Colorado Caribous

Caribous of Colorado
Full name Caribous of Colorado
Nickname(s) The Caribous
Founded 1978
Dissolved 1978
Stadium Mile High Stadium
Ground Capacity 76,000
Chairman Booth Gardner
Coach Dave Clements
Dan Wood
League North American Soccer League

The Colorado Caribous (or The "Caribous of Colorado," as they were officially known) was a professional soccer team based in Denver, Colorado, that played in the North American Soccer League. Their primary owners were future Washington state governor Booth Gardner and Jim Guercio, owner of the Caribou Ranch.

History

They played one season in 1978 under head coaches Dave Clements, who was also a player on the team, and Dan Wood. Their home field was Mile High Stadium. The arrival of the Caribous marked the return of professional first division soccer to Denver after a two-year absence caused by the departure of the Denver Dynamos to Minneapolis in 1976. During their only season in the Mile High City, the new team compiled the worst record in the league (8-22) and finished in last place in the Central Division of the National Conference. After the season, the club moved to Atlanta to become the Atlanta Chiefs.

Uniforms

The lasting legacy of the Caribous is one of the most unusual, infamous uniforms in soccer history. Going with a western-style motif, the players wore brown and tan jerseys that included a strip of leather fringe across the chest. Many fans have called the Caribous uniforms the worst ever seen in the NASL, or even in all of American professional sports.

On April 1, 2014, the Colorado Rapids of MLS announced the club would wear Caribou "throwback" jerseys for an upcoming home game.[1] It was quickly revealed as an April Fools joke, but not before the team was swamped with calls and e-mails from fans wondering where they could buy the infamous duds.

Year-by-year

Year League W L Pts Regular Season Playoffs Avg. Attendance
1978 NASL 8 22 81 4th, National Conference, Central Division Did not qualify 7,418

1978 Roster

Players included Superstars champion Brian Budd and future NFL placekicker Matt Bahr.[2]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 United States GK Arnie Mausser
2 Ghana DF George Lamptey
2 England DF Bernie Fagan
3 United States DF Matt Bahr
4 United States DF Greg Makowski
5 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia MF Branko Radović
6 Northern Ireland MF Dave Clements
7 England FW Brian Tinnion
8 South Africa FW Jomo Sono
9 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FW Sead Sušić
10 United States FW Louis Nanchoff
No. Position Player
11 United States FW Fred Pereira
12 United States FW Bob Rohrbach
14 United States DF Tommy Lang
15 Scotland MF Pat McMahon
16 United States MF Steve Ralbovsky
17 United States MF Scott Strasburg
18 South Africa DF Phillip Jones
19 Canada FW Brian Budd
20 United States MF Carl Strong
22 United States GK Tad DeLorm
23 Northern Ireland MF Ronnie Blair

Coaches

External links

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, October 09, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.