North American Soccer League (1974-1975)
Tombstone
Born: December 4, 1973 – NASL expansion franchise1Nigro, Ken. “Baltimore returns to soccer league”. The Sun (Baltimore, MD). December 5, 1973
Moved: October 1975 (San Diego Jaws)
First Game: May 3, 1974 (W 2-1 vs. Rochester Lancers)
Last Game: August 10, 1975 (W 3-0 vs. Philadelphia Atoms)
NASL Championships: None
Stadia
1974-1975: Memorial Stadium (45,000)
Opened: 1950
Demolished: 2001-2002
1975: Burdick Field (10,000)21975 North American Soccer League Media Guide
Marketing
Team Colors: Maroon & Light Blue31975 North American Soccer League Media Guide
Ownership
Owners:
- 1974: Lou Foreaker & James McLaughlin
- 1975: James McLaughlin
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Baltimore Comets Logo T from Old School Shirts
Background
The Baltimore Comets were a short-lived North American Soccer League club that lasted just two seasons during the mid-1970’s. The Comets replaced two versions of the Baltimore Bays (1967-1969 and 1972-1973) on the local soccer scene. Comets Head Coach Doug Millward also coached the 1960’s version of the Bays and six members of the Comets’ 1974 opening day roster were ex-Bays players.
The Comets were competitive in 1974. The club posted a 10-8-2 record in its expansion season and qualified for the playoffs. Fullback Geoff Butler and striker Peter Silvester earned NASL First Team All-Star honors. Silvester earned league Most Valuable Player honors after scoring 14 goals in 18 appearances. The Boston Minutemen eliminated the Comets 1-0 in the playoff quarterfinal on August 15th, 1974.
The Comets struggled financially from the outset. The Comets team put puny crowds into 45,000-seat Memorial Stadium. An announced crowd of just 4,120 showed up for the club’s home opener in 1975. Less than a month later Memorial Stadium authorities evicted the Comets for missed rent payments. The Comets were forced to move the rest of their 1975 home schedule to Burdick Field at Towson State University.
Move To San Diego
The Comets finished in last place (5th) in the NASL’s Eastern Division in 1975 with a 9-13 mark. Baltimore’s attendance of 2,641 per game was worst in the 20-team NASL. In October 1975, San Jose car dealer Ken Keegan purchased the Comets and moved the franchise to San Diego where they became the San Diego Jaws.
After several further moves and name changes, the franchise that started out as the Baltimore Comets became the San Diego Sockers in 1978. The Sockers became an indoor soccer dynasty as the American pro soccer scene shifted indoors during the 1980’s. The franchise played on for nearly two decades, finally closing its doors in 1996.
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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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