- New England Tea Men
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New England Tea Men Full name New England Tea Men Founded 1978 Dissolved 1980 Ground Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States
(Capacity: 60,000)Coach Noel Cantwell League NASL Home coloursAway coloursThe New England Tea Men were a soccer team based out of Foxboro, MA (a suburb of Boston) that played in the NASL from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was Schaefer Stadium.
Led in its initial season by ex-Charlton striker Mike Flanagan, the Tea Men won their division to much public acclaim, with Flanagan winning the league MVP award. Subsequent seasons proved not as successful for two important reasons: Flanagan, contracted to Charlton Athletic F.C., remained in England (an attempt to secure him via a transfer failed, reportedly over endorsement rights), and the team was temporarily evicted from Foxboro when the owners of Bay State Raceway next door claimed the Tea Men's matches were causing problems on racing dates. After spending one unhappy season at Nickerson Field, the team reached an accord with Bay State to play at Foxboro but not on racing dates, so the Tea Men had to play many Monday night dates, which caused attendance to dwindle. After leaving Boston, the team moved to Jacksonville and became the Jacksonville Tea Men.The original owner of the team was the Lipton Tea company and so the name was given with the Boston Tea Party in mind.
Contents
Staff
- Derek Carroll - President
Coaches
- Noel Cantwell - Head Coach
- Dennis Viollet - Assistant Manager
Former players
- Laurie Abrahams (1978)
- Brian Alderson (1978-79) [1]
- Tony Brown (English footballer) (1980)
- Jack Carmichael (1980) [2]
- Peter Carr (1978-80)
- Mike Flanagan
- Roger Gibbins (1978-79)
- Kevin Keelan (1978-80)
- Larry May
- Francis Pantuosco (1979)
- Geoff Pike
- Keith Weller (1978-80)
- Gerry Daly (1978-79)
- Peter Ioanou
- Artur Correia
- Salif Keita
- David Egan
Year-by-year
Year League W L T Pts Reg. Season Playoffs Avg. Attendance 1978 NASL 19 11 — 165 1st(t), American Conference, Eastern Division Lost 1st Round (Ft. Lauderdale) 12,064 1979 NASL 12 18 — 110 4th, American Conference, Eastern Division Did not qualify 6,562 1979/80 NASL Indoor 2 10 — — 5th, Eastern Division Did not qualify 1980 NASL 18 14 — 154 3rd, American Conference, Eastern Division Lost 1st Round (Tampa Bay) 8,748 See also
- Boston Rovers
- Boston Beacons
- Boston Minutemen
- New England Tea Men
- Jacksonville Tea Men
Categories:- Defunct soccer clubs in the United States
- North American Soccer League teams
- Massachusetts soccer clubs
- Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
- United States soccer club stubs
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