A History of Oakland Stompers

The Oakland Stompers were born in 1975 as the Hartford Bicentennials.  After 2 Seasons they became the Connecticut Bicentennials.  At the end of the 1977 NASL season, the Connecticut Bicentennials relocated to Oakland where the team renamed itself as the Stompers. While in Oakland, the team's home field was Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The Oakland Stompers played the 1978 season in the NASL. The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with a 12-18 record. This placed them in third place out of the four teams in their conference, and out of playoff contention.

 

At the end of the 1978 season, the team was sold and moved north of the border to Edmonton, Alberta Canada where the team was renamed the Edmonton Drillers.

 

Stompers most famous player - Shep Messing #1

Shep Messing is a former American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster. He played seven seasons in the North American Soccer League and six in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was also a member of the U.S. soccer team at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Shep Messing made his debut with the Cosmos in a May 20, 1974 exhibition game with Irish club Finn Harps. He would remain a backup for most of his career with the Cosmos. In 1973 and 1974, Jerry Sularz held the starting job.

He moved to the Boston Minutemen for a season and a half. Halfway through the 1976 season, Boston owner John Sterge began selling his players when he began to fear he would go bankrupt. The Minutemen sold Messing to the Cosmos who needed him after starter Bob Rigby was injured. Messing then played the 1977 season with the Cosmos before moving to the Oakland Stompers. When he signed with the Stompers for $100,000 per year, he became the highest paid American in the NASL.  The Stompers lasted only a single season and Messing moved to the Rochester Lancers.

When the Major Indoor Soccer League began its first season in 1978-1979, the New York Arrows were essentially the Rochester Lancers in different uniforms. As such, Messing became the starting Arrows goalkeeper through the team's six years of existence. Messing became the league's dominant keeper, being named to the MISL All Star team in 1979, 1980 and 1981. He was the championship MVP in 1979.