1985 United Soccer League season

August 2023 United Soccer League United Soccer League logo (1984).svg 1985 4 Season canceled League Cup winner South Florida Sun 13 Josue Portillo (8 goals) 42 1984 Final Matches played includes 12 League Cup and 1 regular season The 1985 USL season was the United Soccer League's second and final season. The season was abruptly suspended after the pre-season League Cup and one regular season game. History The United Soccer League played its first season in 1984 as the de facto United States second division. The previous second division, the American Soccer League, had been unstable and barely surviving for several years by the end of its 1983 season, and two of its owners broke away in January 1984 to form the United Soccer League as a fiscally sound replacement. The USL played the 1984 season with nine teams in three divisions, but all of those teams lost money, and most failed to post a performance bond to commit to another season the following winter.1985-06-27 Spokesman for former USL team says league not good for soccer https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-florida-sun-sentinel-spokesman-for/136615169/ 2024-12-30 South Florida Sun Sentinel 29 In February 1985, USL leadership participated in merger talks with the North American Soccer League (which also found itself with only a few clubs willing to commit to another season) to try to salvage some form of professional outdoor soccer, but on March 5, USL Commissioner William Burfeind announced the merger would not take place.USL, NASL Considering a Merger The Miami Herald (FL) – Saturday, February 2, 1985Merger Talks Fall Through in Soccer Miami Herald, The (FL) – Tuesday, March 5, 1985 The NASL cancelled its 1985 season shortly afterwards, and five of the USL franchises (the New York Nationals, Charlotte Gold, Jacksonville Tea Men, Buffalo Storm and Rochester Flash) went dormant or folded while the Houston Dynamos withdrew to become independent.1985-06-27 Spokesman for former USL team says league not good for soccer https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-florida-sun-sentinel-spokesman-for/136615169/ 2024-07-12 South Florida Sun Sentinel 29 This left only the Dallas Americans, South Florida Sun (formerly Fort Lauderdale Sun), Tulsa Tornado's (who had previously been the Oklahoma City Stampede but had moved in December) and the expansion El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks committed to a 1985 season. The 1985 Season The season was scheduled to run from May 19 through August 24.Sun Schedule is Announced The Miami Herald (FL) – Tuesday, March 19, 1985 By mid-May, league officials had extensively revamped the schedule. In hopes of attracting a few more members before the second half of the season, they decided to open with a round-robin set of games in which the teams would play each other twice (once at home and once away) to compete for the "USL Cup." After a short break, the league planned to continue with a twelve-game regular season. Almost immediately, there were signs that multiple teams and the league itself were in serious financial distress. Commissioner Burfeind resigned and league vice president Kalman Csapo replaced him just as USL Cup play was starting.Vital Signs are Ominous, but USL Continues Fight Miami Herald, The (FL) – Sunday, May 19, 1985 The Tulsa Tornado's owners were facing lawsuits related to payment for stadium rent, and after one round of paychecks bounced, they started missing pay periods for players and coaches altogether. The unpaid squad refused to play in a scheduled home exhibition on June 6th or travel to Dallas for a USL Cup match on June 8th, and the head coach and several players left the team.A United Soccer League game between the Tulsa Tornadoes... - UPI Archives https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/06/06/A-United-Soccer-League-game-between-the-Tulsa-Tornadoes/4761486878400/ 2024-08-09 UPI enCrossley Drew 2020-08-02 Tulsa Tornado's https://funwhileitlasted.net/2020/08/02/1985-tulsa-tornados-soccer/ 2024-08-09 Fun While It Lasted en-US At the same time Dallas had to grant its players a stock participation program and pay back-salaries to keep their team afloat, and the South Florida Sun began missing pay periods for its players as well.LaBelle Fran June 26, 1985 USL Cancels '85 Schedule; Sun In Limbo https://www.newspapers.com/image/236471169/ 16 February 2017 Sun Sentinel2017-02-25 Checking Out - tribunedigital-sunsentinel tribunedigital-sunsentinel http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-05/sports/8501270208_1_soccer-players-sun-team-keith-weller 2024-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20170225211030/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-05/sports/8501270208_1_soccer-players-sun-team-keith-weller February 25, 2017 In June, an Oklahoma-based group of investors led by former University of Oklahoma and professional football player Jimbo Elrod and country singer Sammie Jo Cole made an offer to purchase majority control of the Tulsa franchise and take additional steps to rescue the failing league, and this allowed the Tornado's to piece together a roster and fund the travel to Fort Lauderdale for the last game of the Cup round on June 15.1985-06-14 Struggling Tulsa gets financial boost https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-struggling-tulsa-gets-f/136615123/ 2024-12-30 The Miami Herald 427 The Sun would prevail 1-0 in this game to clinch the best record and lay claim to the cup, but acting commissioner Csapo was not at the game nor was there a physical trophy on hand to present to the winners.2015-07-15 Sun Wins Invitational Cup -- Wherever That May Be - tribunedigital-sunsentinel tribunedigital-sunsentinel http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-16/sports/8501230816_1_sun-usl-cup-goalkeeper 2024-12-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20150715224356/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-16/sports/8501230816_1_sun-usl-cup-goalkeeper July 15, 2015 Within days El Paso/Juarez owner, Pedro Meneses, announced that he was dropping out of the league. He paid all debts through the end of June and released his players. Only the thin possibility of a new ownership group taking over the Gamecocks tenuously kept the team in the league.2019-03-06 What can only be described as "Soccapocalypse" https://www.protagonistsoccer.com/kickingback/soccapocalypse 2024-12-30 Protagonist Soccer en-US Final USL match In what should have been the start of the regular season, the Sun rallied to defeat Dallas, 3–1, on Saturday, June 22.LaBelle Frank http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-23/sports/8501250110_1_first-half-goal-dallas-americans Sun Rallies To Get Past Dallas 3–1 June 23, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2017-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062622/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-23/sports/8501250110_1_first-half-goal-dallas-americans dead It turned out to be the USL's swan song. The Gamecocks/Tornado's match scheduled for the same night was cancelled due to ongoing payroll and stadium rent issues in Tulsa. South Florida were scheduled to host El Paso/Juarez on June 26. Instead on the evening of June 25, the league voted to suspend the remainder of the season.Rosaforte Tim http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-27/sports/8501250836_1_new-owners-soccer-head-home Beleaguered Sun Owners Try To Figure Team's Future June 27, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2017-02-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20170218063311/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-27/sports/8501250836_1_new-owners-soccer-head-home deadhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/236469113/ For the record 8D June 24, 1985 Sun Sentinel 17 February 2017 Once this decision was made, Elrod and Cole withdrew their offer to invest in the league, and the last outdoor soccer league in the U.S. found itself out of options and out of business.1985-06-28 Elrod Withdraws Office For Tornado's https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-oklahoman-elrod-withdraws-offi/136615717/ 2024-12-30 The Daily Oklahoman 124 June 22, 19858:05 EDT South Florida Sun (FL) Rongen 20:19Bandov 74:34 90:45 CubillasNeeskens (Saldana) 83:57Christensen 90:10 12:42, 29:29 Nazari90:10 DeRouse 3–1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/236469113/ Dallas Americans (TX) Lockhart Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2,069 A last gasp in Florida The suspension of the season triggered an immediate shut down for the teams from Dallas, Tulsa and El Paso/Juarez, but the Sun tried to carry on as an independent squad by scrambling to schedule exhibition games that would keep them active and generate income to help them offset their payroll debt. They managed to arrange matches with a Miami-based team of Haitian players and the Minnesota Strikers for the first week of July, but after failing to raise the funds to pay for Minnesota's travel, only the game against the Topez-Haitian All Stars was actually played. The Sun rallied to win what was to be the final game involving a USL squad, 4–3, on July 4, 1985, before a Lockhart Stadium crowd of 3,529. The match's proceeds were divvied up among the players and remaining staff, and team ownership announced the official suspension of operations a few days later.Barnes Craig & Rosaforte Tim http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-29/sports/8501260465_1_soccer-minnesota-strikers-coach-keith-weller Sun Plans Two Exhibitions, Agrees To Play Without Pay June 29, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2017-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20170217142752/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-06-29/sports/8501260465_1_soccer-minnesota-strikers-coach-keith-weller dead Rosaforte Tim http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-02/sports/8501260710_1_ticket-prices-minnesota-strikers-coach-keith-weller GM Out as Sun Flounders July 2, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2017-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062731/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-02/sports/8501260710_1_ticket-prices-minnesota-strikers-coach-keith-weller dead Rosaforte Tim http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-06/sports/8501270438_1_sun-split-keith-weller Sun Pays Players – Future Still Cloudy July 6, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2018-01-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20180117132013/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-06/sports/8501270438_1_sun-split-keith-weller dead Rosaforte Tim http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-10/sports/8501270988_1_professional-soccer-three-sun-owners It's Official – Sun Suspends Operations July 10, 1985 Sun Sentinel 16 February 2017 2015-07-16 https://web.archive.org/web/20150716031651/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-07-10/sports/8501270988_1_professional-soccer-three-sun-owners dead USL Cup Table main WDL % y n y SFL South Florida Sun DAL Dallas Americans TUL Tulsa Tornados EPJ El Paso/Juarez Gamecocks 4 0 2 9 8 3 0 3 12 9 3 0 3 7 7 2 0 4 10 15 green1 Avg. Att.https://www.newspapers.com/image/236473273/?terms=El%2BPaso%2BGamecocks 27 Jun 1985, Page 29 – South Florida Sun Sentinel at Newspapers.com 1985-06-27 2022-06-05 2,195 SFL 2,400 DAL 500 TUL 1,430 EPJ complete Scoring leaders RankScorerClubGPGoalsAssistsPoints1Josue PortilloEl Paso/Juarez Gamecocks68082Mark SchwartzSouth Florida Sun5314Hassan NazariDallas Americans53144Boris BandovSouth Florida Sun60445Teófilo CubillasSouth Florida Sun21236ZequinhaTulsa Tornados41237Wolfgang RauschDallas Americans51238Miguel CarcamoEl Paso/Juarez Gamecocks50339Tom FazekasDallas Americans530310Arnaldo CorreaEl Paso/Juarez Gamecocks621311Tony CrescitelliSouth Florida Sun6213 Goalkeeping leaders PlayerClubGPW–LMinSHSVSOGAGAA Delroy AllenTulsa Tornados53–2434 6017061.24 Jim TietjensSouth Florida Sun64–25407521181.33 Randy PhillipsDallas Americans52–3470 6216191.72 Juan Carlos VillalobosEl Paso/Juarez Gamecocks52–3470 73171132.49Leroy AlexandreEl Paso/Juarez Gamecocks10–1909 –022.00 References External links United Soccer League (RSSSF) Category:United Soccer League (1984–85) seasons 2 Category:Soccer competitions in Florida