Category Archives: NASL Sounders

Features regarding the NASL Sounders era (1974-83)

Know Your History, NASL Sounders

Cannon’s Grand Entrance

All Otey Cannon did was blaze a path, fulfill his role in a legendary squad and make American footy history.

Now, approaching the 50th anniversary of his rather grand entrance into Seattle Sounders lore, Cannon has returned to Seattle, joining other members of the 1974 NASL team to become charter inductees to the Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends.

Few could rival Cannon’s ability to instantly make an impact. He was signed off waivers on June 28, 1974, and made his debut in the next game, eight days later. One particular fan took note of his warming up and was quite vocal. In the 73rd minute of a nil-nil stalemate with St. Louis, he came off the bench.

Otey Cannon celebrates scoring four minutes into his first Sounders shift, vs. St. Louis in 1974. (Frank MacDonald Collection)

“This guy in the stands was screaming my name,” and not in a good way, according to Cannon. “John (Best, head coach) told me to ignore it, to just go out there and play. Then the ball came to me, I hit it – and it went in.”

The resulting roar of the 14,000 at Memorial Stadium effectively silenced that singular loudmouth. Cannon remembers going to his knees in celebration, thinking “Damn, about time!” Beyond that, he doesn’t remember too many specifics. “I was probably just overwhelmed.”

Four minutes into his first Sounders shift, Cannon had scored what proved to be the deciding goal. After losing three straight following star Pepe Fernandez’s season-ending injury, Seattle’s expansion side won its fourth straight and was back in NASL playoff contention. Reminiscent in recent times would be Paul Rothrock’s 2023 winner at Houston – an 83’ entry and 87’ winner – in his MLS debut.

Continue reading Cannon’s Grand Entrance →
FC Seattle, Know Your History, NASL Sounders, Washington Huskies

Jimmy Gabriel: The Gift of Lift

My adoration of Jimmy Gabriel is founded largely on a single half-hour shift and, really, just the first 10 minutes. My profound admiration of our first true Mr. Sounder lasts to this day.

Jimmy Gabriel may no longer walk this earth, but without question his legacy lives on. Every time Brian Schmetzer fills out a lineup sheet or delivers his team talk. Every time Bernie James addresses his kids. Every time Dean Wurzberger or Lesle Gallimore conduct a clinic. And so on and so on.

Jimmy Gabriel celebrates as the Sounders roar back to beat Portland in 1977. (Frank MacDonald Collection)

Our state soccer community thrives on so many fronts: Professional, college, amateur, youth and, of course, our legion of fans. For 20-25 years, Jimmy Gabriel was instrumental in the development of all those. Head coach, coaching director, assistant coach, volunteer: No matter the role, he found a means to contribute, sometimes forcefully, often times quietly. Not much for pomp, he led with his heart, and that’s when he won me over.

It was 1977, Jimmy’s first year after being elevated to head coach, and the Sounders were stumbling mightily out of the gate. Never mind that they lost the first three matches, they didn’t even score, and down 2-nil at home to Portland, Gabriel and the lads were staring at 0-4. Then everything changed.

Never to be Replicated

As a kid watching on TV some 90 miles away, Jimmy’s next act was unforgettable. It will never be replicated, either. Against our fiercest rival, he pulled off his track jacket, un-retired, inserted himself into the match and imposed his will upon the outcome.

Continue reading Jimmy Gabriel: The Gift of Lift →
Know Your History, NASL Sounders

Rowlands Stood Tall, Always Will

1 Comment

If there is to be a monument celebrating John Rowlands, it must stand tall and strong. It must exude tenacity, cunning and somehow exhibit a pinch of mischief.

For John Rowlands must be known for far more than just the goal that sounded our soccer community’s collective awakening. He was a buoyant, forceful personality; someone who would lead you headlong into the fray yet elicit some hardy laughs along the way. He was adventurous, striking out from his homeland for this faraway port to play for a side that had no prior existence. Here he would join, and in many ways lead, likeminded lads who blazed a path for what has become a thriving, footballing realm. He was a beacon.

John Rowlands, who led the line and, in many ways set the carefree tone of those first Sounders teams of the Seventies, has died, a victim of Coronavirus earlier this month in his native northwest England. He was 73.

John Rowlands, ca. 1974 (Frank MacDonald Collection)

Yet to the vast majority of contemporary footy followers around Seattle, the name Rowlands may fail to resonate. You might find a fuzzy image of him on YouTube or the black and white photographs such as those on this page. However, that’s all two-dimensional, and if one really wants to identify themselves a Sounder for life, let’s learn a bit about the late, great Sounder, John Rowlands.

Once John Best got a look at the narrow, crowned and unforgivingly hard Astroturf of Memorial Stadium, Seattle’s first coach envisioned the cast best equipped to win games in those cozy confines while at the same time winning fans. The plan: Those first Sounders would go direct, straight down the middle.

Continue reading Rowlands Stood Tall, Always Will →
FC Seattle, Indoor Soccer, MLS, NASL Sounders, Seattle Pacific University, USL Sounders

Got Game, Will Travel

Sometimes following your dream means leaving town, again and again. For a couple of Seattle native sons, they started at home and finished here. But in between they moved around a lot.

Chance Fry and Peter Hattrup both came out of local high schools in 1982, when the sun was still high in the sky for American soccer. It would go dark all too quickly.

That summer there were 28 teams, both outdoor and indoor, that were paying livable wages across the continent. Within two years, that number was cut in half, and when Fry and Hattrup reached their prime, pro soccer in this corner of the earth, after years of bleeding red ink, all but went black.

Hattrup refers to his peer group as The Lost Generation. They may have made some bucks, even gotten a taste of MLS or made a World Cup squad. Yet there’s long been a lingering question of what might’ve been.

If there was a silver lining, says Hattrup, the game was overflowing with players and coaches with an unquenchable thirst to find a game. Any game. “The great thing was you only had guys that loved to play,” he claims. “No one did it just for themselves, just for the money. They loved being part of the game.”

The Sounders drafted Chance Fry as a Sammamish High School senior and U.S. Youth National Team player.

An Auspicious Start

Continue reading Got Game, Will Travel →
FC Seattle, Know Your History, NASL Sounders, USL Sounders

Too Much Fun to Complain

One evening, not so long ago, Peter Fewing was dining out with friends when a tablemate mentioned that Fewing once played professional soccer. It made him giggle, just a little.

When Jeff Stock first signed with the original Seattle Sounders out of Tacoma’s Stadium High School, he wanted to maintain his amateur status and eligibility for the 1980 Olympic Games. Still, his earnings, when adjusted through an inflation calculator, were exponentially more than Fewing’s. In fact, in 2020 dollars it exceeds that of some top players for Reign FC today.

It’s madness, in many respects. But for those who have played at the top levels of American pro soccer the past 45 years, this hardly comes as a surprise. Any yet, none of the journeymen interviewed for this story have many complaints. In fact, all maintain they were enriched by the experience, intellectually if not financially.

“I was playing at the highest level of soccer in the country at the time,” notes Fewing, now 26 seasons into a career as Seattle University’s head coach. “It was fun, we had fans, we signed autographs, and we got two free beers and a burger at the postgame party. The sentiment was that we were having too much fun to complain.”

Craig Beeson, left, and Peter Fewing , center, celebrate an FC Seattle goal. (Joanie Komura photo/Frank MacDonald Collection)
Continue reading Too Much Fun to Complain →
Know Your History, NASL Sounders

Land of Opportunity

It all began as a working vacation for David Gillett. In 1974, the 23-year-old Scotsman first stepped foot in Seattle, where pro soccer had never existed. He was coming to play central defense, but Gillett was soon all-in as a missionary for this emerging sport, conducting clinics and making plentiful promotional appearances.

Back in Britain, where he played for Crewe Alexandra, the job was pretty much two hours of daily training, with a match or two each week.

It had been much the same for Adrian Webster when playing for his hometown club of Colchester, in England. He moved to Vancouver to play semi-pro and then heard about the NASL coming both there and Seattle soon after.

“I was very fortunate that it was the Sounders and John Best and Jimmy Gabriel that I played under,” Webster offers. “Not all of the clubs in the NASL were run as professionally.” Soon Webster was starting on the backline with Gillett, and the city adored their new team and their tradition of applauding the fans each night from the center circle.

The original Seattle Sounders, pictured in 1974. Adrian Webster is front row, third from left; David Gillett is back row fourth from right. (Frank MacDonald Collection)
Continue reading Land of Opportunity →
Attendance, MLS, NASL Sounders, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle Reign, Seattle Sounders FC

Big Crowd. Big Cause.

Without question the best, most dramatic match I ever witnessed live was played before less than 1,500 fans and ended near midnight. The largest crowd to which I was a party was for a scoreless affair under a scorching midday sun. And five of the eight biggest attendances for matches played in Seattle didn’t matter at all.

That’s what makes this coming Sunday such a beautiful convergence of the masses with the most meaningful afternoon of footy our state has ever seen. When the first whistle pierces the mid-autumn air for Sounders v Toronto, CenturyLink Field will be teeming with people who came to be part of history, part of a unique experience in Seattle sporting culture: One game to determine the champion of an 8-month marathon known as MLS.

No doubt, that’s what sparked the run on tickets, fans seeking to seize the moment. When the Reds took down Atlanta and soon after the ticket link went live to season ticket holders, no one needed a clever hashtag or promotional gimmick to go online. Seattle became a soccer capitol long, long ago; like their playing heroes, the fans are smart and opportunistic, and soon the lower bowl inventory was exhausted, and folks took aim on getting tickets for friends in the upper deck. Within 48 hours, the CLink was full-up.

Bigger match, bigger crowd. It stands to reason.

The Kingdome’s first sporting event, a Sounders friendly vs. New York Cosmos, was also the first U.S. soccer attendance of 50,000 or more.
Continue reading Big Crowd. Big Cause. →
Know Your History, NASL Sounders, Seattle Reign, Seattle Sounders FC

Sometimes You Gotta Get Away

Professional sports travel in North America can be arduous what with all the time zones and long distances between destinations.

But sometimes the road is where a team discovers itself, its character. Within the confines of airliners, buses, hotel rooms and shared meals can come a newfound camaraderie.  Constant interaction can act as an incubator, speeding the development of relationships, on and off the field. Of course, this all assumes the chemistry elements are correct in the first place.

The Reign just returned home after playing four consecutive road matches. They have seven more points than when they last played at Memorial.

The Sounders, meanwhile, are outbound to a pair of imposing away matches at Toronto and Portland. The Reds have apparently sorted things out and are coming off a 3-0 win over Philly. The Timbers have won three straight, scoring six goals in their last two home wins.

Continue reading Sometimes You Gotta Get Away →

MLS Sounders, NASL Sounders, Seattle Reign

Slow Starts Are Nothing New

It’s got to be the rain? During a long, dreary winter it results in rust that can’t be easily shaken off. That has to explain Seattle’s predisposition for poor starts, right? Because here we are. Again.

For the third successive spring, the Sounders are stumbling out of the gate. It’s not so much alarming as annoying. To the fans and certainly the players and coaches. There’s an underlying faith that the fortunes will turn, but it’s just so frickin’ frustrating.

One need not be a longtime fan to feel this is déjà vu all over again. Three league matches, three defeats. All this after starting 1-1-3 last year and 1-3-1 in 2016. Compounding matters is the 270 scoreless MLS minutes. You have to go back 41 years to find a longer goal draught to open a league season.

Laura Harvey and the Reign’s inaugural start rates as the rockiest, so far. (Courtesy Reign FC)

Since the beaches haven’t yet opened there is ample time to warm-up the wayback machine and check-out some of the more yawn-inducing starts in local history, then scratch around for some telling stats and comments.

Humble Beginnings Continue reading Slow Starts Are Nothing New →

FC Seattle, Know Your History, NASL Sounders, Seattle Sounders FC, USL Sounders

Seattle Seeing Red

What’s been Rave and white and red all over? Ah, that would describe the inauspicious start to the Sounders’ MLS season so far.

Two games, two red cards; no goals, no points. Even for historically slow-starting Seattle, this is a bit unsavory for the faithful. But when referees are showing cards, might as well go all-in. In other words, let’s dive in to an anecdotal history of notable Sounders walks of shame.

First Impressions

In the beginning, there was Dave D’Errico. Seven games into the original Sounders’ existence and, personally, just his second appearance, top draft pick D’Errico decked Toronto’s Gene Strenicer. It did not go undetected. While D’Errico sat in the locker room, Davey Butler scored late to give 10-man Seattle the road victory.

Tommy Jenkins no sooner arrived in Seattle than he saw red flash before his eyes.

Newly-imported from England, Tommy Jenkins was billed as an elegant playmaker to support Geoff Hurst. Yet when the pair debuted in 1976 at St. Louis, Jenkins introduced himself to the NASL by getting stuck-in, way in. He saw red then, but never again in his four seasons. Three other openers were marked excessive force, most recently Tony Alfaro’s double yellow versus LAFC.

Early? You want an early shower? Leo Gonzalez had barely broken a sweat in Columbus before his seventh-minute sending off in 2013. You probably don’t remember that; instead that game is best known for Eddie Johnson’s winner, celebrated by his ‘show-me-the-money’ mime.

Continue reading Seattle Seeing Red →