The Caribous of Colorado were an American

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 that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1978 season. The team was based in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and played their home games at

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado, from 1948 to 2002. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of th ...

. After the season, the club was sold and moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

to become the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (1967), National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League ...

History

At the conclusion of the

1975 North American Soccer League season 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. ...

, the Denver Dynamos, playing only their second season, moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and became the

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks was a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (1968–84), No ...

, leaving the city without a professional soccer team. During the NASL league annual meetings in December 1976,

Booth Gardner William Booth Gardner (August 21, 1936 – March 15, 2013) was an American politician who served as the 19th governor of Washington from 1985 to 1993. He also served as the ambassador of the GATT. A member of the Democratic Party, Gardner previ ...

and James Guercio were awarded a NASL franchise for Denver for the 1978 season. Gardner, former owner of the defunct Tacoma Tides of the American Soccer League (and future governor of

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

), partnered with music producer Guercio (owner of the

Caribou Ranch Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou. The studio was in op ...

recording studio), paying a cool million dollars for the franchise. The team name of Caribous of Colorado was announced on May 31, 1977.

Dave Clements David Clements (born 15 September 1945) is a Northern Irish former football player and coach. He started his career as an outside left but also played as a defensive midfielder and left-back. During a career which lasted from 1964 to 1976, pla ...

, who played for the 1977 Soccer Bowl champion

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

, was hired as a player/coach. In April 1978, Dan Wood, previously coach of the Tacoma Tides and Cornell University men's soccer team, was named general manager. The Caribous opened the

1978 North American Soccer League season The 1978 North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada. Changes from the previous ...

on the road, losing 3–0 to the Seattle Sounders at the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

on April 1, 1978. After 20 games and a 6-14 record, Clements was fired as head coach and replaced by Dan Woods; things did not improve, as the club lost eight of their last ten matches to finish with a 8-22 mark and a league-worst 81 points. Colorado's offense was bad with only 34 goals, also last in the NASL (Clements' Cosmos teammate

Jomo Sono Ephraim Matsilele Sono OIS (born Madoda Walletjies Mkulwana, 17 July 1955), better known as Jomo Sono, is a South African football club owner, coach and former professional footballer. He has been variously nicknamed the "Black Prince of Sout ...

led the Caribous with eight) and so was attendance (7,418 per match, with only one crowd in five figures all year). After the season, the club was purchased and moved to

to become the (new)

Uniforms

The lasting legacy of the Caribous is one of the most unusual, infamous

uniforms A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency ser ...

in soccer history. Going with a western-style motif, the players wore brown and tan jerseys that included a strip of leather

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

across the chest. In 2009, the uniforms were voted the "worst soccer uniform in history" by the readers of the Uni Watch sports design site. On April 1, 2014, the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

announced the club would wear Caribou "throwback" jerseys for an upcoming home game. It was quickly revealed as an

April Fools April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day (rarely called All Fools' Day) is an annual custom on the 1st of April consisting of practical jokes, hoaxes, and pranks. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fool " at the recipient. Mas ...

joke, but not before the team was swamped with calls and e-mails from fans wondering where they could buy replicas of the infamous duds.

Year-by-year

Coaches

* Dan Wood

External links

* Colorado Caribous roster at NASLJerseys.co

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Atlanta Chiefs, North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams Soccer clubs in Denver 1978 establishments in Colorado 1978 disestablishments in Colorado

Defunct soccer clubs in Colorado Association football clubs established in 1978 Association football clubs disestablished in 1978