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April 1978 |
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Mobile businessman Billy Lyons announces that he
has purchased a franchise in a new indoor soccer
league scheduled to begin play the summer of
1978. Other cities reportedly are New York, New
Jersey, Toronto, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta,
Shreveport, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle
and New England. The new league will be named
the Super Soccer League. Their brand of indoor
soccer would be similar to hockey, with five
players and a goalie. The president of the SSL
is Jerry Saperstein, who announced the league's
forming in Miami on January 5, 1978. At that
press conference, Saperstein said the new league
would feature fluorescent orange, yellow, and
white striped balls, and 6 men on each side; 2
defensemen, 2 forwards, a goalie, and a
midfielder. "We have taken traditional soccer,
cut the size of the playing field, reduced the
number of players on each team, widened the
goals and moved it indoors. With some rule
changes, we will have an offensive-oriented game
which will produce high scoring and will not be
governed by the vagaries of weather," Saperstein
said. The league's version will bear a distinct
hockey flavor, with unlimited substitution,
dasher boards around the field to keep the ball
in play continuous play, body checking, and a
penalty box. There will be 3 periods, each 20
minutes long. Franchises will cost $50,000.
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January 5,
1978 - Jerry Saperstein
announces the
formation of the
Super Soccer League
in Miami.
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Saperstein said the SSL would not get into a
bidding war with established soccer leagues for
players. "It will be a league policy that we
will neither approach nor sign players currently
under contract to the North American Soccer
League. We're not going the be the second
professional soccer league in the sense the the
World Hockey Association and the American
Basketball Association were second leagues.
There are 8 million soccer players in the world,
only a few of which play in the the NASL. We're
going after American college and university
players," Saperstein said.
Saperstein's father Abe founded the famous
Harlem Globetrotters and Jerry worked with the
club until after his father's death. "Many of my
father's promotions were intertwined with
soccer. Dad was promoting a soccer game the
night I was born. I saw that soccer, even more
than basketball and tennis, was the sport of the
world. More than 120 nations play it. And why
not? It's going big in American schools today
because there are few injuries and you can gave
a game with a $9 ball, cheap goals, and a bunch
of guys wearing shorts and sneakers," Saperstein
said.
The SSL's
Vice President of Operations is William R.
Putnam. Putnam was the owner of the
Birmingham Americans, who won the World
Football League's first and only World Bowl in
1974. Putnam said the SSL's Director of Player
Personnel, Norm Sutherland, was currently
touring Europe to sign 200 to 300 players to
stock the franchises.
Lyons is president of Riley Chemical
Corporation and is the brother of former Speaker
of the Alabama House of Representatives Sage
Lyon. He was a part-owner of the Barcelona,
Spain franchise of the International Basketball
Association. "We were very successful, but
couldn't play politics and were forced to sell
out," Lyons said. |
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May 1978 |
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Lyons announced that the lease agreement with
the Civic Center's board meets his approval. If
a contract is signed, the team will play between
16 and 20 games in the Coliseum in July, August
and September beginning in 1978. |
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Gordon Fearnley was announced as head coach by
Lyons. Fearnley is from Yorkshire, England, and
is the youngest head coach in professional
soccer in the United States. Fearnley said,
"This is my first trip to Birmingham. I've never
really thought about living here. Guess I'll
have to now. But I'll tell you what, once I
stepped off the plane I've met nothing but
terrific people."
Addressing the differences in indoor soccer
versus outdoor soccer, Fearnley said, "One of
the things that seems to be boring to fans is
the midfield play in outdoor soccer. We've
virtually eliminated that factor with indoor
soccer. With a shorter field, you'll see more
action. The goalie, much like in hockey, will be
the key man." Indoor rules also include a time
penalty box and power plays, just like hockey.
He continued saying, "The rules are really
simple. There are not that many changes. A lot
of outdoor rules apply."
A total of 12 franchises will make up the SSL.
The cities named were Birmingham, New York, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Salt Lake City,
Seattle, Atlanta, Boston, Shreveport, Miami and
Washington, DC. The first game is scheduled for
the first week of July. They will play 32 games,
16 at home and 16 away. Each team will have 14
players. Only 6 will play at a time. A player
draft will be held next week, with 10 players to
be selected from a pool of 150 by each
franchise.
Alaina Jones, Director of Public Relations,
said the team still doesn't have a name but,
"the contest is still going on to name the team.
We expect to have a name very soon."
Lyons said, "The Saperstein name is magic all
over the world. This new league is going to
work, too. The entire league is 100% associated
with success from the top to the bottom. We have
good people throughout the league. We want to
have a winner the first year for Birmingham.
Birmingham deserves a winner. We've got a lot of
things going for us that other new leagues
didn't have. In fact, we took mistakes from
others and learned from them."
Lyons also claims the SSL has signed a
contract with Twentieth Century Fox for a 5 year
television package. Lyons said, "By next
Thursday, we'll have an earth-shattering
announcement to make. And after that, we hope to
make another announcement that would be quite
interesting."
After the press conference, Fearnley asked
about Birmingham's nightlife saying with a
smile, "I'm a bachelor, you know. And you might
say I enjoy socializing." It is reported
that the local franchise would be known as the
Birmingham Bankers. |
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Jones announced the team would be known as the
Birmingham Bandits and that the SSL had signed a
contract with Twentieth Century Fox for them to
televise 5 league games in 25 of the 50 major
television markets in the United States. She
also announced that Birmingham would play in one
of those games. In addition to the 5 regular
season games, league playoffs and the
championship game are included in the package
with Twentieth Century Fox.
At the SSL's first draft, the Bandits drafted
10 players. John Hazel of Scotland was
Birmingham's first pick. Of the 10, 4 are from
Scotland, 1 from the United Kingdom and 5 are
from the United States. Players will begin to
report in next week.
At this time, only 8 teams are listed as
being ready to begin play in July; Birmingham,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Miami,
Atlanta, Shreveport and Washington, DC. |
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June 1978 |
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The Bandits first home game has been moved back
to July 13th. |
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There are rumors that the Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Washington, DC and New York
franchises will be forced by the league to turn
in their franchises due to financial and
scheduling problems. |
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Fearnley makes an appearance at the Alabama
Sports Writers Convention at Pine Harbor to
promote the Bandits.
"Soccer is growing
in the United States, because it has great
selling points. First, soccer is one of the
least expensive games to play. All you really
need is a ball. Second, the game can appeal to
so many different people of different shapes and
sizes. And third, girls can play the sport. In
Alabama, I know we'll have to compete with
football, but I think soccer can catch on. I
really don't think our success will depend on
having a winning team. It'll be determined by
how exciting we are," Fearnley said.
"Our
first draft was held a few weeks ago in New
York. Of the 12 players I had on my list, we got
six. I went after the hungry players, not the
stars. That's why market prices are so low. I
don't intend to ignore the American players
either. League rules say we have to split our
roster and have 7 Americans and 7 foreign
players. That's a good rule because the future
of the game here is to bring these American
players along. The World Cup games are going on
now in Argentina. I would be very surprised if
America didn't have a world team in the 1982
games which will be played in Russia," Fearnley
said.
Last year Fearnley was playing in
the North American Soccer League with Fort
Lauderdale. "I came to Birmingham for two
reasons. I wanted to coach and I think indoor
soccer is a great opportunity," Fearnley said. |
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Jones, now the Bandits General Manager,
announces the SSL will consist of 6 teams and
that each team would play a 26-game season. The
6 teams are the Birmingham Bandits, Atlanta
Wallbangers, Shreveport Balls, Miami Mad Dogs,
New York Spirits, and the San Francisco
Heat.
Jones said, "There will not be any more
franchises withdrawing from the Super Soccer
League. It was in the financial best interests
of the league for some teams to wait a year
before beginning competition. We think it's
better to begin with 6 and work our way up to 12
teams than it is to start with 12 and end up
with 6. We think a lot of homework has been done
on organizational matters and, as a result, the
league will be better for it in the future."
Ticket prices will be from $3.50 to $4.50 and
the Bandits are scheduled to play four
exhibition games against international all-star
teams. |
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Jones responds to persistent rumors that the SSL
is folding by saying, "We're going to be around.
There is no uncertainty about us or the league.
We're not going to fold. It seems every new
league has it's problems. We're no different.
We're a stable franchise and we are not in
financial trouble. In fact, when we purchase
something, it's done on a cash basis. We want to
show Birmingham and the people in the state
we're here to stay. We have too much invested
now to leave the city. We kinda like Birmingham.
It's a terrific city." Jones did go on to
admit the Bandits could delay their first season
until next year and said, "If we do, it will not
be because of financial problems per se. It will
be because of time. One problem the league has
come to face is getting things squared away for
play this year. Although the Super Soccer League
was formed over a year ago, wheels have only
been turning for a couple of months. I think a
lot of owners, not us, have found it's pretty
tough to get players and print tickets and
settle on a site to play their games in 3 or 4
weeks. But you know, that's not a bad problem
when you think of it. We have teams to play this
year and we have teams waiting to buy into the
league. I like a problem like that. And
Birmingham doesn't have to worry about the Super
Soccer League. We're going to be around." |
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Saperstein announces the SSL will postpone their
inaugural season until April of 1979. Saperstein
said, "What it boils down to is that some of the
teams were ready to play and others weren't, and
you can't start a league on that basis. This is
not a happy time. We're going to have to go back
and regroup. This decision is in the best
interests of league directors, teams and fans."
Putnam, now the managing partner of the
Atlanta Wallbangers franchise, said the league
"is too good a concept to carry into a season
with so many question marks. The worst thing
that could happen is to give out of money in
mid-season, an experience I've had once before
and don't care to repeat. What it boiled down to
was only three teams - Atlanta, Birmingham, and
Shreveport - were really ready to go."
Lyons said, "We feel the decision not to play
until April of next year is a sound one. We're
especially pleased with the decision because it
gives the league an opportunity to firm up the
12 franchises we had originally intended to go
with." |
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July 1978 |
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Jones said no one in the organization has been
paid for the last few weeks, including front
office workers and players. Jones said, "It has
now been 6 weeks since we've been paid. We're
broke, we're hungry and we're totally confused.
What has happened, is that we've been mislead
regarding the status of the Super Soccer League.
To the best of our knowledge, we no longer have
a team. At least that's the word we got from Mr.
Lyons." Head Coach Gordon Fearnley said, "We
have repeatedly notified Mr. Lyons of our
financial plight. It seems we called him
practically every day asking him for money. I
know one thing, we've got to have money to
operate a franchise in this city. We thought we
had security. We were mislead on that fact."
Saperstein said, "As for the position of the
league at this time, we're going ahead as we
planned. We expect to open our season in April
of 1979. Nothing has changed there. We do plan,
however, to hold a league meeting the third week
in July in Chicago. And we're expecting
Birmingham to be represented there. We've run
into some problems, but that's because of time.
I'm impressed with Birmingham as a major league
city. We think the Super Soccer League is an
exciting product and we plan to have a league
that begins play next year. My family has been
in professional sports for over 70 years. I
don't have to defend myself or my family. We're
going to have a Super Soccer League." |
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Lyons responds heatedly to Jones and Fearnley's
accusations saying they "are totally and 100%
hogwash. This is all ridiculous. For one thing,
those players shouldn't be paid because they
were never signed to a contract. I never
authorized Alaina to bring those players into
town. I repeatedly told her we didn't need the
players in yet because it looked as if the
league wouldn't begin playing until next year.
She's been paid $2,800 for 6 weeks work. I have
a $500,000 line of credit and I'm bringing proof
of that with me to Birmingham. I just hope I
haven't been hurt beyond repair. I want a
franchise in Birmingham. I still believe in the
Super Soccer League. If Birmingham, after what
has come out, doesn't want a soccer franchise,
then I'll take it to Jackson, Mississippi, or
somewhere where a team can get favorable
response." |
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Lyons cancels a scheduled press conference to
repudiate all of the accusations made against
him, due to an illness in his wife's family. He
did find time to consult an attorney to discuss
a possible suit against the Birmingham News for
printing the interview with Jones and Fearnley,
however. |
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Epilogue |
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The Super Soccer League was unable to get
started mainly because it could not stabilize
its franchise situation and never played a
single game. |
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