North American Soccer League (1978-1980)
Tombstone
Born: 1978 – NASL expansion franchise.
Moved: November 1980 (Jacksonville Tea Men)
First Game: April 9, 1978 (L 2-1 vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies)
Last Game: November 16, 1980 (L 6-3 vs. Atlanta Chiefs)1This was an indoor match at the Providence Civic Center
Soccer Bowl Championships: None
Stadia
Outdoor Soccer:
1978: Schaefer Stadium (61,279)21978 North American Soccer League Guide
Opened: 1971
Demolished: 2002
1979: Nickerson Field
1980: Schaefer Stadium
Indoor Soccer:
1979-1980: Providence Civic Center (10,754)
Opened: 1972
Branding
Team Colors: Red, Gold & Blue31978 North American Soccer League Guide
Ownership
Owners: Thomas J. Lipton, Inc.
Attendance
Tap (mobile) or mouse over chart for figures. Tilting your mobile device may offer better viewing.
Source: Kenn.com Attendance Project
Our Favorite Stuff
This NASL club’s unusual name had a double meaning, calling out both New England’s Revolutionary War-era history via the Boston Tea Party protest of 1773 and the team’s corporate ownership through the Lipton Tea Company. Oddly, the franchise would stick with the “Tea Men” after Lipton sold the club and it moved to Jacksonville, Florida in the early 1980’s.
This Tea Men design is also available as a Long Sleeve T, in a Women’s cut or as a Hoodie Sweatshirt from Extra Time Vintage Soccer!
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Background
In January 1978, Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., better known as the Lipton Tea Company, purchased an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League. The NASL was riding a wave of expansion in 1978 – a speculative bubble as it would turn out – sparked by the spectacular three-year run of Brazilian superstar Pele at the New York Cosmos, another corporate owned club.
Lipton’s club set up shop in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The team adopted the nickname New England Tea Men, in a dual nod to the area’s revolutionary roots and its corporate overlords. Lipton Vice President of Marketing Derek Carroll took the reigns as club President with a $1.5M operating budget and $600,000 allocated to sign players from around the world.
1978: Mike Flanagan Lights up The NASL
One little-noticed signing was an English striker named Mike Flanagan acquired on loan from Charlton Athletic. Flanagan came out of nowhere for the Tea Men, scoring 30 goals in 28 games and earning NASL Most Valuable Player honors in 1978.
The rest of the squad was also unexpectedly strong for a club put together on just four months notice. The Tea Men tied the Tampa Bay Rowdies for first place in the NASL’s American Conference Eastern Division with a 19-11 record. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers eliminated the Tea Men in the first round of the 1978 NASL playoffs. At the box office, the Tea Men drew an average crowd of just over 11,000 to Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the home of the NFL’s Patriots.
1979: Flanagan Departs, Stadium Troubles
The Tea Men had a rougher go of it in 1979. Flanagan got into a contract dispute back home with Charlton Athletic and ultimately with the Tea Men themselves. The saga of Flanagan’s status dragged on for much of the 1979 season, with the Tea Men even prematurely announcing his return in June 1979. Ultimately, Flanagan never returned to the United States again after his MVP campaign in 1978.
Meanwhile, a judge evicted the Tea Men from Schaefer Stadium due to a dispute with a neighboring dog racing track. Forced to play on short notice at urban Nickerson Field in Boston, attendance plummeted nearly 50% as did the team’s record. The 1979 Tea Men finished 11-13 and out of the playoff hunt.
In December 1979, the Tea Men signed on for the NASL’s first winter indoor soccer season. Only ten of the league’s twenty-four teams chose to take part. The Tea Men probably wished they had stuck with the majority. Playing at the Providence Civic Center, the Tea Men found new ways to prolong the agony of the bitter 1979 campaign, staggering to a 2-10 last place finish in the NASL’s indoor season.
1980: Move To Jacksonville
The Tea Men gave up on New England in November, 1980 and relocated to Jacksonville, Florida. Still owned by Lipton, the franchise retained the Boston Tea Party-inspired name, although it made little sense in Florida, which remained a Spanish territory until 1821.
In 1983, under new local ownership, the Jacksonville Tea Men self-relegated themselves to the 2nd division American Soccer League. The club eventually went out of business in late 1984.
New England Tea Men Shop
Editor's Pick
Rock n' Roll Soccer
The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League
by Ian Plenderleith
The North American Soccer League – at its peak in the late 1970s – presented soccer as performance, played by men with a bent for flair, hair and glamour. More than just Pelé and the New York Cosmos, it lured the biggest names of the world game like Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Gerd Müller and George Best to play the sport as it was meant to be played-without inhibition, to please the fans.
The first complete look at the ambitious, star-studded NASL, Rock ‘n’ Roll Soccer reveals how this precursor to modern soccer laid the foundations for the sport’s tremendous popularity in America today.
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Tea Men Logo T from Old School Shirts
New England Tea Men Video
1979 Lipton Tea Commercial featuring Kevin “Cat” Keelan and teammates.
The Tea Men in indoor action against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, via Kenn Tomasch at Kenn.com. December 22, 1979.
In Memoriam
Forward Brian Alderson (1978-1980) passed away at age 46 in 1997.
Former Tea Men Head Coach Noel Cantwell died of cancer on September 8, 2005. He was 73 years old.
Dennis Viollet spent all seven seasons on the N.E./Jacksonville Tea Men coaching staff, the last two as Head Coach (1983-1984). He died of cancer at age 65 on March 6, 1999. Viollet was a survivor of Manchester United’s Munich Air Disaster on February 6, 1958.
Keith Weller, a midfielder during the New England seasons from 1978-1980, died of cancer in 2004 at age 58.
Downloads
6-24-1979 Tea Men @ New York Cosmos Game Notes
6-24-1979 New England Tea Men at New York Cosmos Game Notes
7-7-1979 Tea Men vs. New York Cosmos Game Notes
1979 New England Tea Men “Soccer-at-a-Glance” Viewing Guide
Links
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One Response
One of the reasons for the demise of the indoor league was the refusal of NASL League officials to consider more indoor games and to allow full field dasher board advertising. The additional revenue and tha full year contracts for players could have taken us out of the red within two years…..No vision for the indoor-outdoor mix at that time.