by JAKE NUTTING
On this day 50 years ago, the Tampa Bay Rowdies were officially introduced to the world.
A few weeks before the announcement, the group bringing a North American Soccer League expansion team to Tampa Bay had called on locals to write in with their suggestions to name the team. From over 12,000 submissions to name the team, Clearwater native Bill Wilhelm’s suggestion of ‘Rowdies’ was chosen as the winner.
Local media were invited to the home of the team’s Co-Owner and General Manager Beau Rogers Jr. in Carrollwood Village for the announcement on November 21, 1974. Along with the new name, the team also unveiled jersey designs for the inaugural season, which included the iconic hoop sleeves that would become synonymous with the Rowdies.
“We sort of felt it was easy to be ordinary, but difficult to be different,” noted Rogers. “We believe this will be one of the most unusual names in sports and certainly the most unique.”
It was evident from the early days that Tampa Bay’s forthcoming soccer team was not interested in the conventional route. Before the naming announcement, the team had already adopted its memorable motto “Soccer is a Kick in the Grass.”
So why the Rowdies? There was no shortage of names, both traditional and unusual, to choose from. Among the honorable mentions were names such as Tyrants, Tarpons, Trident, Smashers, Sodbusters, Stingrays, Seagulls, Pelicans, Tampers, as well as “some we couldn’t say publicly” according to Rogers.
‘Rowdies’ stood above them all, though.
“We were looking for a leader of names, and by that, I mean a name that was uncommon in sports,” Rogers told reporters at the time.
Majority Owner George Strawbridge was immediately smitten with the name and saw it as the perfect fit for the ethos the club was striving to create from the outset.
“All I said to Beau was that ‘we’ve got to have it.’ To us, it connotes fun, excitement, and good times, and that’s what we want the fans to have at our games,” said Strawbridge. “We wanted to be set apart from all those typical names and come up with something that is unexpected, fun, and relates to soccer. ‘Rowdies’ hit us right at the start. It really grabbed us, and the more we thought about it, the better it sounded.”
It took a bit more time for the team’s first head coach to warm to the name. Eddie Firmani, who had recently signed defender Alex Pringle and goalkeeper Mike Hewitt as the team’s first players, flew in from the UK for the announcement and recalled his first reaction to hearing the Rowdies was: “It’s okay.”
“But it kind of grows on you,” Firmani explained. “The more I heard it, the more I liked it. The concept around which it is built is tremendously exciting.”
The inspiration for the man who came up with the Rowdies name was simple enough. Wilhelm, a 31-year-old local attorney, saw the boisterous and energetic atmospheres in stands at soccer games and thought Tampa Bay’s team should reflect that.
“I just thought the soccer team could use something different,” said Wilhelm. “Soccer fans seemed like a rowdy bunch. In Europe, they all seemed like rowdy fans. I thought we should have that same kind of energy out there.”
Wilhelm, who sadly passed away in October of this year, was awarded a trip for two to Acapulco and lifetime season tickets to the Rowdies for winning the naming contest. Thankfully, Wilhelm was able to attend a game at Al Lang Stadium this season and see firsthand that the Rowdies spirit he helped create is alive and well.
