Friday Flashback: New England Tea Men

Today our flashback machine takes us back to a team called the New England Tea Men.

Tea Men? I'm kidding right?

No, unfortunately I am not.

Long before the existence of today's Major League Soccer (MLS) there was a team in the old North American Soccer League (NASL) that went by the Tea Men label.

The team played in the NASL between 1978 to 1980 near Boston, Massachusetts. The Tea Men were originally owned by a Lipton company and given their unusual name as a nod to both the company's product line and the historic Boston Tea Party.

The Tea Men won their division in 1978 and made a further playoff run in 1980. Despite their success on the field, the team struggled financially. At one home game during the 1980 season, only 254 fans attended a game which was an all-time low for the NASL. After the 1980 outdoor season, they relocated to Jacksonville, Florida. Instead of changing their nickname after the move, they chose to keep the Tea Men name.

In Jacksonville, the Tea Men lasted two more seasons. The team struggled to catch on with one of the league's lowest attendances which led to the NASL disbanding the team after the 1982 season. The Tea Men found new life when Jacksonville businessman Into Krieg took over the team and joined the lower-level American Soccer League (ASL) in 1983. The Tea Men won the league championship. The following season Krieg moved the team to a new league called the United Soccer League (USL) but still struggled with finances and folded for good after the 1985 season.

New England Tea Men

Jacksonville Tea Men

The Tea Men franchise also tried to tap into the indoor soccer which was gaining popularity in the 1980s however they struggled to field a competitive team playing three seasons indoors and never had a winning record.

Mike Flanagan was one of the first - and maybe the only - star for the Tea Men in his only season with the Tea Men in 1978.  He scored 30 goals 28 games and was named the NASL's Most Valuable Player.  Flanagan had been on loan to the Tea Men by Charlton Athletic.  Flanagan had a contract dispute with the teams and ultimately never returned to the Tea Men.  No one could match that output in 1979 as Gerry Daly and Keith Weller netted 9 goals each for the Tea Men.  In 1982, Ricardo Alonso scored 21 goals for Jacksonville.

Noel Cantwell coached the Tea Men from 1978-1982 with a record of 88-98.