Recession, rallies and Ronald Reagan – welcome to the 1983 Tulsa Roughnecks season.
Coined a team “nobody expected to go beyond the early rounds of the playoffs”, the 1983 Tulsa Roughnecks marked one of the most improbable runs in American soccer, garnering national attention and Oklahoma’s first and only major professional sports championship along the way.
Entering the season with the league’s lowest payroll of $700,000, the Roughnecks and head coach Terry Hennessey opened the season to a tough 2-8 start that included back-to-back overtime defeats to open June. However, once the club rallied back on June 8, defeating the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, 2-1. They never looked back.
Playing behind star-studded attackers Barry Wallace and Ronald Futcher, the Roughnecks closed the regular season winning 15 of its remaining 20 matches, surging from the league’s worst to the top dog of the Southern Division.
However, the cries for a fluke season still lingered as the 17-13 Roughnecks claimed the third seed in the NASL Playoffs, as many in the top ranks deemed its division to be the weakest in the league. As the Roughnecks returned to Skelly Stadium for its first-round date, the doubters were soon silenced.
Squaring off against the sixth-seeded Fort Lauderdale Strikers, the Roughnecks showed no signs of weakness, defeating the Strikers with a 3-2 home victory before sweeping the series on enemy territory, 4-2. With the result, it planned a date with another Cinderella in the No. 8-seeded Montreal Magic, who pulled a stunning sweep over the table leader and title favorite – the New York Cosmos.
After a gritty 2(9)-1(8) victory for the Roughnecks, their title hopes were in the balance after slipping in Game 2 to Montreal, 1-0. Returning home in a win-or-go-home scenario, they needed a major push to keep in play for hardware.
In Game 3 of the NASL Semifinals, Futcher answered the call, notching a brace to punch the Roughnecks to a 3-0 victory and its ticket to Soccer Bowl ‘83, finding goals in the 30th and 36th minute before a First-Team All-Star in Wallace put the game away with a goal in the 54th minute.
“They aren’t the prettiest players, and they’re not the big names,” head coach Hennessey said. “We’re the smallest city in the league and have a reputation for rough play, but we kept working, and it has paid off with a chance for the title.”
Yellow Cards, Postcards and Scorecards
The glass slipper fit for the Roughnecks – yet it nearly shattered before its takeoff to Vancouver.
Securing a date versus the No. 7 seed Toronto Blizzard, controversy arose as the Roughnecks punched its ticket to Soccer Bowl ‘83. During Game 3 against Montreal, Futcher received his third yellow card of the postseason. Per league policy, the offense earned him a one-match suspension for the violation, with league director of operations Ted Howard being set on enforcing it for the big game. With Futcher, the club’s leading goal scorer, set to be sidelined, the Roughnecks appealed the suspension. However, Toronto’s president raised concerns that allowing Futcher to play would set a bad precedent.
Futcher, still suspended under league rules, boarded the plane to Vancouver and anxiously awaited the response from league president Howard Samuels.
One day before kickoff, Samuels lifted the ban, citing 1983 as the league’s last best-of-one championship format.
”I made the decision in the best interest of the game,” Samuels said. ”There is always the danger of setting a precedent, but this is the last Soccer Bowl. Right or wrong, that is my decision.”
For the Roughnecks, the overturned ruling marked a whirlwind of a three-day stretch. On Wednesday, September 28, the club secured its spot in the Soccer Bowl. The next day, it trekked across country lines, going from baggage claim to barbells and barbells to B.C. Place Stadium. On Friday, its roster was set for its biggest match in franchise history.
As for the Blizzard, it arrived three days prior to the Roughnecks. While the Roughnecks fought for its title hopes, the Blizzard fought over pin positions – spending its Wednesday out at the golf course.
Not Recession, Rather Resilience
The Roughnecks entered B.C. Place Stadium – which sold all 60,051 tickets – on the cusp of league history. A battle of underdogs who climbed their respective brackets, the clash marked a paramount moment in Oklahoma sports.
It seized the moment – raising the title with a commanding, 2-0, victory.
The Roughnecks captured the title behind goals from game MVP Njego Pesa in the 56th minute and a Futcher goal, assisted by Wallace, in the 62nd. Pesa, a Yugoslavian-born midfielder, was named the game’s MVP for his stellar play.
Pesa’s goal came from a perfectly executed free kick, set up by a foul on Laurie Abrahams just outside the penalty area. Futcher, who narrowly avoided suspension, capitalized on a corner kick mishandled by Toronto’s goalkeeper, Jan Moller, to seal the victory.
On the other side, Toronto’s key attackers David Byrne and Neil Roberts were shut down by Tulsa’s strong defensive tandem of Val Fernandes and Terry Moore. The Blizzard’s best chance came early in the match when Ace Ntsoelengoe hit the crossbar, but they couldn’t find a breakthrough.
”This team was really put together three weeks before the season, because of a budget,” Hennessey said. ”A lot of these players had not even seen a Soccer Bowl before. Twelve months ago, they didn’t know if they were going to survive.”
Twelve months later – they were Soccer Bowl Champions.
In the following days, President Ronald Reagan congratulated the club and the streets of Tulsa were flooded with thousands of Tulsans for its celebration parade downtown.
It was no longer recession, but rather, it was resilience that defined the 1983 Roughnecks’ historic season.
