The Boston Minutemen were an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

team based in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and Sargent Field in

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

. Portuguese legend

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

played for the Minutemen in 1975, as did famed American player Shep Messing. The Minutemen started well, winning the Northern Division title in their first season and drawing over 9000 fans a match to Alumni Stadium, good for 5th highest in the league. They lost in the playoffs to eventual league champion

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

. When Eusébio came to Boston in 1975, by which time the team had relocated to Nickerson Field, it seemed as though things would continue to look up. Though the team would win the Northern Division title again for the second time in as many seasons, attendance fell to around 4000 – half of what it had been. In the playoffs, the Minutemen lost to Miami in extra time. For the 1976 season, team owner John Sterge announced the Minutemen would relocate again, this time to Harvard Stadium, but that deal collapsed before the start of the season and the team ended up playing in a hodge-podge of grounds throughout

: Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, and Sargent Field in New Bedford. By this time Sterge was having financial difficulties (which ended in action by the

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) and was compelled to sell off many of his players, including Eusebio, who went to the eventual champions Toronto Metros-Croatia. Attendance plummeted, the Minutemen lost their last 12 matches and after the season, they folded.

Former players

* Shep Messing (1975) * Bert Bowery (1976) * John Coyne (1974

* Geoff Davies (footballer), Geoff Davies (1975–76

* Paddy Greenwood (1974, 1976

*

(1975) * Ian McKechnie (1974

Year-by-year

Honors

NASL Division Titles * 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974: Northern Division *

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

: Northern Division NASL Leading Goalkeeper *1975: Shep Messing ''(0.93 goals against avg.)'' All-Star Selections *1974: Ade Coker ''(second team)'' *1974: Paddy Greenwood ''(honorable mention)'' *1974: Ian McKechnie ''(honorable mention)'' *1975: António Simões ''(first team)'' *1975: Wolfgang Sühnholz ''(honorable mention)'' *1976: Shep Messing ''(indoor All-Regional)'' Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame members * 2019: Shep Messing

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) M Soccer clubs in Massachusetts North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams 1974 establishments in Massachusetts 1976 disestablishments in Massachusetts

Former players

Year-by-year

Honors

See also

References