Baltimore Bays

The first Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was one of ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. The team would become a part of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which was the result of a merger between the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA). The owner was Jerold Hoffberger, who also held the same capacity with the National Brewing Company and Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles. The Bays played its home matches at Memorial Stadium during its first two seasons and Kirk Field, a high school football stadium in Baltimore, in 1969. The team wore National Brewing's colors of red and gold.

For other uses, see Baltimore Bays (disambiguation).
Baltimore Bays
Full nameBaltimore Bays
Founded1967
Dissolved1969
GroundMemorial Stadium (50,000)
Kirk Field (10,000)
ChairmanJerold Hoffberger
CoachDoug Millward (1967)
Gordon Jago (1968–1969)
LeagueNational Professional Soccer League (1967), North American Soccer League (1968–1969)

Following the 1968 NASL season, the league was in trouble with ten franchises having folded. The 1969 season was split into two halves. The first half was called the International Cup, a double round robin tournament in which the remaining NASL clubs were represented by teams imported from the United Kingdom. The Bays were represented by West Ham United F.C. They were runners-up for the Cup with a 5–2–1 record. For the second half of the 1969 season, the teams returned to their normal rosters and played a 16-game schedule with no playoffs. Gordon Jago coached the Bays.

Year-by-year
Year League W L T Pts Regular Season Playoffs Avg. Attendance
1967 NPSL 14 9 9 162 1st, Eastern Division Runners-up (Oakland) 5,838
1968 NASL 13 16 3 128 4th, Atlantic Division Did Not Qualify 4,628
1969 NASL 2 13 1 42 5th Did Not Qualify 1,238

Honors

Coaches

References
  1. http://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/
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