By the winter of 2001-02, every MLS club except Tampa Bay and Dallas had an investor-operator, and Dallas had a savior on the horizon. Through the Mutiny’s 6-year history MLS searched for an investor to take over the team. The Mutiny finished the 2001 season with a horrid 4-21-2 record, after the regular season was shortened by the September 11th terrorist attacks. But when Valderrama was dealt away for the second time midway through the 2001 season, the Mutiny’s offense came to a halt and Diallo’s production dropped. Senegalese striker Mamadou Diallo arrived in 2000 and led MLS in scoring with 26 goals. The Mutiny’s fortunes improved somewhat in 19, with the return of Valderrama from his short stint in Miami. Without Valderrama and Lassiter, the Mutiny dropped to 12-20 in 1998 and missed the playoffs for the first time. In return, the Mutiny got elderly former Tampa Bay Rowdie Roy Wegerle, who played only 12 games for the Mutiny and scored just one goal before retiring. Lassiter went on to score 36 goals over the next two seasons for United. United in the worst trade of “Roys” in the history of professional sports. In early 1998, the Mutiny inexplicably traded Roy Lassiter to D.C. Valderrama, after two straight Best XI campaigns, was dealt to the expansion Miami Fusion prior to the 1998 season.

Next came the dismantling of the Mutiny’s core roster. Rongen fled Tampa to coach the rival New England Revolution for the 1997 season. Quraishi’s ouster reportedly didn’t sit well with his friend and fellow NASL veteran, Coach-of-the-Year Thomas Rongen. Quraishi took the fall for Fortunat’s scheme and for the Mutiny’s poor attendance in 1996, which ranked 9th out of 10 teams in MLS, despite the club’s on field success.

Following the season, MLS Commissioner Doug Logan fired Mutiny chief President & GM Farrukh Quraishi, a former player on Tampa’s popular North American Soccer League franchise of the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Mutiny Director of Finance Mark Fortunat was arrested in 1996 and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from the club. Departure of Rongen, Valderrama, LassiterĪfter the promising 1996 season, the core of the Mutiny came apart quickly. United in the semi-finals in a mild upset. The 1996 Mutiny lost to eventual MLS Cup champions D.C. Thomas Rongen was named the MLS Coach of the Year.

El Pibe was one of the most recognizable faces in the early years of MLS, well known to American soccer fans from the 1994 World Cup and for his unruly mane of Muppet hair.

Colombian World Cup veteran Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama, set up many of Lassiter’s goals and won MLS’ first Most Valuable Player award. American striker Roy Lassiter led the league in goals with 27, a MLS single-season record that still stands 17 years later. The 1996 club was outstanding, winning the MLS Supporters Shield (best regular season record) at 20-12. The Mutiny made their debut on Apwith a 3-2 victory against the New England Revolution before 26,473 fans in Tampa. The league never solved this problem and it would be the key factor in the club’s demise six years later. Tampa Bay was one of three MLS franchises that did not have an investor/operator when the league launched in 1996. Investor/Operators could purchase a share in the overall league and control the operations of a team. MLS is organized as a single-entity structure. The Tampa Bay Mutiny were one of the ten founding franchises of Major League Soccer in the spring of 1996. We earn commission from purchases made through links on this post

2001 tampa bay mutiny roster