Fort Lauderdale Strikers to return
Reuters - Monday 14 February 2011, 19:14
MIAMI - The Fort Lauderdale Strikers, who
once counted football greats George Best and Gerd Muller among
their players, will return to professional action this season
in the second tier North American Soccer League.
Miami FC, who have featured in the second division for the
past five seasons but played in neighbouring Fort Lauderdale
last year, will switch to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers name at
a ceremony on Thursday, a club source said.
The new Fort Lauderdale Strikers will play at the same
Lockhart Stadium that was home to the original NASL team in the
1970s and 1980s - an era when the club featured Peruvian
Teofilo Cubillas and England's 1966 World Cup-winning
goalkeeper Gordon Banks.
The switch to the Strikers name coincides with the 100th
anniversary of the incorporation of Fort Lauderdale as a city.
The move is also the latest rebirth of a team from the old
NASL - the Seattle Sounders will be joined in the top tier
Major League Soccer this year by the Portland Timbers and
Vancouver Whitecaps - both former NASL franchises.
The most famous NASL name of all - Pele's New York Cosmos - has recently been refounded and appointed former Manchester
United and France forward Eric Cantona as director of football
although they do not yet have a team in a league.
The Strikers are owned by Brazilian-backed company Traffic
Sports USA.