 | |||
| Full name | Washington Diplomats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Diplomats Dips | ||
| Founded | 1974 | ||
| Dissolved | 1981; 44 years ago (1981) | ||
| Stadium | Robert F. Kennedy Stadium Pat Cunningham Stadium[1] D.C. Armory(indoor) | ||
| Capacity | 55,000 5,000 6,500(indoor) | ||
| Chairman | Steve Danzansky | ||
| Coach | Gordon Bradley | ||
| League | NASL,NSL | ||
| Full name | Washington Diplomats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Diplomats Dips | ||
| Founded | 1981 | ||
| Stadium | Robert F. Kennedy Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 55,000 | ||
| Chairman | Jimmy Hill | ||
| League | NASLNSL | ||
TheWashington Diplomats were an American soccer club representingWashington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games atRobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium andindoor home matches at the neighboringD.C. Armory.[2] Founded as an expansion franchise in 1974, the Diplomats competed in the now-defunctNorth American Soccer League, then the top-tier soccer league of theAmerican soccer pyramid.
Plagued with mediocrity in their first few seasons of existence, the Diplomats did not qualify for the playoffs until 1976, their third year in the league. The Diplomats were knocked out by theNew York Cosmos in the first round. That season, the club played their home matches inNorthern Virginia atW.T. Woodson High School, before going back to RFK Stadium in 1977. During the next three seasons, the Diplomats achieved more regular season success and reached the postseason every year from 1978 until 1980. Consequently, the club experienced a spike in average attendance, nearing 20,000 fans a game by the 1980 season, although a significant number of tickets were "comps" or "papered" by the team's front office staff.
Following the end of the 1980 season, the original Diplomats club folded when then owner, the Madison Square Garden Corp., had accumulated losses of $6 million and team president Steve Danzansky could not gather enough money to keep the team alive.[3] However, that same season theDetroit Express NASL franchise relocated to the Washington metropolitan area, renaming themselves the "Diplomats" due to perceived familiarity of the moniker to the area. However, a regression of attendance and a lack of field success sounded the death knell of the franchise, and the Diplomats folded following the 1981 season.
TheWashington Whips were asoccer team based inWashington, D.C. that played in theUnited Soccer Association. The league was made up of teams imported from foreign leagues. The Washington club was actuallyAberdeen F.C. fromScotland.
Following the 1967 season, the USA merged with the National Professional Soccer League to form theNorth American Soccer League with the teams from the former USA having to create their rosters from scratch. Their home field wasRFK Stadium. The team's owner wasEarl Foreman, later owner of theVirginia Squires of theAmerican Basketball Association and commissioner of the originalMajor Indoor Soccer League. Edward T. Reynolds was the booth announcer for the club prior to the merger.
The originalWashington Diplomats first came into being when in 1974 when theNorth American Soccer League (NASL) granted a franchise to a Washington, D.C.–based business group. The team played all their home games atRFK Stadium in 1974, but in 1975 and 1976 they played most of their games atW.T. Woodson High School in Northern Virginia, including all of their 1976 games. They playedindoor home matches at the neighboringD.C. Armory.[2][4] After a lackluster beginning to the franchise, the Diplomats qualified for the playoffs and increased average game attendance in each of their last three years of existence. Additionally, in their final year, the Diplomats were able to sign the future European Player of the CenturyJohan Cruyff. After the 1980 season the Diplomats folded when then owner, the Madison Square Garden Corp., had accumulated losses of $6 million and team president Steve Danzansky could not gather enough money to keep the team alive.[3]
The cheerleaders for the original Diplomats were known as the Honeydips until 1980 when their name was changed to the Sidekicks. The team also ran ad campaigns calling themselves "the Dips."
After the original Diplomats folded following the 1980 season, theDetroit Express moved to Washington to become the new Diplomats. This team only lasted for one season.
The Diplomats' greatest rivalry was with theNew York Cosmos. This was especially true when Johan Cruyff was playing in DC and the Cosmos hadPelé,Franz Beckenbauer andGiorgio Chinaglia. When the Cosmos came toRFK the stadium was close to capacity even though the Diplomats usually lost. However, they were always competitive games.
| Season | League record | Playoffs | Additional Honors | Top scorer(s) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div | League | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | Position | Name(s) | Goals | |||
| 1974 | 1 | NASL | 22 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 29 | 36 | 70 | Eastern Division 4th place | ||||
| 1975 | – | NASL indoor | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0 | Region 3 4th place | ||||
| 1975 | 1 | NASL | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 43 | 47 | 112 | Eastern Division 3rd place | ||||
| 1976 | – | NASL indoor | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 16 | 2 | Eastern Regional 2nd place | ||||
| 1976 | 1 | NASL | 24 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 46 | 38 | 126 | Atlantic Conference Eastern Division 3rd place | R1 | |||
| 1977 | 1 | NASL | 26 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 39 | 42 | 98 | Atlantic Conference Eastern Division 4th place | ||||
| 1978 | – | NASL indoor | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 57 | 58 | na | Skelly Invitational 3rd place | Garber | 14 | ||
| 1978 | 1 | NASL | 30 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 50 | 36 | 167 | National Conference Eastern Division Runners-up | Conf. QF | |||
| 1979 | 1 | NASL | 30 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 68 | 50 | 172 | National Conference Eastern Division Runners-up | Conf. QF | |||
| 1980 | 1 | NASL | 32 | 17 | 15 | 0 | 72 | 61 | 159 | National Conference Eastern Division Runners-up | Conf. QF | |||
| 1981 | 1 | NASL | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0 | 59 | 58 | 135 | Eastern Division 3rd place | ||||
A number of high-profile soccer players lined out for the Washington Diplomats. Arguably the most famous were the Dutch pair ofJohan Cruyff andWim Jansen who had over 100 caps forthe Netherlands between them and who represented theDips between 1979 and 1981. Other international players to play for Washington includedTommy McConville who was capped 6 times byIreland andWindsor del Llano who played 30 times forBolivia. FutureReal Madrid andNetherlands coach,Guus Hiddink also played for the Diplomats.
Dennis Viollet (1974–1977)Gordon Bradley (1978–81)Ken Furphy (1981)
Stephen Danzansky 1975–1978Sonny Werblin 1979–1980
Jimmy Hill &Duncan Hill 1981Washington Diplomats trademarks have been filed by soccer agent Scott Michaels for utilization in his newly established professional league, the National Soccer League.[5] Concurrently, a fundraising endeavor is set to commence onWefunder,[6] a crowdfunding platform.
