Tampa Bay Mutiny


The Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium.
The Mutiny were established in 1994 and were owned and operated by MLS throughout their existence. They were successful in their first years of play, winning the first MLS Supporters' Shield behind MLS MVP Carlos Valderrama and high-scoring forward Roy Lassiter, whose 27 goals in 1996 remained the MLS single-season record until 2018. However, the team drew low revenues and attendance and could not find a local ownership group to take over operations from the league. In 2002, MLS folded the Mutiny as well as its other Florida-based team, the Miami Fusion.

History

In 1994, newly established Major League Soccer announced it would place one of its charter franchises in the Tampa Bay Area. The region was seen as a potentially fertile market for soccer due to the success of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the old North American Soccer League in the 1970s and 1980s. The Mutiny took the field in 1996 when the MLS began play.
The Mutiny were owned and operated by MLS along with two other teams, the Dallas Burn and the San Jose Clash, with the league hoping eventually sell the franchises to private local owners. The team managed strong signings in 1995, including Carlos Valderrama, Roy Lassiter, and Martín Vásquez. They were successful in their first two years, particularly in 1996, when they won the first Supporters' Shield with the best regular-season finish behind Most Valuable Player Carlos Valderrama and Golden Boot winner Roy Lassiter.
The city of Tampa demolished Tampa Stadium in 1998, and the Mutiny moved to new Raymond James Stadium for the 1999 season with a much less favorable lease. The club was hampered by declining attendance and low revenues which were exacerbated by a lease agreement that which transferred most match day revenue to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, resulting in an inability to secure a local ownership group. By 2001, they drew an average attendance of under 11,000 per game, among the league's lowest. Faced with financial losses up to $2 million a year, MLS courted Malcolm Glazer and his family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League team, to purchase the Mutiny. The Glazers considered the deal but ultimately declined, leaving the league with no prospective owners willing to take over the team. MLS folded the Mutiny, as well as its other Florida-based team, the Miami Fusion, in 2002. The Glazers would purchase Manchester United in 2005.

Honors

Team

1996
1996
1996
2000

Players

1996 Carlos Valderrama
1996 Steve Ralston
1997 Mike Duhaney
1996 Roy Lassiter '
2000 Mamadou Diallo '
1999 Steve Ralston
2000 Steve Ralston
1996 Carlos Valderrama, Roy Lassiter
1997 Carlos Valderrama
1999 Steve Ralston
2000 Carlos Valderrama, Steve Ralston, Mamadou Diallo
1996 Carlos Valderrama
1997 Carlos Valderrama
2000 Mamadou Diallo
1996 Carlos Valderrama, Roy Lassiter, Martín Vásquez, Cle Kooiman
1997 Carlos Valderrama
1998 Frankie Hejduk, Jan Eriksson
1999 Carlos Valderrama
2000 Carlos Valderrama, Steve Ralston
1996 Mark Dougherty, Steve Pittman
1997 Giuseppe Galderisi, Steve Ralston, Frank Yallop
1998 Thomas Ravelli, Mauricio Ramos
2000 Mamadou Diallo, Scott Garlick
2001 Mamadou Diallo
27 goals in one season: Roy Lassiter '
26 assists in one season: Carlos Valderrama '
2004 Frank Yallop

Coach and Admin

1996 Thomas Rongen
1999 Nick Sakiewicz
1996 Eddie Austin
2001 Eddie Austin

Players

* Won MLS Supporters' Shield