Long Island Rough Riders

Football club infobox
clubname = Long Island Rough Riders


fullname = Long Island Rough Riders
nickname = Rough Riders
founded = 1994
ground = Michael Tully Field
capacity = 1,250
chairman = flagicon|USA Peter Zaratin
manager = flagicon|USA Dan Fisher
league = USL Premier Development League
season = 2008
position = 3rd, Northeast Division

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rightarm1=0000FF
shorts1=0000FF
socks1=0000FF

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Long Island Rough Riders are an American soccer team, founded in 1994. The team is a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, and plays in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference against teams from Denville, New Rochelle, New York, Newark and Ocean City.

The team plays their home games at Michael Tully Field in the village of New Hyde Park, New York, with some additional games played in the stadium at St. Anthony's High School in Huntington, New York. The team's colors are white and blue.

The team has a sister organization, the Long Island Rough Riders Women, who play in the women's USL W-League, and also enters a team in the Super-20 League, a league for players 17 to 20 years of age run under the United Soccer Leagues umbrella.

2008 Roster

Year-by-year

Honors

* USL Pro Select League Atlantic Conference Champions 2003
* USL D3-Pro League Champions 2002
* USL D3-Pro League Atlantic Conference Champions 2002
* USL A-League Northeast Conference Champions 2000
* USISL Select League North Atlantic Conference Champions 1996
* USISL Pro League Champions 1995
* USISL Pro League Coastal Conference Champions 1995
* USISL Northeast Conference Champions 1994

Competition History

The Rough Riders played their first season in 1994, fielding a team in the USISL that featured future US national team player Chris Armas, who would lead the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists.

For their second season, the Rough Riders added several more players who would go on to excel in Major League Soccer, including national team goalkeeper Tony Meola, Jim Rooney, and Giovanni Savarese, who would be named the USISL regular season and playoff MVP. The Rough Riders finished that season with a 19-1 record, and went on to win the USISL Championship.

The Rough Riders lost several players to the nascent MLS in 1996, but went on to have a successful season nevertheless, finishing with an 11-7 record before losing to the Richmond Kickers in the playoffs.

With the merger of the USISL and the APSL in 1997, the Rough Riders decided to move up and began their first season in the A-League in that year. The Rough Riders played the next five years in the A-League, before moving down to the PSL for the 2002 season.

The Rough Riders struggled in 2004, finishing the season with an 8-11-1 record, and failing to make the playoffs. The season was, however, significant because it marked the return of two old-time Rough Riders, Rooney from the New England Revolution and Savarese from overseas. 2006 was arguably the worst season in the history of team, finishing the year at the bottom of the table with just three wins and fifteen goals to their credit. Following this disastrous campaign, the team chose to voluntarily relegate themselves to the USL Premier Development League for the 2007 season.

Notable former players

* Gary Ablett
* Chris Armas
* Michael Behonick
* Edson Buddle
* Jordan Cila
* John Diffley
* Saul Martinez
* Christopher Megaloudis
* Tony Meola
* Carlos Mendes
* Paul Robson
* Giovanni Savarese
* John Wolyniec
* Kerry Zavagnin

Coaches

* Flavio Ferri 2005-06
* Dan Fisher 2007-date

tadia

* Mitchel Athletic Complex, Uniondale, New York 2003-06
* Citibank Park, Central Islip, New York 2003 (2 games)
* Stadium at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 2005-06 (4 games)
* Michael Tully Field, New Hyde Park, New York 2007-date
* Belson Stadium, Jamaica, New York 2007 (1 game)

Average Attendance

*2008: 628
*2007: 558
*2006:
*2005:

External links

* [http://www.liroughriders.com Long Island Rough Riders]