Seattle Sounders (1974–1983)

The Seattle Sounders were an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.

For other similarly named teams, see Seattle Sounders (disambiguation).
See also: History of Seattle Sounders
Seattle Sounders
Full nameSeattle Sounders
Nickname(s)Sounders
FoundedDecember 11, 1973
DissolvedSeptember 6, 1983 (1983-09-06)
StadiumMemorial Stadium
Kingdome
Capacity17,000
58,218
LeagueNASL

History
Main article: History of professional soccer in Seattle § Seattle Sounders (NASL), 1974–1983

A Seattle expansion team for the North American Soccer League was proposed in early 1973 as part of a new Western Division that would include Los Angeles, San Jose, and Vancouver.[1] On December 11, 1973, the league awarded an expansion team to Seattle that would be owned by a group of local businessmen led by Walter Daggatt of the Alpac Corporation; the team would play at Memorial Stadium in the Western Division alongside new teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco (later moved to San Jose), and Vancouver.[2] A naming contest was held in January 1974, with a shortlist of six finalists: Cascades, Evergreens, Mariners, Schooners, Sockeyes, and Sounders.[3] "Sounders" was announced as the winner of the contest on January 21, having been chosen in 32 percent of the 3,735 votes cast by the public.[4]

The Sounders made their debut on May 5, 1974, against hosts Los Angeles Aztecs; the team lost 2–1. Their home debut, a week later at Memorial Stadium in Seattle, was a 4–0 victory against the Denver Dynamos in front of 12,132 spectators. The club played the first sporting event at the new Kingdome on April 9, 1976, hosting the New York Cosmos in an exhibition match that they lost 3–1 with 58,128 in attendance. The Sounders went on to play in two Soccer Bowls, losing in 1977 and 1982 to the Cosmos.[5] From 1975 to 1982, the Sounders had an average attendance of over 20,000 per match at the Kingdome and Memorial Stadium.[6]

Frank and Vince Coluccio bought a majority stake in the Sounders franchise in 1979.[7] The team folded on September 6, 1983, after the Coluccios struggled to keep the club afloat through the regular season; the team did not qualify for the playoffs.[8] The Sounders lost an estimated $7 million in their final years of operation and the rights to the team's name were sold to former coach Alan Hinton.[9] The NASL folded a year later and a new team, F.C. Seattle Storm, was formed to continue playing outdoor professional soccer in the city.[5] The Storm later played in the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, but folded two years later.[10] A new Sounders team formed in 1994 and played in the American Professional Soccer League (later the A-League and USL First Division).[5][11] They were replaced by a Major League Soccer team, named Seattle Sounders FC in honor of both predecessors, which debuted on March 19, 2009.[12]

Stadium

The Sounders played at Memorial Stadium for their first two seasons before moving to the Kingdome. On April 25, 1976, 58,218 watched the Seattle Sounders and the New York Cosmos in the first sports event held in the Kingdome.[13]

From 1979 to 1982, they competed in three NASL Indoor campaigns, playing their home games also at the Kingdome.

Supporters

The Seattle Sounders were supported by the "Seattle Sounders Booster Club" in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Year-by-year
Main article: List of Seattle Sounders FC seasons

This is a complete list of seasons for the NASL club. For a season-by-season history including the current Seattle Sounders FC MLS franchise, see List of Seattle Sounders FC seasons.

Season League Position Playoffs USOC Continental Average attendance Top goalscorer(s)
Div League Pld W L D GF GA GD Pts PPG Conf. Overall Name Goals
1974 1 NASL 20 10 7 3 37 17 +20 101 5.05 3rd 5th DNQ DNE Ineligible 13,434 England John Rowlands[14] 10
1975 NASL 22 15 7 0 42 28 +14 129 5.86 2nd 3rd QF 16,818 England John Rowlands[15] 9
1976 NASL 24 14 10 0 40 31 +9 123 5.13 3rd 8th QF 23,828 Canada Gordon Wallace 13
1977 NASL 26 14 12 0 43 34 +9 123 4.73 5th 8th RU 24,226 England Micky Cave[16] 12
1978 NASL 30 15 15 0 50 45 +5 138 4.60 7th 12th R1 22,572 England Micky Cave[17] 13
1979 NASL 30 13 17 0 58 52 +6 125 4.17 10th 17th DNQ 18,998 England John Ryan[18] 12
1980 NASL 32 25 7 0 74 31 +43 201 6.28 2nd 2nd QF 24,246 England Roger Davies[19] 25
1981 NASL 32 15 17 0 60 62 −2 137 4.28 4th 15th R1 18,224 England Kevin Bond 16
1982 NASL 32 18 14 0 72 48 +24 166 5.19 1st 2nd RU 12,359 England Peter Ward 18
1983 NASL 30 12 18 0 62 61 +1 119 3.97 3rd 9th DNQ 8,181 United States Mark Peterson
England Peter Ward		 13
Total – – 278 151 124 3 538 409 +129 1362 4.90 – – – – – – United States Mark Peterson 48

^ 1. Avg. attendance include statistics from league matches only.
^ 2. Top goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, League Cup, U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, and other competitive continental matches.

Indoor
Season League Position Playoffs Average attendance Top goalscorer(s)
League Pld W L GF GA GD Conf. Overall Name Goals
1975 NASL 2 0 2 8 23 –15 4th 16th DNQ N/A Unknown X
1980–81 NASL 18 9 9 106 98 +8 4th 11th 6,751 Unknown X
1981–82 NASL 18 9 9 95 97 –2 4th 7th QF 6,137 Unknown X
Total – 38 18 20 209 218 –9 – – – – Unknown X

Honors

Team honors

NASL championships

NASL Conference championships

NASL Division championships

  • 1977 Western Division, Pacific Conference[20]

NASL Division Titles (regular season)

  • 1980 Western Division, National Conference
  • 1982 Western Division

Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup

  • 1981 Winner

Europac Cup

  • 1982 Winner

League MVP

Rookie of the Year

North American Player of the Year

Coach of the Year

NASL Leading Goalkeeper

Individual honors

All-Star first team selections

All-Star second team selections

All-Star honorable mentions

NASL Indoor All-Stars

U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame

Coaches

References
  1. Zimmerman, Hy (September 6, 1973). "Soccer to get succor in L. A.". The Seattle Times. p. E2.
  2. Zimmerman, Hy (December 11, 1973). "Seattle business elite back pro soccer team". The Seattle Times. p. E1.
  3. "What name do you like?". The Seattle Times. January 13, 1974. p. H6.
  4. "Sounders is the new name, soccer's the name of the game". The Seattle Times. January 22, 1974. p. D3.
  5. "Seattle Sounders: Kicking through the memories". The Seattle Times. May 6, 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  6. Massey, Matt (July 28, 2002). "Sounders seek return to glory on new turf". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  7. Garnick, Coral (April 12, 2014). "Frank Coluccio dies; founder of construction company that began in 1953". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  8. Smith, Craig (September 6, 1983). "Sounders call it quits". The Seattle Times. p. D1.
  9. Peoples, John (September 29, 1993). "Kicking back in Seattle". The Seattle Times. p. C1.
  10. Smith, Craig (February 21, 1992). "Curtain closes on Seattle Storm". The Seattle Times. p. E2.
  11. Smith, Craig (April 7, 1994). "Hinton answers call to coach soccer again". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  12. Drosendahl, Glenn (April 8, 2015). "Seattle Sounders FC". HistoryLink. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  13. "The Kingdome". King County. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  14. "The Year in American Soccer - 1974". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  15. Steve Holroyd (January 31, 2010). "The Year in American Soccer, 1975". American Soccer Archives. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  16. "The Year in American Soccer - 1977". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  17. "The Year in American Soccer - 1978". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  18. "The Year in American Soccer - 1979". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  19. "The Year in American Soccer - 1980". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  20. "The Year in American Soccer - 1977". Sover.net.
  21. "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page".
  22. Mudry, Richard (September 18, 1983). "Rookie Thompson captures NASL honors". Tampa Tribune. p. 15-D. Retrieved 15 December 2017 – via newspapers.com.
  23. Henderson, Jim (April 21, 1981). "For Keith Bailey, The Long Wait Is Finally Over". The Tampa Tribune. p. 5-C. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  24. "Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum Website > Hall of Fame > Hall Of Fame Inductee Announcements > 2014 Inductees". www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-08-02.
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