Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Stadium: Lockhart Stadium (~19,000 capacity, after recent renovations removed seating)
Head Coach: Marcelo Neveleff (first year)
Supporter Groups: Flight 19, The Tri Rail Firm, & The Tri-County Ultras
2015 Kit: Home: Nike Red & Gold hoops with new-aged Strikers word mark,
Away: Nike solid white on white (Strikers Crest on the chest of each)
Mascot: HotShot
A Brief History
The Strikers as we know them now were founded by Traffic Sports USA in 2006 as a USL team, initially playing as Miami FC before the rebrand occurred prior to the start of the 2011 NASL season (Miami FC was one of nine teams that broke away from USL to start the modern NASL). As many remember, the Strikers franchise was originally founded in 1977, when the Robbie Family decided to move their NASL team, then known as the Miami Toros, to Ft. Lauderdale. Between 1977 and 1983, the Strikers fielded many of the world’s best players including Gerd Müller, Teófilo “Nene” Cubillas, Elías Figueroa, George Best, and Gordon Banks. The team was captained by Ray Hudson, who led the Strikers to the playoffs in their seven seasons in Fort Lauderdale. The Since 2011, the Strikers have reached the Finals twice and made the playoffs 3 out those 4 years. 2014 saw the long-awaited sale of the team to a Brazilian ownership group that includes 3-time FIFA Player of the Year award winner Ronaldo.
Gameday Experience
Fortunately for Striker Likers, Lockhart Stadium provides plenty of on-site parking, which makes for a great tailgating experience. A recent tradition of starting gameday with a stop at local craft brewery Funky Buddha in nearby Oakland Park, has been developing over the years since they opened that new location in 2013.
Flight 19 sponsors and hosts an official tailgate on the East side of the stadium, open for everyone, including visiting supporters, to enjoy beginning three and half hours before every match. F19 tailgates are often themed and are always (outside of the occasional creative language display) family friendly. If imbibing is your thing, beer is usually
“pooled” both literally and figuratively, as patrons who choose to contribute some of their favorite beverages are welcome to openly explore whatever other options are present in the kiddie pool filled with ice. Most will bring snacks and dishes to share, however Flight 19 also offers food from the grill as a fundraising mechanism to support tifo/operating costs, as well as regular philanthropic initiatives. Supporters then march collectively into the stadium no later than 20 minutes prior to kickoff, yielding drums and their proud voices, where they’ll continue to stand and
sing throughout the match. The team will also hold pregame activities of their own inside the gates, such as promotional giveaways, live music, and youth matches on the field beforehand.
In recent news, there have been some promising renovations to Lockhart Stadium that included removing any unsatisfactory seats in the preferred seating area (creating more legroom), installing new railings and cup holders in the same section, made-over VIP reception boxes, and some aesthetic paint enhancements. On Friday, there was also a large video board installed in the northwest corner of the stadium’s promenade.
2014 Record: 11W 9L 7D – 4th place overall; reached The Championship Finals
2014 Recap
The promising return of Coach Gunter Kronsteiner and many core players that helped turn the team’s fortunes around in the Fall of 2013, Strikers fans had a lot to be optimistic about (anything to get our minds off of the Walter Restrepo trade details debacle that had occurred in January). After splitting the first two matches with a win and a loss to NASL expansion team Ottawa and familiar foe Carolina respectively, the team then went on a 3-game winning streak to find themselves on top of the Spring table after Minnesota lost at home to the Cosmos. Fittingly, the Strikers faced off against the Loons the following week in Blaine, where they had the wind taken right of their sails with a 3-1 defeat. United use that momentum to carry themselves to a Spring championship, where the Strikers continued to trend downward with 2 consecutive losses and a draw, finishing 5th overall. Nevertheless, the 4 Spring wins helped to keep the team in decent position in the overall standings come the start of the Fall season. As if spirits weren’t low enough, the Strikers were shut out their first two games of the Fall. However, we were fortunate to hold the Cosmos to a tie after playing the entire second half man down. That’s when things really began to liven up. Tampa came to town and for the first time during the season, the Strikers looked hungry for a W. Fafa Piccault’s
goal secured the victory over our rivals and things were looking much better on the field for the Red & Gold. In fact, the Strikers wouldn’t concede another defeat for the rest of the season, finishing the Fall on a 7-game unbeaten streak (4-0-3). That run concluded with a 2-0 home win over Ottawa and secured the Strikers the 4th seed in The Championship.
First up was Minnesota, who took the lead initially with a spectacular goal from USMNT call-up, Miguel Ibarra. On a rather controversial rescinded offside call, Martin Nunez was able to send the game to penalties with his goal in stoppage time. The Strikers prevailed in the 6th round of PKs after some incredible stops by Kamil Contofalsky. In the Soccer Bowl Final, the Strikers faced San Antonio with both clubs looking to reach glory for the first time. To the delight of Minnesota fans, Martin Nunez missed a 62nd minute penalty kick which proved to be the difference in a
Strikers 1-2 loss to the Scorpions. A bittersweet end, as the completion of the season meant that the sale to the new ownership group was officially finalized.
Preseason Summary
It’s been a real roller coaster ride for Strikers supporters. The new ownership group got off to a rather slow start, which began with letting go a large contingency of the Championship Final roster, including arguably the Coach of the Year and fan favorite, Gunter Kronsteiner. The business side of things featured some real “green” moments that the unforgiving media didn’t waste time jumping all over as well. Nonetheless, new GM Amaury Nunes began filling the roster admirably and was even able to secure 3 loaned players from top-flight Brazilian clubs. The preseason
started with a lot of experimentation by new coach Marcelo Neveleff, both formation-wise and from a personnel perspective. A 7-2 defeat at the hands of Swedish club BK Hacken was soon forgotten once the Strikers came out
looking strong in their 1-0 loss to expansion side Jacksonville. As the team continued to gel, they’ve since put together an impressive looking finish to the preseason, which included a 5-0 revenge win against JAX at Lockhart.
Significant Arrivals
• Leo Moura – signed the former Flamengo captain after a 10-year run that included 519 games, 47 goals, and nine titles total during his tenure with the fabled club
• Joe Nasco – signed the keeper from Colorado Rapids
• Jose Angulo – signed from Pittsburgh Riverhounds of USL Pro, where in his first year he captured the 2013 USL Pro MVP award, the USL Pro Scoring Champion award, and was named to the USL Pro All-League First Team.
• Stefano Pinho – on loan from Fluminense
• Marlon Freitas – on loan from Fluminense, captained their U-20 team
• Victor “PC” Pagliari Giro – on loan from Corinthians, captained their U-17 & U-20 teams
Significant Departures
• Darnell King – signed with Tampa Bay
• Stefan Antonijevic – signed with Tampa Bay
• Fafa Piccault – signed with Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)
• Mark Anderson – signed with Carolina
• Coach Gunter Kronsteiner – returned to Europe to continue being awesome
Possible 2015 lineup
Neveleff was rumored to be a devout 4-3-3 guy, but Strikers looked best in a 4-4-2 this off-season, so we’ll go with that as an our example:
Joe Nasco;
PC, Frankie Sanfilippo, Karsten Smith, Ivan Guererro;
Leo Moura, James Marcelin, Marlon Freitas, Shawn Chin;
Stefano, Aly Hassan.
Players to Watch
Aly Alberto Hassan – Now a Strikers vet, Hassan has long been the productive spark off the bench that never seemed to have been given a chance to shine. Now with his youth academy coach at the wheel in Neveleff, look for Aly to take off in the spotlight.
Jose Angulo – If anyone is going to make up for Fafa’s scoring, it’s going to be 2013 scoring champ Angulo. Has magnificent control once his teammates find him.
Leo Moura – The Flamengo maestro is now moving up to the midfield and donning the number 10 shirt, as he made a name for himself as a right back in Brazil. Even at 36, we’re willing to be Moura has plenty left in the tank and will turn some heads this year.
2015 Predictions
On paper, the Strikers look great. If they can work cohesively and integrate Moura with so little preseason caps, look for the Strikers to finish in the top 5 combined. Thinking the Spring season will be rough, however they certainly have the players to make some noise this year. My personal prediction is a 3rd place finish in the overall table.
(image courtesy of strikers.com)
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