The Connecticut Bicentennials 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) from

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. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

after the 1976 NASL season. At the end of 1977 season, the team was sold and relocated to California becoming the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the Amer ...

History

Founded in 1975, and owned by local businessman Bob Darling, the team's name was a reference to the upcoming bicentennial anniversary of the United States founding in 1976. The team began play during the

1975 NASL Indoor tournament In early 1975, the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated. Overview Though the Dallas Torn ...

, finishing second in Region 2 and missing the final four on

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. Prior to the 1975 outdoor season, the Bicentennials signed fourteen players from the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

American Soccer League (ASL) champions Rhode Island Oceaneers, including goalkeeper

Arnie Mausser Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former soccer goalkeeper who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Mausser may be considered one of the fin ...

Charlie McCully Charles Findlay McCully (April 30, 1947 – October 23, 2007) was a soccer player who played as a forward. He spent two seasons in the American Soccer League, one in the German American Soccer League and five in the North American Soccer Leagu ...

, and

Mohammad Attiah Mohammad "Baby Jet" Attiah is a retired Ghanaian professional football (soccer) forward. He played two seasons in the North American Soccer League. In 1966, Attiah began his professional career in Ghana as a sixteen-year-old. He left Ghana in 1 ...

, as well as hiring the Oceaneers' head coach Manny Schellscheidt and General Manager Michael Bosson. The Bicentennials finished their inaugural season in last place of the Northern Division with a record of six wins and sixteen loses and an average attendance of 3,720 playing their home games at the Dillon Stadium which they shared with the Connecticut Yankees of the ASL. After the season, Bosson was replaced by the GM of the Connecticut Yankees Rudi Schiffer and, along with the signing of three European players, the contract of goalkeeper Arnie Mausser, who had allowed a record 50 goals during the season, was sold to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. Schellscheidt was replaced by Bobby Thompson after a 2-3 start to the 1976 outdoor season. The team ended the 1976 season with a record of twelve wins and twelve losses and averaging 3,420 fans per game. The team relocated to

and rebranded as the Connecticut Bicentennials before the 1977 season. Playing their home games at the

Yale Bowl The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut, on the border of West Haven, Connecticut, West Haven, about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University. The ...

, the team finished the 1977 season in last place of the Atlantic Conference Northern Division with a record of seven wins and nineteen losses. The Bicentennials drew their biggest crowd ever, with 17,302 fans in attendance, for their 1977 home opener against the

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 ...

featuring Brazilian star

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

, but averaged only 3,848 fans for the season. Citing low gate revenues and the cost to adequately light the Yale Bowl for night games, Darling sold the team to

Milan Mandarić Milan Mandarić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Мандарић; born 5 September 1938) is a Serbian-American businessman who has owned a string of businesses and association football clubs, including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. H ...

who relocated the team to

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

for the 1978 season, where they became known as the

Year-by-year

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States Defunct soccer clubs in Connecticut North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams 1975 establishments in Connecticut 1977 disestablishments in Connecticut Association football clubs established in 1975 Association football clubs disestablished in 1977 Sports in Hartford, Connecticut Sports clubs and teams in New Haven, Connecticut