Denver Dynamos

North American Soccer League (1974-1975)

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Dynamos Logo T-Shirt

Colorado’s original top-flight pro soccer club is also its most over-looked.

The Dynamos lacked the iconoclastic fashion sense of their NASL successors, 1978’s fringe-clad Caribous of Colorado. And they also lacked the league championships of the Colorado Foxes of the early 90’s. But hey … being first counts for something, right?

This Dynamos design is also available in women’s scoop neck and racerback tank styles from Old School Shirts!

 

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Background

The Denver Dynamos were Colorado’s first major professional soccer franchise.  The team was added to the North American Soccer League on the final day of January 1974, leaving the organization just three months to prepare for its May 1975 debut.  The Dynamos were part of a major West Coast expansion of the NASL during the winter of 1973-74.  Three of the other Western clubs formed during this 50-day expansion flurry – the San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps – went on to become iconic American soccer brands.  Re-boots of all three clubs play in Major League Soccer today.  The Dynamos, meanwhile, are all but forgotten.

The Dynamos played two losing seasons at Mile High Stadium. The 1974 squad finished last in the NASL’s Central Division with a 5-15 record. The 1975 squad improved to 9-13 but still failed to make the playoffs.

The Dynamos’ best player was South African striker Ace Ntsoelengoe, who joined the team in 1975. Ntsoelengoe finished 9th in the NASL in scoring that summer with 10 goals and 5 assists.

Move to Minneapolis

In November 1975 Dynamos ownership sold out to Minneapolis interests.  The team was re-named the Minnesota Kicks in 1976 and became a hot ticket in Minneapolis during the late 1970’s, occasionally drawing crowds in excess of 40,000.  The club fell on hard times in the early 1980’s and went out of business in late 1981.

The NASL returned to Denver and Mile High Stadium three years after the Dynamos failed, adding the Caribous of Colorado expansion team in 1978. The Caribous were even less successful than the Dynamos, leaving town for Atlanta after just one losing season.

Denver Dynamos Shop

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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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FUN WHILE IT LASTED COFFEE SHOP

Order at Extra Time Vintage Soccer

Denver Dynamos Ceramic mug

Available now from our friends at Extra Time Vintage Soccer, this fully-insulated porcelain mug is ideal for your morning brew. 

• Ceramic | Capacity: 11 fl oz

• Dishwasher safe

• Lead and Cadmium free

• Imported; processed and printed in the U.S.A.

 

When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!

In Memoriam

Former Dynamos forward Ace Ntsoelengoe died of a heart attack on May 8, 2006 at age 54.

Links

North American Soccer League Media Guides

North American Soccer League Programs

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