, going on to captain his team.  (Continued at top of left column)

Years Club Games (Gls)
1962-66
1966-72
1972-75
1976
1976-77
1977-79
1986-1987
Fulham
Queens Park Rangers
Manchester City
Tampa Bay Rowdies
Fulham
Tampa Bay Rowdies
Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)
   63 (22)
 211 (106)
 118
(36)
   23
(12)
   16
(5)
   87
(41)
   20
(13)   

QPR Hall of Fame

August 21, 1976 article after the Rowdies 3-1 victory over the Cosmos - "Pressure can't stop Marsh's fun"

Video:  Marsh vs. Pele

Read about Rodney's media career

Football Fans Remember Rodney Marsh

Marsh retired after 1979, and coached the New York United and Carolina Lightnin' teams in the ASL, before returning to the Rowdies to coach their final NASL season in 1984. He was head coach from 1984 to 1986, and was the team's chief executive for 11 years.  In 1986, he came out of retirement to play one last season with the Rowdies, this time with the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA). Marsh played in twenty games during the 1985-1986 season, scoring 13 goals.

Video:  A great series of plays by Marsh in 1976 with teammates George Best & Bobby Moore at Fulham.  Starting at the 1:10 minute mark of the video, a near goal by Marsh, then 2 great goals.

Video:  Rodney Marsh goals from his English league days

Aug. 24, 1979 Article after winning American Conf. Championship: A Fitting Show for Broadway

 

 

 

Farrukh Quraishi

Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Farrukh was the most popular Rowdie during his time with the team.  His hustle, high level of fitness and love of the game were major assets to the team.  While playing with the Rowdies, Quraishi also served as the team’s director of youth development. In this capacity he got his first taste of managing and developing a team’s infrastructure. Quraishi gained valuable exposure to this side of soccer at an early point in his career and it served him well for the rest of his life. As part of his duties in community relations, Quraishi developed soccer leagues and soccer camps throughout the Tampa Bay area. When he returned to Tampa, Caspers Company, a McDonald’s franchisee, hired him as its director of public relations. As part of his duties, he placed the McDonald’s name and logo into the public’s awareness through charity and youth events. Among these was the establishment of the McDonald's Sun Bowl International Youth Soccer Tournament. He remained with the company until 1992 when he re-entered the soccer world full time as Orlando, Florida’s venue executive director for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

1982 News article Francisco Marcos & Quraishi Bay Area Youth Soccer Pioneers

Farrukh is now the Chief  Operating Officer of Brock Communications

Read more about Farrukh's playing career in his college days and with the Rowdies, and see more pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

After his career with the Rowdies, it was back to England and a season with  Kettering before trying his hand at pub hostelry.  He made a surprise return to football in the summer of 1994, when taking on the manager's role at Harlow Town with a good friend and ex-City midfielder Bobby Kellard; and in fact registered himself has a player in mid-season, making a brief active comeback in January 1995 as the first 50-year-old to appear in the Diadora League, shortly before resigning. 

Rowdies--A Kick in the Kitchen too - Rowdies players fave foods

Lenny Glover

Lenny was born in Kenington, London, on January 31, 1944.  He began his career at Charlton Athletic in 1962, where he scored 20 goals in 6 seasons.  The fans would buzz with anticipation as Lenny turned an opposing defense inside out or outsprinted the fullback marking him.  

In 1967 he was transferred for £80,000 to Leicester City, an amount which at the time represented an English record for a winger.  There, he captured the imaginations and pulse-rates of the Leicester Foxes supporters.

With electric pace, superb ball control and wing trickery Lenny Glover was destined to become a City legend. Described as the best uncapped winger in the world and despite calls from many quarters, Lenny was never granted an England Cap. He did, however, help the Foxes to an F.A. cup final appearance; two cup semi-finals; a Division Two Championship; and a Charity Shield win against Liverpool. At Leicester City, for 8 full seasons and 2 games into a 9th season in 1976, he scored 38 goals.  In his combined career with Charlton and Leicester, Glover played 430 total games.

Glover was a mid-season arrival to the Rowdies in 1976.  Coach Firmani was well-familiar with Glover; he coached Lenny during his days at Charlton.  As a left side midfielder and sometimes winger, he made an immediate impression with his frequent forays towards the goal.  He made his debut against the Seattle Sounders in Tampa Stadium on May 14, but it was on  June 6 in front of 42,611 fans and a national TV audience that he made his biggest splash.  Against the Cosmos, he made 3 assists, helping the Rowdies demolish the Cosmos 5--1.  At midfield, Glover controlled his area like a traffic cop, streaking down the field  to set up a scoring opportunity, tackling the ball away from an unwary opponent, or blistering an erring teammate with a sharp tongue.  Logging 1,140 minutes in 14 regular season games, he scored one goal and 5 assists and went on to play 18 games in the 1977 season.

 

 

 

Tommy "The Tank" Smith

Smith won every major club honor during his 18 years with Liverpool.

Smith was known for his sharp tongue during his British career, often seen berating and even trying to instruct the referee in command. That said, he certainly had the respect of his peers, with fellow "hard man" Jack Charlton once saying "Tommy Smith was easily the hardest player I faced. I ran into him once and he knocked every ounce of breath out of me. I tried to get up and look like he hadn't hurt me, but he had." Charlton's defensive partner at Leeds United, Norman Hunter, and Chelsea's Ron Harris, both considered as tough players, also pay similar respects to Smith.

 

Tommy Smith wasn't born, he was quarried on April 5, 1945.  He eats barbed wire for breakfast and shaves with half a brick.  Smith joined Liverpool F.C. as a schoolboy in 1960 and made his début on 8 May 1963, the last day of the season, in a 5–1 victory over Birmingham City at Anfield. However, he made no appearances throughout the following season, as Liverpool won the League title. He scored his first goal in the 3–2 league defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on 29 August 1964.

In 1965, Smith started to feature more regularly and was an integral part of the Liverpool side that won the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, defeating Leeds United 2–1. 

The 1965–66 season saw Smith become a fixture in the team which went on to regain the League title, earning Smith the first of his four championship medals, However, the season also had the taste of disappointment as Liverpool lost 2–1 in the 1966 European Cup Winners' Cup Final to Borussia Dortmund at Hampden Park.


After the success of 1966 there then followed a barren period for Liverpool in the late 1960s and after a disastrous cup defeat at Vicarage Road to Watford in February 1970, Shankly decided to dismantle the team and build a new, younger side. Smith was given the honor of club captaincy and led the team to the 1971 FA Cup final, which Liverpool lost to Arsenal.

In 1973 Smith skippered the team to their first double success of the League and UEFA Cup when they topped the league by three points over Arsenal and beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–2 on aggregate. He then had the disappointment of losing the captaincy to Hughes after he had complained to Shankly at being left out of the team for a game.  When he returned, he was also moved from his favored central defensive role to full back.

Smith spent the 1976 season playing 17 games as a defender for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, where he continued his trademark toughness and earned the nickname, "The Tank."  He then returned to England.

As Smith's twilight years approached, he made fewer appearances and with the emergence of youngsters Phil Thompson and Phil Neal as central defender and full back respectively, though he still played an important role as Liverpool managed another League and UEFA Cup dual success in 1976, when he appeared 24 times in the league and played a left-back role in both legs of the UEFA final. The following year, which Smith had announced would be his final season with the club, started with him out of the side for several months, but ended with his finest moment.

Smith was left out of the side that started the 1976–77 season but, when Thompson picked up an injury in Liverpool's 1–0 win over Newcastle in the March, he was recalled and kept his place as the side went on to retain the League title. He then played in the 1977 FA Cup final which Liverpool lost to bitter rivals Manchester United, thereby ruining the chance of a treble, with the club's first European Cup final in Rome due a few days later. Despite the disappointment of the defeat at Wembley, Liverpool played magnificently to beat old UEFA Cup foes Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1, with Smith scoring a towering header from a corner to make the score 2–1. It was his 48th and final goal for the club and the first for the season.

 

Tommy Smith, 1996

Two days after the remarkable night in Rome, Smith had his testimonial game at Anfield, a Bobby Charlton select Xl and 35,694 fans turned out to honor the Liverpool hardman as the side played out an entertaining 9–9 draw, such was the party atmosphere of the evening the Liverpool goalscorers included 2 from goalkeeper Clemence and 2 from the now 'prolific' Smith! He decided to delay his retirement and played a further season for Liverpool (missing the successful retention of the European Cup after a DIY accident at home injured his foot).

He spent the summer of 1978 in the NASL with the Los Angeles Aztecs. He started as a player but became player/head coach halfway through the season.[2] At the end of the season he was replaced by Dutch legend Rinus Michels.

Smith left for Swansea City after 638 games in 1978, receiving the M.B.E for services to football that same year. The Swans were being managed by his former Liverpool team-mate John Toshack at the time and Smith helped Swansea to promotion from the old Third Division. He retired from playing in 1979. It's notable that despite his long association with a winning team, level of respect within the game and amount of medals, he was only ever selected once to play for England, in a 0–0 drawn British Home Championship match against Wales at Wembley in 1971. He also made junior and under-23 appearances for his country early in his career.

Apart from a brief spell as youth coach at Liverpool, Smith has not stayed in the game to any great extent, preferring business and journalistic careers after his playing days ended, but his legend lives on whenever people refer to the vernacular of the "hard men of football" and Smith has made a reasonable living from talking about his career as the Anfield Iron – a nickname afforded to him by Liverpool supporters.

For a time, Smith ran a pub in Billinge, Wigan called "The Smithy".

He has been a weekly columnist for the Liverpool Echo for over 25 years and lives quietly in the Crosby area of Liverpool with his wife Susan. He is also still held in high regard amongst the Kopites as he was voted 25th in the Official Liverpool Football Club web site poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop.

On 6 June 2007, Smith had a heart attack at his home in Liverpool and was rushed to hospital to receive treatment.[6] He underwent a six-way heart bypass shortly after, from which he made an excellent recovery and is back as a regular at Anfield for home matches.

1999 interview

June 2007 heart attack

2008 Article Liverpool legend re Inter-Milan

2008 Article Bitter Memories of 1965
 

 

Alex Pringle 

Alex Pringle started his career with Glasgow United, before signing for Hibernian F.C. in 1968, where he would make 8 appearances, before moving to Dundee F.C. in 1972. During a two year spell, Alex would play 23 times.

He signed by the Rowdies in the winter of 1974-75; the first player to be purchased by the new Rowdies franchise. "It was a Wednesday night and the Scottish League games were played in the winter," said Alex. "It was cold and rainy. After the game, Eddie Firmani showed me a brochure of Tampa Bay. There were palm trees, Clearwater Beach. I signed right away."

This info about Alex Pringle comes from Ian Morris' website Tampa Bay Rowdies Appreciation Blog where you can read more about Alex and his accomplishments, and see more pictures of him.

Read more and see more pictures of Alex here at Tampapix

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne Starr (L), Wowdies director

 

 


Krazy George (Henderson), professional cheerleader and inventor of "The Wave", whips the crowd to a frenzy at a Rowdies / Cosmos match at Tampa Stadium,  May 29, 1977.

Krazy George website

 

 

 

 


Ralph Rowdie, the guy on the logo!
 

 

 

 

Rowdies arrival at Tampa Int'l Airport after winning the 1975 Soccer Bowl Tampapix Home