Salvatore "Sal" DeRosa (August 10, 1931 – March 2, 2014) was a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

American soccer coach best known for winning the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

Championship with Rochester Lancers. DeRosa competed professionally in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy until a knee injury ended his playing days. Before settling in the United States in 1967, he had previously coached the Italian Army team and also served as an assistant for Italy's Olympic squad. Once in America, he served as coach, general manager and owner of the Syracuse Scorpions of the American Soccer League. In 1969, he guided the Scorpions to a tie at the top of the Northern Division and won a one match playoff for the division crown over Rochester, before losing to the

Washington Darts The Washington Darts were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer ...

in the ASL finals. He took over as coach the Lancers (who had since moved to the NASL) midway through the 1970 season, bringing five of the Scorpions’ top players along with him, including midfielder Frank Odoi and goalie Claude Campos. Over the final thirteen games of the season, he guided the Lancers to a mark of 6-4-3 and into the NASL title series, defeating those same Washington Darts (who had also jumped leagues) by a two-match aggregate of 4–3. He also won the 1970 NASL Coach of the Year award. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

the Lancers won the NASL regular season title under him, but lost in a grueling semi-final series to eventual champion

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. That year the Lancers also were awarded the NASL Governor's Cup, given to the squad with best record against foreign teams. This was in large part due to their 4th-place finish in the

1971 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 1971 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 7th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's clu ...

, where they finished 4-1-2 (and +4 on goal dif) in all matches. DeRosa went on to coach the

Miami Gatos The Miami Toros were a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the ...

(formerly the Washington Darts) in 1972, before returning to Rochester to coach the Lancers for one more season. Several years later, Sal also served as vice-president and general manager of the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portu ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League and as their coach from 1979 to 1980. In 1977, he was named to the Rochester Lancers Team of the Decade. He founded the

Buffalo Storm Buffalo Storm were an American professional soccer team. They played for one season (1984) in the United Soccer League, with home games at All-High Stadium. History The early 1980s were a lean and difficult time for professional outdoor soccer ...

of the

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

in 1984 and has served as special consultant and president of the citizens advisory committee for the

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

of the NPSL in the 1990s. After leaving professional soccer altogether, he helped develop youth soccer clinics in the Buffalo area throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century. He died at a nursing home on March 2, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derosa, Sal 1931 births 2014 deaths Italian men's footballers American soccer coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches Men's association football players not categorized by position Footballers from the Province of Caserta 20th-century Italian sportsmen