New England Tea Men
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The New England Tea Men were a football team based out of Foxboro, MA (a suburb of Boston) that played in the NASL from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was Schaefer Stadium.
| New England Tea Men | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | New England Tea Men | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1978 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dissolved | 1980 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States (Capacity 60,000) |
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| Coach | Noel Cantwell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | NASL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Led in its initial season by ex-Charlton striker Mike Flanagan, the Tea Men won their division to much public acclaim, with Flanagan winning the league MVP award. Subsequent seasons proved not as successful for two important reasons: Flanagan, contracted to Charlton Athletic F.C., remained in England (an attempt to secure him via a transfer failed, reportedly over endorsement rights), and the team was temporarily evicted from Foxboro when the owners of Bay State Raceway next door claimed the Tea Men's matches were causing problems on racing dates. After spending one unhappy season at Nickerson Field, the team reached an accord with Bay State to play at Foxboro but not on racing dates, so the Tea Men had to play many Monday night dates, which caused attendance to dwindle. After leaving Boston, the team moved to Jacksonville and became the Jacksonville Tea Men.The original owner of the team was the Lipton Tea company and so the name was given with the Boston Tea Party in mind.
[edit] Former Players
Laurie Abrahams (1978)- Brian Alderson (1978-79) [1]
- Tony Brown (English footballer) (1980)
- Jack Carmichael (1980) [2]
- Peter Carr (1978-80)
- Mike Flanagan
- Roger Gibbins (1978-79)
- Kevin Keelan (1978-80)
- Larry May
- Geoff Pike
- Keith Weller (1978-80)
Gerry Daly (1978-79)
Henning Boel
[edit] Year-by-year
| Year | League | W | L | T | Pts | Reg. Season | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | NASL | 19 | 11 | — | 165 | 1st(t), American Conference, Eastern Division | Lost 1st Round (Ft. Lauderdale) |
| 1979 | NASL | 12 | 18 | — | 110 | 4th, American Conference, Eastern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1979/80 | NASL Indoor | 2 | 10 | — | — | 5th, Eastern Division | Did not qualify |
| 1980 | NASL | 18 | 14 | — | 154 | 3rd, American Conference, Eastern Division | Lost 1st Round (Tampa Bay) |
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