- Tombstone
- Stadium
- Marketing
- Ownership
- Attendance
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
Marketing
Ownership
Attendance
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.
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
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.