The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based out of Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Cleveland is a City in the US state of Ohio and the County seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state The United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. North American Soccer League (NASL was a professional soccer League with teams in the United States of America (U Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. Cleveland Stadium (also known as Lakefront Stadium and Cleveland Municipal Stadium) was a Baseball and American football stadium located in
The United league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The 1967 Cleveland roster was actually Stoke City F.C. from England. Stoke City Football Club is a football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League with the teams from the former USA having to create their rosters from scratch. North American Soccer League (NASL was a professional soccer League with teams in the United States of America (U
The franchise was originally acquired by Cleveland Indians baseball club principal owner Vernon Stouffer and club president Gabe Paul in August 1966. The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Vernon B Stouffer, ( 22 August 1901 - 26 July 1974) owned a national chain of restaurants motor inns and food-service operations and the Gabriel Howard Paul ( January 4 1910 — April 26 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who served as They sold the Stokers to a group led by Cleveland attorney Howard Metzenbaum and business partner, Alva "Ted" Bonda, the first week of January 1968. Howard Morton Metzenbaum ( June 4 1917 &ndash March 12 2008) was an American politician who served for almost 20 years as a Alva T "Ted" Bonda (born 1917 in Cleveland OH died October 22 2005 in Cleveland was the president of the Cleveland Indians from 1973 to 1978
In assembling a team of their own, the new owners acquired the bulk of the starting line-up from the 1967 NPSL Philadelphia Spartans franchise, which would not participate in the NASL in 1968. The Philadelphia Spartans were a Soccer team based out of Philadelphia Pennsylvania that played in the non- FIFA sanctioned National Professional The new Stokers won their division and fully intended on continuing operation. However, a difference in business philosophy with the five surviving NASL franchises saw the Stokers stay dormant in 1969. They did host an exhibition featuring a number of Stokers and NASL "all-stars" versus a West German opponent, which drew well, and fostered some hope, but Metzenbaum and Bonda remained unhappy with the NASL budgetary restraints, and announced the end of the Stokers in November 1969.
The 1968 Stokers won their division after a tight race with the talented Chicago Mustangs. In the conference championships, they were defeated in sudden-death overtime by the eventual champion Atlanta Chiefs. But the highlight of the club's existence occurred on July 10, 1968, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, when they hosted and defeated the soccer world's top-ranked professional team, Santos of Brazil, featuring Pelé. Keeper Paul Shardlow preserved the 2-1 upset by saving a penalty kick. Unfortunately, Shardlow, leased from Stoke City, collapsed and died that October while scrimmaging in England. Stoke City Football Club is a football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Those who represented the Stokers so well in the field during 1968 included Ruben "The Hatchet" Navarro, a world-class defender who made numerous national-team appearances with Argentina, his native land - where his name and play remain legendary - and Enrique Mateos, a veteran goal scorer from Spain - part of the powerful Real Madrid dynasty of the late 1950s. Enrique Mateos Mancebo (born 15 July 1934) is a former Spanish footballer who played for Real Madrid and was part of their European Stoker performers familiar to modern-day North American fans include John Best (later Seattle coach and Vancouver GM), and Roy Turner (later Dallas Tornado iron-man and then long-time indoor coach of the Wichita Wings). Peter Short and Hank Liotart also enjoyed long US soccer careers following their season in Cleveland.
Stokers' head coach Norman Low returned to England and did scouting. He later briefly scouted for the ASL Cleveland Cobras. Metzenbaum embarked on a high-profile political career, while Bonda became a prominent Cleveland figure in education, business, and sports.
Year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Regular Season | Playoffs | Avg. Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | USA | 5 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 2nd, Eastern Division | Did Not Qualify | 6,567 |
| 1968 | NASL | 14 | 7 | 11 | 175 | 1st, Lakes Division | Lost Playoff (Atlanta) | 4,305 |
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