Caribous of Colorado

Technopedia Center

Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science
S1 Informatics S1 Information Systems S1 Information Technology S1 Computer Engineering S1 Electrical Engineering S1 Civil Engineering

faculty of Economics and Business
S1 Management S1 Accountancy

Faculty of Letters and Educational Sciences
S1 English literature S1 English language education S1 Mathematics education S1 Sports Education

Caribous of Colorado

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Colorado Caribous)

Caribous of Colorado

Full name

Caribous of Colorado

Nickname(s)

The Caribous

Founded

1978

Dissolved

1978

Stadium

Mile High Stadium

Capacity

76,000

Chairman

Booth Gardner

Coach

Dave Clements
Dan Wood

League

North American Soccer League

Home colors

Away colors

The Caribous of Colorado were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1978 season. The team was based in Denver, Colorado and played their home games at Mile High Stadium. After the season, the club was sold and moved to Atlanta to become the Atlanta Chiefs.

History

[edit]

At the conclusion of the 1975 North American Soccer League season, the Denver Dynamos, playing only their second season, moved to Minnesota and became the Minnesota Kicks, leaving the city without a professional soccer team.^[1] During the NASL league annual meetings in December 1976, Booth Gardner and James Guercio were awarded a NASL franchise for Denver for the 1978 season. Gardner, former owner of the defunct Tacoma Tides of the American Soccer League (and future governor of Washington state), partnered with music producer Guercio (owner of the Caribou Ranch recording studio), paying a cool million dollars for the franchise.^[2] The team name of Caribous of Colorado was announced on May 31, 1977.^[3] Dave Clements, who played for the 1977 Soccer Bowl champion New York Cosmos, was hired as a player/coach.^[4] In April 1978, Dan Wood, previously coach of the Tacoma Tides and Cornell University men's soccer team, was named general manager.^[5]

The Caribous opened the 1978 North American Soccer League season on the road, losing 3–0 to the Seattle Sounders at the Kingdome on April 1, 1978.^[6] After 20 games and a 6-14 record, Clements was fired as head coach and replaced by Dan Woods;^[7] things did not improve, as the club lost eight of their last ten matches to finish with a 8-22 mark and a league-worst 81 points. Colorado's offense was bad with only 34 goals, also last in the NASL (Clements' Cosmos teammate Jomo Sono led the Caribous with eight) and so was attendance (7,418 per match, with only one crowd in five figures all year).^[8] After the season, the club was purchased and moved to Atlanta to become the (new) Atlanta Chiefs.^[9]

Uniforms

[edit]

The lasting legacy of the Caribous is one of the most unusual, infamous uniforms in soccer history. Going with a western-style motif, the players wore brown and tan jerseys that included a strip of leather fringe across the chest. In 2009, the uniforms were voted the "worst soccer uniform in history" by the readers of the Uni Watch sports design site.^[10]

On April 1, 2014, the Colorado Rapids of MLS announced the club would wear Caribou "throwback" jerseys for an upcoming home game. It was quickly revealed as an April Fools joke, but not before the team was swamped with calls and e-mails from fans wondering where they could buy replicas of the infamous duds.^[11]

Year-by-year

[edit]

Year	League	W	L	Pts	Regular season	Playoffs	Avg. attendance
1978	NASL	8	22	81	4th, National Conference, Central Division	did not qualify	7,418

Coaches

[edit]

External links

[edit]

Colorado Caribous roster at NASLJerseys.com [1]

References

[edit]

^ "Soccer team sold?". The Deseret News. November 18, 1975. p. 2c. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ Blankenship, Ken (December 4, 1976). "Triton's Brember, USF's Eagan named to Senior Bowl". St. Petersburg Times. p. 7c. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "People in Sports". Eugene Register-Guard. March 31, 1977. p. 2B. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "Transactions". The Southeast Missourian. August 11, 1977. p. 31. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "Thursday's events". St. Petersburg Times. April 28, 1978. p. 2c. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "Sounders winNASL opener". Lewiston Morning Tribune. April 2, 1978. p. 2B. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "Sports etc. Caribous fire head coach". St. Petersburg Times. June 28, 1978. p. 3c. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ "North American Soccer League". RSSSF. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
^ Plenderleith, Ian (September 22, 2015). Rock 'n' Roll Soccer: The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League. Thomas Dunne Books. p. 287. ISBN 978-1-4668-8400-7 – via Google Books.
^ Boehm, Charles (December 27, 2021). "The strange but true story of the Caribous of Colorado and their unforgettable fringe uniforms". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
^ Wright, Chris (April 2, 2014). "Colorado Rapids win April Fool's Day with Caribous kit ruse". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved December 27, 2021.

Atlanta Chiefs

Founded 1966 Based in Atlanta, Georgia
Club history	Atlanta Chiefs (1966–1972) Atlanta Apollos (1973) Caribous of Colorado (1978) Atlanta Chiefs (1979–1981) Atlanta Chiefs (1979–1981) (indoor)
Sports facilities	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Tara Stadium Grant Field DeKalb Memorial Stadium Mile High Stadium Omni Coliseum
Important figures	David Byrne Paul Child Kaizer Motaung Ron Newman Victor Nogueira Jomo Sono Ted Turner Art Welch Phil Woosnam
Other topics	Related articles

Honors
NASL Championship (2)	1968 (Champions) 1969 (Finalist) 1971 (Finalist)
NASL Division titles (3)	1968 (Atlantic Division) 1971 (Southern Division) 1981 (Southern Division)
NASL Indoor League Regular Season (1)	1979–80 (Champions)
NASL Indoor League Division (2)	1979–80 (Eastern Division) 1980–81 (Eastern Division)

Seasons
North American Soccer League (1966–85)	1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1978 1979 1980 1981
North American Soccer League indoor (1975–84)	1979–80 1980–81

v t e North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
Broadcasters USSF CSA Portal NASL (2011–2017) First overall draft picks
Seasons	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Soccer Bowls	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Predecessors	USA 1967 Final NPSL 1967 Final
Indoor seasons	1971 1975 1976 1978 1979 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1983 1983–84
Conferences	1968 East West 1976–1977 Atlantic Pacific 1978–1980 American National
Related	Soccer Bowl broadcasters NASL Indoor Championship
Clubs	Atlanta Apollos Atlanta Chiefs Baltimore Bays Baltimore Comets Boston Beacons Boston Minutemen Boston Shamrock Rovers† Calgary Boomers California Surf Chicago Mustangs Chicago Spurs² Chicago Sting Cleveland Stokers Caribous of Colorado Connecticut Bicentennials Dallas Tornado Denver Dynamos Detroit Cougars Detroit Express Edmonton Drillers Fort Lauderdale Strikers Golden Bay Earthquakes Hartford Bicentennials Houston Hurricane Houston Stars Jacksonville Tea Men Kansas City Spurs Las Vegas Quicksilvers Los Angeles Aztecs Los Angeles Wolves Memphis Rogues Miami Gatos Miami Toros Minnesota Kicks Minnesota Strikers Montreal Manic Montreal Olympique New England Tea Men New York Cosmos New York Generals New York Skyliners¹ Oakland Clippers Oakland Stompers Philadelphia Spartans² Philadelphia Atoms Philadelphia Fury Pittsburgh Phantoms² Portland Timbers Rochester Lancers San Antonio Thunder San Diego Jaws San Diego Sockers San Diego Toros San Francisco Golden Gate Gales¹ San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders St. Louis Stars Tampa Bay Rowdies Team America Team Hawaii Toronto Blizzard Toronto City¹ Toronto Metros Toronto Metros-Croatia Tulsa Roughnecks Vancouver Royals Vancouver Whitecaps Washington Darts Washington Diplomats Washington Whips
¹ United Soccer Association team that did not join NASL upon merger with NPSL. ² National Professional Soccer League team that did not join NASL upon merger with USA.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caribous_of_Colorado&oldid=1181210131"

Categories:

Hidden categories: