Philadelphia Atoms

Football club infobox | clubname = Philadelphia Atoms
fullname = Philadelphia Atoms
nickname = Atoms
founded = 1973
dissolved = 1976
ground = Veterans Stadium (1973-75) Franklin Field (1976)
capacity =
chairman =
manager =
league = North American Soccer League
season =
position =
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leftarm2=0000ff|body2=0000ff|rightarm2=0000ff|shorts2=0000ff|socks2=0000ff| The Philadelphia Atoms were a soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973-75) and Franklin Field (1976).

The Atoms were founded by Philadelphia construction mogul Thomas McCloskey in 1973 at the urging of Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Tornado owner Lamar Hunt. Playing a largely American line-up, they won the NASL title in their first year of existence, ironically by defeating Hunt’s Dallas club 2-0. After this championship match, Philadelphia goalkeeper and Delaware Valley native Bob Rigby became the first soccer player to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The Atoms could not sustain the success of their first season as the club missed the playoffs in each of their remaining three NASL campaigns. Attendance began to flag and, after the 1975 season, the team was sold to a group of Mexican clubs, which included Club Deportivo Guadalajara. Fielding a primarily Mexican side (almost 20 years before Chivas USA would try a similar approach in Major League Soccer), attendances continued to wane and the club folded after the 1976 season.

Although Clive Toye reports in his recent book that the franchise was sold to an ownership group from Montreal, he apparently confuses the fate of the next Philadelphia NASL team for that of the Atoms; the Atoms were, in fact, going to be relocated to San Antonio by their Mexican owners, who planned to replace the San Antonio Thunder franchise (which itself had just relocated to Honolulu to play as Team Hawaii). This plan never came to fruition, and the Philadelphia franchise was placed into receivership by the NASL.

The franchise was removed from receivership two years later when the Philadelphia Fury began their three year run in Philadelphia in 1978.

Year-by-year

Honors

NASL Championships
* 1973

Division Titles
* 1973 Eastern Division

Coach of the Year
* 1973 Al Miller

Rookie of the Year
* 1975 Chris Bahr

All-Star First Team Selections
* 1973 Chris Dunleavy, Jim Fryatt, Andy Provan
* 1974 Chris Dunleavy
* 1975 Bobby Smith

All-Star Second Team Selections
* 1973 Roy Evans, Bob Rigby, Bobby Smith, Derek Trevis
* 1974 Bob Rigby, Derek Trevis
* 1975 Bob Hope, Tony Want

All-Star Honorable Mentions
* 1973 Barry Barto, George O'Neill
* 1974 Jim Fryatt, Bobby Smith

Players

*flagicon|USA Bob Rigby (1973-75)
*flagicon|ENG Jim Fryatt (1974-75)
*flagicon|ENG Derek Trevis (1973-75) [http://home.att.net/~nasl/players.htm#T]
*flagicon|SCO Bobby Hope (1976)
*flagicon|USA Norman Wingert

Head Coaches

* Al Miller (1973 - 1975)
* Jesus Ponce (1976)

Yearly Average Attendance

* 1973 - 11,501
* 1974 - 11,784
* 1975 - 6,848
* 1976 - 5,912

External links

* [http://www.philadelphiaatoms.com A page devoted to the history of the Philadelphia Atoms by American soccer historian Steve Holroyd]