The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1981. Texas Stadium (1972–1975, 1980–1981) and Ownby Stadium on the SMU campus (1976–1979). The club played Indoor soccer at Reunion Arena for one season (1980–81), and hosted the two-day 1975 Regionals at Fair Park Coliseum.
History
1967–1971
The franchise was one of the original clubs that played in the United Soccer Association (USA), one of the two precursors to the NASL, in 1967. That year overseas clubs played in U.S. cities as American teams. The team that played as the Dallas Tornado were Dundee United of the Scottish Football League. Of the twelve teams that comprised the USA in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest, 15 seasons.
The following season when the USA merged with the NPSL, owners Lamar Hunt and Bill McNutt had to build a new team from scratch. They hired Bob Kap, a Serbian born soccer coach who had escaped with his family during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Kap had studied with Ferenc Puskás at the Soccer Academy in Hungary. Kap was recruited from Toronto, Canada, where he had relocated after the 1956 Revolution.
During the first 6 months as coach, Kap traveled throughout Europe to form the new Dallas Tornado, hiring young players from England to Turkey.
The fledgling Dallas Tornado learned to play as a team on their world tour during seven months in 1967–68, where they played 45 games in 26 countries spanning five continents.
1972–1981
thumb|200px|[[Pelé's carrying the ball during the Tornado vs. New York Cosmos match on June 15, 1975]]
Several division titles followed in the years after that league title. The face of the team was Kyle Rote, Jr., son of former New York Giants wide receiver and TV broadcaster Kyle Rote. In 1973, Rote Jr. led the league in scoring and won the league Rookie of the Year award. Rote Jr. further boosted his public profile by winning ABC Sports Superstars competition in 1974, 1976, and 1977.
Lamar Hunt did not give up on soccer in America, however, and was one of the founding owners in Major League Soccer.
Ex-Manchester United goalkeeper, Alex Stepney played for Dallas.
Year-by-year
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Year
!Record
!Regular season finish
!Playoffs
!Avg. Attend
|-
|1967
|3–6–3
|6th, Western Division (USA)
|Did not qualify
|9,227
|-
|1968
|2–26–4
|4th, Gulf Division
|Did not qualify
|2,927
|-
|1969
|2–2–4
|3rd
|No Postseason
|2,923
|-
|1970
|8–12–4
|3rd, Southern Division
|Did not qualify
|2,228
|-
|1971
|10–6–8
|2nd, Southern Division
|bgcolor="#FFCBCB"|Won Semifinals Series vs. Rochester Lancers, 2–1 <br /> Won NASL Finals Series vs. Atlanta Chiefs, 2–1
|3,326
|-
|1972
|6–5–3
|2nd, Southern Division
|Lost Semifinal Game vs. New York Cosmos, 0–1
|4,093
|-
|1973
|11–4–4
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st, Southern Division
|bgcolor="#FFEBAD"|Won Semifinal Game vs. New York Cosmos, 1–0 <br /> Lost NASL Championship Game vs. Philadelphia Atoms, 0–2
|7,474
|-
|1974
|9–8–3
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st, Central Division
|Won Quarterfinal Game vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 3–0 <br /> Lost Semifinal Game vs. Miami Toros, 1–3
|8,469
|-
|1975
|9–13
|4th, Central Division
|Did not qualify
|4,630
|-
|1976
|13–11
|2nd, Southern Division, Pacific Conference
|Won 1st round Game vs. Los Angeles Aztecs, 2–0 <br /> Lost Division Championship vs. San Jose Earthquakes, 0–2
|14,095
|-
|1977
|18–8
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st, Southern Division, Pacific Conference
|Lost Conference Championships vs. Los Angeles Aztecs, 0–2
|16,511
|-
|1978
|14–16
|3rd, Central Division, National Conference
|Did not qualify
|8,981
|-
|1979
|17–13
|2nd, Central Division, National Conference
|Lost National Conference Quarterfinals vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 0–2
|9,321
|-
|1980
|18–14
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st, Central Division, National Conference
|Won 1st round Series vs. Minnesota Kicks, 2–0 <br /> Lost National Conference Semifinals vs. New York Cosmos, 1–2
|6,752
|-
|1981
|5–27
|4th, Central Division
|Did not qualify
|4,670
|-
|}
Indoor seasons
In March 1971 the league staged its first ever indoor event, a four-team Hoc-Soc tournament at the St. Louis Arena. Dallas won both of its matches, 2–1 and 3–0, and the title. In the winter of 1975, the NASL organized a two-tiered, 16 team indoor tournament with four regional winners meeting in a "final-four" style championship. Dallas hosted their region at the Fair Park Coliseum and won the group. Though they lost in the semi-final, the Tornado rebounded to win the 3rd place game 2–0 over New York at the Cow Palace. In 1976 they again advanced out of their group, this time as a wild card, but lost both the semi-final and the third-place match at the Bayfront Center. In January 1979 the Tornado joined the Tulsa Roughnecks, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and host Tampa Bay Rowdies for the two-day Budweiser Invitational. They won both games, and the mini-tournament itself on goal differential. Tornado forward Jimmy Ryan was the leading scorer of the invitational with 7 goals. Dallas participated in only one full NASL indoor season, 1980–81, before folding.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Year
!Record
!Regular season finish
!Playoffs
|-
|1971
|2–0
|Hoc-Soc Tournament
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st place
|-
|1975
|2–2
|(16 team tournament only)
|3rd place
|-
|1976
|2–2
|(12 team tournament only)
|4th place
|-
|1978
|1–1
|Schlitz Tournament
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st place
|-
|1979
|2–0
|Budweiser Invitational
|bgcolor="#B3B7FF"|1st place
|-
|1980–81
|7–11
|3rd, Southern Division
|Did not qualify
|-
|}
Honors
NASL championships (1)
- 1971
- 1973 (runner up)
NASL Season Premierships (1)
- 1973
NASL Indoor championships (3)
- 1971
- 1978
- 1979
Division/Region Titles (5)
- 1973 Southern Division
- 1974 Central Division
- 1975 Region 1 (indoor)
- 1977 Southern Division, Pacific Conference
- 1980 Central Division, National Conference
Rookie of the Year
- 1973 Kyle Rote, Jr.
- 1976 Steve Pecher
League scoring champion
- 1970 Kirk Apostolidis (16 goals, 3 assists, 35 points)
- 1973 Kyle Rote, Jr. (10 goals, 10 assists, 30 points)
League goal scoring champion
- 1970 Kirk Apostolidis (16 goals)
- 1973 Ilija Mitic (12 goals)
League Leading Goaltender
- 1971 Mirko Stojanovic (GAA: 0.79)
- 1972 Ken Cooper (GAA: 0.86)
- 1977 Ken Cooper (GAA: 0.90)
Indoor MVP
- 1971 Mike Renshaw
Indoor Scoring Champion
- 1971 Mike Renshaw (2 goals, 1 assist)
- 1978 Kai Haaskivi (6 goals)
- 1979 Jimmy Ryan (7 goals)
Indoor Leading Goaltender
- 1971 Ken Cooper (GAA: 0.50)
All-Star first team selections
- 1969 Kirk Apostolidis, John Best, Ilija Mitic
- 1970 John Best
- 1971 John Best, Dick Hall, Mirko Stojanovic
- 1972 John Best, Ken Cooper
- 1973 John Best, Ken Cooper, Ilija Mitic
- 1974 Dick Hall, Albert Jackson, Ilija Mitic
All-Star second team selections
- 1967 (USA) Doug Smith
- 1970 Kirk Apostolidis, Mike Renshaw, Roy Turner
- 1972 Dick Hall
- 1973 Dick Hall, Rick Reynolds
- 1975 Ken Cooper
- 1976 Jeff Bourne, Bob Hope, George Ley
- 1977 George Ley, Steve Pecher
All-Star honorable mentions
- 1971 Gabbo Gavric, Oreco
- 1972 Mike Renshaw
- 1973 John Collins, Nicky Jennings, Kyle Rote, Jr., Roy Turner
Indoor All-Stars
- 1971 Jim Benedek, Mike Renshaw
- 1975 Ilija Mitic, Mike Renshaw, Ken Cooper
Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame
- 2012 Kenny Cooper, Sr., Ron Newman
- 2013 Kai Haaskivi, Mike Stankovic
- 2019 Roy Turner
Players
Notable players
- Koulis Apostolidis (1969–1971)
- Jim Benedek (1970–1973)
- Jeff Bourne (1978–1979)
- Cliff Calvert (1981)
- Len Cantello (1981)
- Dave Chadwick (1974–1975)
- Frank Hason (1970–1973)
- Alan Hinton (1977)
- John Stewart (1967–1969)
- Bobby Hope (1976–1978)
- Tim Huff (1981)
- Bill Irwin (1981)
- Nicky Jennings (1973)
- Brian Kettle (1978)[http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/briankettle.html]
- Kevin Kewley (1976–1979)[http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/liverpool/liverpool.html]
- Willi Lippens (1979)
- Oreco (1970–1971)
- Angel Pichardo (1977–1980)
- Wolfgang Rausch (1979–1981)
- Kyle Rote Jr. (1972–1978)
- Jimmy Ryan (1976–1979)[http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player/jimmyryan.html]
- Alex Stepney (1979–1980)
- Klaus Toppmöller (1980–1981)
- Gert Trinklein (1979–80)[http://www.eintracht-archiv.de/trinklein.html]
- Zequinha (1979–1981)
- Stephen L Tatum (1975–1976)
- Charlie Williams (1968)
- Walter Smith (On Loan 1967)
Head coaches
- Jerry Kerr 1967
- Bob Kap 1967 [http://www.nasljerseys.com/Misc/Tornado%2067-68%20World%20Tour2.htm]
- Keith Spurgeon 1968
- Ron Newman 1969–1975
- Al Miller 1976–1980
- Mike Renshaw 1981
- Peter Short 1981
References
External links
- Dallas Tornado Rosters on NASLJerseys.com
- The Adventures of the Dallas Tornado on BBC World Service