Connecticut Bicentennials

NASL team that moved from Hartford to New Haven to Oakland.

via Wikipedia: Connecticut Bicentennials · see source

For three seasons starting in 1975, the Connecticut Bicentennials played in the North American Soccer League. They began as the Hartford Bicentennials, owned by local businessman Bob Darling, then moved to New Haven after the 1976 season. Following the 1977 campaign, the franchise was sold to Milan Mandarić and moved to California, where it became the Oakland Stompers.

Quick Facts

Club: Connecticut Bicentennials (1977)
Nickname: Bicentennials; The Bi's
Founded: 1975
Dissolved: 1977
Stadium: Yale Bowl; Dillon Stadium
Capacity: 70,000
League: NASL

Facts from the source article.

History

The Connecticut Bicentennials were founded in 1975 by local businessman Bob Darling. The name was chosen to honor the upcoming 1976 bicentennial of the United States. The team first played in the 1975 NASL Indoor tournament, where they placed second in Region 2 and missed the final four due to goal difference. Before the 1975 outdoor season, the Bicentennials brought in fourteen players from the 1974 American Soccer League champion Rhode Island Oceaneers, including goalkeeper Arnie Mausser, Charlie McCully, and Mohammad Attiah.

They also hired the Oceaneers' head coach Manny Schellscheidt and general manager Michael Bosson. In their first outdoor season, the Bicentennials finished last in the Northern Division with six wins and sixteen losses, averaging 3,720 fans per game at Dillon Stadium, which they shared with the ASL's Connecticut Yankees. After the season, Bosson was replaced by Rudi Schiffer, the Yankees' GM. Goalkeeper Arnie Mausser, who had allowed a league-record 50 goals, was sold to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Schellscheidt was replaced by Bobby Thompson after a 2-3 start to the 1976 season. That year, the team finished with twelve wins and twelve losses, averaging 3,420 fans per game. Before the 1977 season, the team moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and rebranded as the Connecticut Bicentennials. They played home games at the Yale Bowl.

In 1977, they finished last in the Atlantic Conference Northern Division with seven wins and nineteen losses. Their largest crowd ever, 17,302 fans, came for the 1977 home opener against the New York Cosmos, featuring Brazilian star Pelé, but the season average was only 3,848 fans. Citing low gate revenues and the high cost of lighting the Yale Bowl for night games, Darling sold the team to Milan Mandarić, who moved it to Oakland, California, for the 1978 season, where it became the Oakland Stompers.