Exhibitions only (1987)
American Soccer League (1988-1989)
American Professional Soccer League (1990)
Tombstone
Born: May 1987 – ASL founding franchise
Folded: October 19901Jackson, James H. “Bays, Stars merge; Diplomats kick in”. The Sun (Baltimore, MD). October 30, 1990
First Game (ASL): April 17, 1988 (L 2-1 vs. New Jersey Eagles)
Last Game: August 3, 1990 (L 4-2 @ Miami Freedom)
ASL Champions: 1988
Stadium
RFK Stadium (55,750)
Opened: 1961
Closed: 2017
Branding
Team Colors: Red & White
Ownership
Owner: Julio Pinon
Our Favorite Stuff
Washington Diplomats
NASL Logo T-Shirt
For a moment at the end of the ’70’s it seemed like the Dips had aspirations to become “Cosmos South”. A glamorous super club with rich corporate owners that attracted international superstars and packed NFL stadiums. Instead they became something closer to “Aztecs East” , but they had a lot of fun doing it, highlighted by the arrival of Johan Cruyff in the spring of 1980.
This Dips tee design is available today in sizes Small through 4XL at Old School Shirts!
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Background
The Washington Diplomats soccer club of the late 1980’s was a low-budget reboot of the old Washington Diplomats (1974-1981) brand from the defunct North American Soccer League (1968-1984). The team grew out of a strong D.C.-based amateur side known as Club Espana that won the 1987 U.S. Open Cup (then known as the National Challenge Cup) as the top men’s amateur club in America.
Immediately after the Cup victory in June 1987, Club Espana sponsor Julio Pinon changed the club’s name to the Washington Diplomats. The team played several exhibitions under the Dips name during the summer of 1987 as it prepared to join the newly formed, fully professional American Soccer League (ASL) in April 1988.
Like the original Dips, the new club played in the enormous environs of RFK Stadium, but everything else was dramatically scaled down, including the competition. The ASL was an East Coast-only regional circuit. Together with the similarly regional Western Soccer League (WSL), the ASL represented the highest caliber of outdoor soccer in the United States at the end of the 1980’s. There were no pro outdoor teams in the middle of the country. The highest pay and strongest competition remained in the indoor game.
1988 Championship Season
The Diplomats managed to win the first championship of the ASL in the summer of 1988. This was despite finishing the regular season with a mediocre 10-10 record and placing just one player – forward Joaquin Canales – on the league’s postseason All-Star team. The Dips defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in both legs of a two-game series to claim the title.
The Dips attempted defense of their crown was dealt a serious setback during a June 17th, 1989 re-match of the previous season’s championship series with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Forward Jean Harbor got into an altercation with Strikers defender Pedro Magallanes and slugged him in the face, breaking his jaw. Diplomats owner Julio Pinon would later claim that Magallanes spat on Harbor.2Landman, Brian. “ASL owners stand by decision to lift suspension of star player”. The Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, FL). July 29, 1989 Harbor was the ASL scoring leader at the time. ASL Commissioner David Prouty suspended Harbor for the rest of the season (8 games).
Prouty later reversed himself and re-instated Harbor after missing five games. But the Dips went into a slide during his absence and missed the playoffs. This despite boasting three of the ASL’s top six scorers in Leonel Suazo, Marcela Bauza and Harbor, who still finished 5th in the ASL scoring charts despite missing a quarter of the season.
Demise
In 1990, the American Soccer League merged with the Western Soccer League to form a nationwide league known as the American Professional Soccer League. To keep costs low, however, teams continued to play a regional schedule during the regular season and playoffs. The two leagues met only in the championship game.
The costs of operating the Dips finally caught up to team owner Julio Pinon during the Dips’ third campaign. Announced crowds of fewer than 1,000 fans were common at 55,000-seat RFK during the 1990 season. The team’s financial problems became so severe that Pinon refused to fly Head Coach Niki Nikolic and several players to Florida for the team’s final road trip of the season. Not surprisingly the Diplomats folded at the end of the 1990 season, as did their nearby ASL rival from the Virginia suburbs, the Washington Stars.
Washington Diplomats Shop
Downloads
8-6-1989 Washington Diplomats Roster
8-6-1989 Washington Diplomats Roster
6-17-1990 Diplomats @ New Jersey Eagles Game Notes
Links
American Soccer League Media Guides
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