Tombstone
Born: April 20, 1978 – ASL expansion franchise
Folded: Postseason 1979
First Game: March 31, 1979 (T 1-1 @ Los Angeles Skyhawks)
Last Game: August 25, 1979 (L 3-2 @ California Sunshine)
ASL Championships: None
Stadium
Las Vegas Silver Bowl (34,000)
Opened: 1971
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners: Victor Mevo, Jose Nieto, et al.
Attendance
American Soccer League attendance records are patchy and inaccurate. Whether out of embarrassment or disorganization, the league itself never published official attendance figures in its annual media guides. So what we are left with are anecdotal estimates from various sources.
Soccer Corner magazine estimated that the Seagulls averaged 1,700 fans at home in 19791“ASL Action.” Soccer Corner. December 1979.
Our Favorite Stuff
Las Vegas Seagulls
Logo T-Shirt
Sin City is a Major League town now, but back in the summer of 1979, soccer’s Las Vegas Seagulls were the only professional sports team in town. What’s more, Vegas would not have another pro team in any sport for three years after the Seagulls called it quits at the end of 1979.
This design is available from American Retro Apparel in Grey or White and in sizes small through XXXL today!
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Background
The Las Vegas Seagulls were a 2nd Division pro soccer club that lasted just one season in the American Soccer League in the summer of 1979.
The team was troubled from the start. The club fired Italian head coach Orlando DiNitto, who spoke no English, just three weeks into the 1979 season. The Seagulls’ roster was heavy on Argentinean imports. Argentine midfielder Raul Carrizo replaced DiNitto and guided the Gulls through the remainder of a grim campaign as player-coach. The Seagulls lost their final 11 games to finish in last place in the ASL’s Western Conference with a 7-18-3 record.
Extinction
Three of the four primary owners of the Seagulls pulled out during the 1979 season.2Morrow, Mike. “Sunshine happy to get Las Vegas out of way.” The Torrance Daily Breeze. August 26, 1979 The club went the way of the passenger pigeon at the end of the year.
Other attempts to establish pro soccer in Vegas during this era met with equally swift deaths. The Las Vegas Quicksilvers lasted only a single season in the North American Soccer League in 1977. Like the Seagulls, the Quicksilvers played in the broiling hot Silver Bowl. The Las Vegas Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League set up shop at the Thomas & Mack Center in the winter of 1984-85 but went bankrupt after one season.
Las Vegas Seagulls Shop
Our Favorite Stuff
American Soccer League
T-Shirt
For most of its existence, the American Soccer League was a collection of ethnically-based semi-pro clubs clustered in the northeast. But in the 1970’s, the ASL expanded nationwide and became American’s de facto 2nd Division, underneath the bigger-budgeted NASL. This logo was used by the league from the 1970’s until its demise in 1983.
Our favorite distressed ASL logo tee is made by American Retro Apparel and available today in sizes small through XXXL!
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In Memoriam
Seagulls forward Victor Arbelaez remained in Las Vegas and coached at Bishop Gorman high school for 22 seasons. He collapsed and died during a Bishop Gorman practice in October 2007 at age 54. Las Vegas Sun obituary.
Downloads
4-22-1979 Seagulls @ California Sunshine Roster
4-22-1979 California Sunshine vs. Las Vegas Seagulls Roster
Links
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3 Responses
Don’t forget the CISL’s Dustdevils, who actually won the championship in the first of their two seasons in that summer indoor league.
Currently there is a PDL team (the Mobsters) that draws flies.
“Seagulls” is sort of a strange name for a team in Las Vegas…any idea why they chose this?
Maybe because the stadium was literally in the swamp marsh at the bottom of the valley and flocks of seagulls could often and still to this day be seen flying in the area after being forced into the valley from storms in California.