San Diego Jaws
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Full name | San Diego Jaws | ||
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Founded | 1976 | ||
Dissolved | 1976 (moved) | ||
Stadium | Aztec Bowl, San Diego, California | ||
League | North American Soccer League | ||
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The San Diego Jaws were a soccer team based in San Diego, California that played in the North American Soccer League. They only lasted one season, 1976.
History[]
After two unsuccessful seasons as the Baltimore Comets (in which they were kicked out of Memorial Stadium due to non-payment of rent and had to play the balance of their 1975 home schedule at Towson University), the bankrupt franchise was sold and shifted to the West Coast. The newly minted San Diego Jaws (doubtlessly named after the popular movie of the previous summer) moved into the Aztec Bowl on the campus of San Diego State University, with team colors of black and gold. The Jaws were coached by Derek Trevis, who played several years in the English lower divisions before arriving in Philadelphia in 1973 and being part of the Philadelphia Atoms NASL championship team. (By 1976, the 33-year-old Trevis was mostly retired as a player, but still appeared in fifteen games that season, scoring a goal.)
The Jaws first games were in the 1976 NASL Indoor tournament, but they lost both of their contests and were eliminated. San Diego began the outdoor season with a 1–0 win over San Antonio, but only 5,200 fans saw it; just 3,404 showed up for their second home game. After the opener, the Jaws would lose 10 of their next 13 contests, tumbling into last place in the Southern Division; they would finish with a 9–15 record, well short of the playoffs. (On offense, Irish international Hilary Carlyle would lead the Jaws with five goals and twelve points, while American Alan Mayer was the team's top goaltender; he would wind up playing for the franchise in all its incarnations.) Attendances improved slightly (18,337 would attend a June game against Portland), but San Diego would average only 6,152 fans per game -- tenth in the 20-team NASL, but well short of the 10,295 league average, and not enough to pay the bills.
On October 20, 1976, the Jaws moved to Nevada to become the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, but the franchise wasn't done with San Diego. After a disastrous 1977 season in "Sin City", the club returned to Southern California in 1978 as the San Diego Sockers.[1][2]
Year-by-year[]
Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
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1976 | NASL indoor | 0 | 2 | — | 0 | 3rd, West Regional | Did not qualify |
1976 | NASL | 9 | 15 | — | 82 | 5th, Pacific Conference, Southern Division | Did not qualify |
Honors[]
Indoor All-Stars
- 1976: Archie Roboostoff (West All-Regional Team)[3]
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame members
- 2019: Alan Mayer[4]
References[]
- ^ Salazar, Jo-Ryan (July 26, 2010). "The San Diego Sockers: A Legacy Renewed". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ Brents, Phillip (December 29, 2010). "Time to re-connect between Sockers, old and new". The Star-News. Chula Vista, CA. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
- ^ Hunt, Tim (March 22, 1976). "Quakes work for 8–4 win". The Argus (Fremont, CA). p. 16. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
- ^ "Hall of Famers". indoorsoccerhall.com. September 1, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
- Soccer clubs in San Diego
- North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams
- Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
- Soccer clubs in California
- Defunct soccer clubs in California
- 1976 establishments in California
- 1976 disestablishments in California
- 1976 North American Soccer League season
- Association football clubs established in 1976
- Association football clubs disestablished in 1976
- Western United States soccer club stubs
- California sports team stubs