Boston Minutemen

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This article is about the 1970s soccer team. For the Revolutionary War personages in/from Boston, see Minutemen.

Soccer club

Boston Minutemen

Full name| Boston Minutemen
Founded| 1974
Dissolved| 1976; 49 years ago (1976)
Stadium| Alumni Stadium
Nickerson Field
Foxboro Stadium
Veterans Memorial Stadium
Sargent Field
McCoy Stadium
Capacity| 30,000 (Alumni)
15,000 (Nickerson)
61,000 (Foxboro)
N/A (Quincy)
N/A (Sargent)
11,000 (McCoy)
Chairman| John Sterge
Manager| Hubert Vogelsinger
League| NASL

Home colors

Away colors

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The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and Sargent Field in New Bedford.

Portuguese legend Eusébio played for the Minutemen in 1975, as did famed American player Shep Messing.

The Minutemen started well, winning the Northern Division title in their first season and drawing over 9000 fans a match to Alumni Stadium, good for 5th highest in the league. They lost in the playoffs to eventual league champion Los Angeles Aztecs. When Eusébio came to Boston in 1975, by which time the team had relocated to Nickerson Field, it seemed as though things would continue to look up. Though the team would win the Northern Division title again for the second time in as many seasons, attendance fell to around 4000 – half of what it had been. In the playoffs, the Minutemen lost to Miami in extra time.

For the 1976 season, team owner John Sterge announced the Minutemen would relocate again, this time to Harvard Stadium, but that deal collapsed before the start of the season and the team ended up playing in a hodge-podge of grounds throughout Massachusetts: Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy, and Sargent Field in New Bedford. By this time Sterge was having financial difficulties (which ended in action by the Securities and Exchange Commission) and was compelled to sell off many of his players, including Eusebio, who went to the eventual champions Toronto Metros-Croatia. Attendance plummeted, the Minutemen lost their last 12 matches and after the season, they folded.

## Former players

[edit]

* Shep Messing (1975)
* Bert Bowery (1976)
* John Coyne (1974) [1]
* Geoff Davies (1975–76) [2]
* Paddy Greenwood (1974, 1976) [3]
* Eusébio (1975)
* Ian McKechnie (1974) [4] Archived September 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

## Year-by-year

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Year  | League  | W  | L  | T  | Pts  | Regular Season  | Playoffs  | Avg. Attend.

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1974  | NASL  | 10  | 9  | 1  | 94  | 1st, Northern Division  | Won Quarterfinal (Baltimore)
Lost Semifinal (Los Angeles)  | 9,642
1975 | NASL indoor  | 1  | 1  | —  | 2  | 4th, Region 2  | Did not qualify | N/A
1975  | NASL  | 13  | 9  | —  | 116  | 1st, Northern Division  | Lost Quarterfinal (Miami)  | 4,422
1976 | NASL indoor  | 0  | 2  | —  | 0  | 4th, East Regional  | Did not qualify | N/A
1976  | NASL  | 7  | 17  | —  | 72  | 5th, Atlantic Conference, Northern Division  | Did not qualify | 2,581

## Honors

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NASL Division Titles

* 1974: Northern Division
* 1975: Northern Division

NASL Leading Goalkeeper

* 1975: Shep Messing (0.93 goals against avg.)

All-Star Selections

* 1974: Ade Coker (second team)
* 1974: Paddy Greenwood (honorable mention)
* 1974: Ian McKechnie (honorable mention)
* 1975: António Simões (first team)
* 1975: Wolfgang Sühnholz (honorable mention)
* 1976: Shep Messing (indoor All-Regional)

Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame members

* 2019: Shep Messing[1]

## See also

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* Boston Rovers
* Boston Beacons
* New England Tea Men

## References

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1. ^ "Hall of Famers". indoorsoccerhall.com. September 1, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.

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* t
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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 Rovers1
* 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 Falcons
* 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.
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