# 1979 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season

The 1979 Fort Lauderdale Strikers season was the third season of the Fort Lauderdale Striker's team, and the club's thirteenth season in professional soccer. The Strikers finished the regular season in second place in the Eastern Division of the North American Soccer League's American Conference, and qualified for the playoffs. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

## Competitions
### Friendlies

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| February 18, 1979 | FIU Sunblazers | A | 0–3 | 1,100 | Gary Jones (2), Tibor Gemeri |
| February 25, 1979 | Washington Diplomats | H | 0–1 | 616 | |
| March 1, 1979 | Atlanta Chiefs | A | 2–3 | 1,049 | Denny Vaninger, Nico Bodonczy, Tibor Gemeri |
| March 4, 1979 | Memphis Rogues | H | 4–1 | 771 | David Irving, Gary Jones, Maurice Whittle, Nico Bodonczy |
| March 7, 1979 | Washington Diplomats | A | 3–0 | | (played in Santo Domingo) |
| March 10, 1979 | Haitian All-Stars | A | 1–2 | | David Irving, Al Njie |
| March 12, 1979 | Don Bosco FC | A | 1–2 | | Nico Bodonczy, David Irving |
| March 14, 1979 | Memphis Rogues | H | 2–0 | 4,036 | Nico Bodonczy, David Irving |
| March 17, 1979 | Minnesota Kicks | H | 1–0 | 4,931 | Ray Hudson |
| May 2, 1979 | Miami Hurricanes | A | 0–12 | 1,068 | Irving (3), Müller (2), Njie (2), Jones, Cubillas, Best, Ortiz-Valez, Bodonczy |
| May 23, 1979 | Crystal Palace F.C. | H | 0–2 | 7,121 | |
| September 14, 1979 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | A | 0–3 | 20,655 | (Rodney Marsh testimonial game) |
| September 14, 1979 | Miami Dade North Falcons | A | ? | | |
| October 2, 1979 | FCI Miami | A | 2–9 | | (exhibition vs. inmates) |

### NASL regular season

Regular season W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Point System
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

#### American Conference

| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 19 | 11 | 67 | 46 | 55 | 169 | 14-1 | 5-10 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 17 | 13 | 75 | 64 | 63 | 165 | 9-6 | 8-7 |
| Philadelphia Fury | 10 | 20 | 55 | 60 | 51 | 111 | 10-5 | 0-15 |
| New England Tea Men | 12 | 18 | 41 | 56 | 41 | 110 | 8-7 | 4-11 |

#### Match reports
### NASL Playoffs
#### First round

| Lower seed | | Higher seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | (lower seed hosts Game 1) |
| Chicago Sting | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2–0 | 1–0 | x | August 15 • Soldier Field • 10,019 August 18 • Lockhart Stadium • 13,691 |

#### Bracket

| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | | Soccer Bowl '79 | Soccer Bowl '79 | Soccer Bowl '79 | |
| 1 | Houston Hurricane | 1 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Philadelphia Fury | 2 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Philadelphia Fury | 2 | 2 | - | Philadelphia Fury | Philadelphia Fury | 2(0) | 0 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3(2) | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 | 3 | - | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3(2) | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Detroit Express | 0 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Detroit Express | 0 | 1 | - | | | | | | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | 3(3) | 1 | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | San Diego Sockers | San Diego Sockers | 2 | 2(0) | 0 | | | | | |
| 5 | San Diego Sockers | 4 | 7 | - | | | | | | | | | | | San Diego Sockers | San Diego Sockers | 2 | 2(0) | 0 | | | |
| 12 | California Surf | 2 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | California Surf | 2 | 2 | - | San Diego Sockers | San Diego Sockers | 2 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Chicago Sting | Chicago Sting | 0 | 0 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0 | 0 | - | Chicago Sting | Chicago Sting | 0 | 0 | - | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Chicago Sting | 2 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | Chicago Sting | 2 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 2 | |
| 6 | New York Cosmos | 3 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 2 |
| 11 | Toronto Blizzard | 1 | 0 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Toronto Blizzard | 1 | 0 | - | New York Cosmos | New York Cosmos | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Tulsa Roughnecks | Tulsa Roughnecks | 3 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Minnesota Kicks | 1 | 1 | - | Tulsa Roughnecks | Tulsa Roughnecks | 3 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 2 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 2 | 2 | - | | | | | | New York Cosmos | New York Cosmos | 0 | 3(3) | 0(2) | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 2 | 2(1) | 1(3) | | | | | |
| 7 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 2 | - | | | | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 2 | 2(1) | 1(3) | | | |
| 10 | Dallas Tornado | 2 | 1 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Dallas Tornado | 2 | 1 | - | Vancouver Whitecaps | Vancouver Whitecaps | 2(1) | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | Los Angeles Aztecs | Los Angeles Aztecs | 3(2) | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Washington Diplomats | 1 | 3 | - | Los Angeles Aztecs | Los Angeles Aztecs | 3(2) | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 15 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 3 | 4 | - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |