Oakland Invaders

United States Football League (1983-1985)

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Oakland Invaders
Logo T-Shirt

The USFL’s Oakland Invaders were formed in May 1982, the same month that a jury ruled in favor of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis in his lawsuit against the National Football League, clearing the way for Davis’ NFL franchise to move to Los Angeles that fall. For the next three years, the similarly named Invaders helped some Oakland fans reconcile the loss, developing future NFL stars Anthony Carter and Bobby Hebert along the way. 

This Invaders design is available in White, Athletic Heather, Baby Blue or Gold from Royal Retros today!

 

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Background

The Oakland Invaders were founding members of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1982. Real estate magnates Tad Taube and Jim Joseph were awarded the franchise. However, when the Los Angeles market became available, the two flipped a coin to see who would take L.A. Joseph won the toss. He was later forced to move his franchise to Phoenix, though, at the behest of the USFL, who wanted cable TV executives Bill Daniels and Alan Harmon, thwarted in their attempt to secure a stadium lease in San Diego, to own the Los Angeles team. 

Out With the Raiders, in With the Invaders

Now the sole owner, Taube named his team the Bay Area Invaders on August 11, 1982, hoping to gain support from the entire region. The plan was to play eight of the team’s 10 home games (later reduced to nine) in Oakland and one each in San Francisco and San Jose. That plan was dropped in October when the team was renamed the Oakland Invaders, with all home games played at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Taube wanted to capitalize on the NFL Oakland Raiders’ move to Los Angeles, which a court had granted a few months earlier. 

Stick to the Plan

Taube was a believer in the USFL’s Dixon Plan, the blueprint developed by league founder David Dixon that stipulated how the league and teams should operate. Key to the plan was keeping player salaries within budget. 

As such, the Invaders were led by QB Fred Besana, who played college ball for the California Golden Bears. After attending training camp with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants in successive years, he wound up in the semi-pro California Football League, where helped lead the Twin City Cougars to three straight championships. When he got the call from his old coach, John Ralston, to come to Oakland and the USFL, he was teaching high school and working part-time for a beer distributor.

Besana was the USFL’s second-ranked passer in its inaugural season. Joined by former Saint and Charger Gordon Banks, along with ex-Raiders Arthur Whittington and Raymond Chester, Besana and the Invaders won the Pacific Division with a 9-9 record. Unfortunately, they were crushed by the eventual league champion Michigan Panthers before 60,000 enthusiastic fans in the Pontiac Silverdome. 

The team averaged over 31,000 fans a game in 1983, fourth-best in the league. Attendance dropped to just under 24,000 as the team’s record tumbled to 7-10 in 1984. The team bounced back in 1985, thanks to a series of events that would benefit the Invaders but destroy the USFL.

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Oakland Invaders Replica Jersey

Royal Retros offers an amazing line of finely detailed United States Football League replica jerseys featuring home and away designs for every USFL team that took the field between 1983 and 1985. 

Fully customizable with your chosen name and number, this 1985 Invaders design even offers the option to add a 1985 USFL Championship Game patch!

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Spring Ahead, Fall Back

In the fall of 1984, at the insistence of the New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump, the USFL decided to move to a fall schedule beginning in 1986. Several owners, not wanting to fight a losing battle with an NFL team in their market, opted to merge their teams or fold them outright. A. Alfred Taubman opted for the former and merged his Michigan Panthers with the Invaders for the 1985 season, with Oakland as the surviving team.

Having acquired most of the top players from the Panthers’ 1983 USFL championship squad, the Invaders notched a 13-4-1 record, tops in the Western Conference. They knocked out the Tampa Bay Bandits in the quarterfinal round, then dispatched the Memphis Showboats in the semis to advance to the league’s final championship game. The Invaders lost to the Baltimore Stars 28-24 in the last USFL game ever played.

Curiously, attendance in Oakland dropped to just over 17,000 fans a game during their championship run. Oakland had no direct NFL competition, save for the 49ers across the Bay, yet fans stayed away, uninspired by the high-powered USFL club.

Taubman decided he had had enough of the USFL and pulled out. Taube, without Taubman’s money, soon decided to throw in the towel as well. After releasing WR Anthony Carter in August 1985, Taube began the process of unwinding the Invaders, making the team’s demise official in the spring of 1986. 

In late summer, the verdict came down in the USFL’s anti-trust suit against the NFL. The USFL won but was awarded only $3 in damages. Days later, the league suspended operations, never to return. 

In Memoriam

Defensive end Larry Bethea, who played briefly for Oakland in 1985, took his own life on April 24, 1987 at age 30.

Offensive lineman Chris Riehm (Invaders ’84) passed away in March 2012 at age 50.

Safety John Arnaud died of lung cancer at age 51 on November 10, 2012.

Head Coach Charlie Sumner (Invaders ’85) passed on April 3, 2015 due to complications from gall bladder surgery. He was 84 years old. San Jose Mercury News obituary.

Downloads

1-4-1984 Oakland Invaders Territorial Draft Selections Press Release

March 1984 Invaders Gold Helmet Club Newsletter

2-19-1985 Invaders vs. Denver Gold Season Opener Press Release

2-25-1985 Invaders vs. Baltimore Stars Game Preview Press Release

3-4-1985 Invaders vs. Houston Gamblers Game Preview Press Release

3-11-1985 Invaders vs. Jacksonville Bulls Game Preview Press Release

5-6-1985 Invaders vs. Los Angeles Express Game Preview Press Release

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