# 2015 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

The 2015 season was the current Tampa Bay Rowdies sixth season of existence, and fifth playing in the North American Soccer League, the second tier of American soccer pyramid. Including the original Rowdies franchise and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, this was the 28th season of professional soccer in the Tampa Bay area.

## Summary

The Tampa Bay Rowdies' new manager was Thomas Rongen, replacing Ricky Hill, who was dismissed after the 2014 season. Rongen had a prior connection to soccer in the area, as he was the first manager of the MLS Tampa Bay Mutiny during their inaugural season of 1996. The Rowdies brought back another familiar local figure when Farrukh Quraishi, who had been a player and a youth development director for the original Rowdies, was named general manager.
In March 2015, the Rowdies traveled to Portugal to play several preseason friendlies against clubs in the Portuguese second and third divisions. It was the first time that the current club had undertaken an international tour.
The Rowdies lost only one match during the NASL spring season, good for second place in the table. After starting the fall season 2-1-6, however, club owner Bill Edwards dismissed both manager Thomas Rongen and general manager Farrukh Quraishi, much to the chagrin of many of the team's fans. "They had a five-year plan, and I have a one-year plan," said Edwards regarding the firings. Assistant Stuart Campbell was promoted to manager and led the team to a 3-4-4 record. The Rowdies finished the fall season in 8th out of 11 teams in the league table and missed the playoffs.

## Club

as of November 14, 2015
| No. | Position | Player | Nation |
| 2 | DF | Darnell King | United States |
| 3 | MF | Richard Menjivar | El Salvador |
| 4 | DF | Ben Sweat | United States |
| 5 | DF | Stefan Antonijevic | Serbia |
| 9 | MF | Freddy Adu | United States |
| 10 | MF | Georgi Hristov | Bulgaria |
| 13 | MF | Justin Chavez | United States |
| 14 | MF | Jeff Michaud | United States |
| 15 | DF | Zac Portillos | United States |
| 16 | MF | Juan Francisco Guerra | Venezuela |
| 17 | DF | Tamika Mkandawire | England |
| 18 | GK | Matt Pickens | United States |
| 19 | MF | Verneri Välimaa | Finland |
| 20 | FW | Darwin Espinal | Honduras |
| 21 | FW | Brian Shriver | United States |
| 22 | MF | Keith Savage | United States |
| 24 | GK | Chris Glodack | United States |
| 26 | FW | Robert Hernández | Venezuela |
| 29 | FW | Maicon Santos | Brazil |
#8 Forward, Marcelo Saragosa of Brazil served as team captain

### Technical staff

* Farrukh Quraishi – President & General Manager (fired August 21, 2015)
* Perry Van der Beck – Assistant General Manager/Vice President of Community Relations
* Thomas Rongen - Head Coach (fired August 21, 2015)
* Stuart Campbell – Assistant Coach (promoted to head coach August 2015)
* Stuart Dobson - Goalkeeper Coach
* Eric Arbuzow - Assistant Coach
* Ryan Spurr – Director of Team Operations
* Jason Riley – Strength & Conditioning Coach
* Malcolm Phillips – Equipment Manager
* Dr. Koco Eaton - Team Physician/Orthopedic Surgeon
* Dr. Sanjay Menon – Team Physician/Orthopedic Surgeon
* Dr. Christopher Salud – Team Physician
* Andrew Keane - Head Athletic Trainer
* Laura Tllinghast Hine - Yoga Instructor
* Dr. Samuel Meyers - Team Chiropractor

### Front office

* Bill Edwards – Chairman, Chief Executive Officer & Governor
* Andrew Nestor – Director
* David Laxer – Director
* Lee Cohen – Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

## Competitions

Win  Tie  Loss

### NASL Spring season
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New York Cosmos (S) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 9 | +9 | 20 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 9 | +6 | 19 | |
| 3 | Carolina RailHawks | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 14 | |
| 4 | Minnesota United | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 14 | |
| 5 | Indy Eleven | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 13 | |
| 6 | Jacksonville Armada | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 12 | |
| 7 | San Antonio Scorpions | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 12 | |
| 8 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 11 | |
| 9 | Ottawa Fury | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 11 | |
| 10 | FC Edmonton | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 22 | −6 | 9 | |
| 11 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 13 | −6 | 8 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: June 15, 2015. Source: Match reports

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Stadium | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H |
| Result | W | D | L | W | D | D | W | D | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |

#### Match reports
### NASL Fall season
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Ottawa Fury (F) | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 37 | 15 | +22 | 45 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Minnesota United | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 39 | |
| 3 | New York Cosmos | 20 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 36 | |
| 4 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 30 | |
| 5 | FC Edmonton | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 24 | +1 | 26 | |
| 6 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 27 | −3 | 25 | |
| 7 | Carolina RailHawks | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 29 | 39 | −10 | 21 | |
| 8 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −10 | 20 | |
| 9 | Indy Eleven | 20 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 36 | −13 | 20 | |
| 10 | San Antonio Scorpions | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 19 | |
| 11 | Jacksonville Armada | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 31 | −13 | 19 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: April 26, 2018. Source: Match reports

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| Stadium | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | L | L | D | W | L | W | L | D | L | D | D | W | L |
| Position | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 |

#### Match reports
### U.S. Open Cup
## Transfers
### In

| Date | No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes |
| December 19, 2014 | 16 | MF | Juan Francisco Guerra | Deportivo Lara | - |
| December 22, 2014 | 22 | DF | Darnell King | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| December 22, 2014 | 44 | DF | Gale Agbossoumonde | Colorado Rapids | - |
| December 23, 2014 | 7 | MF | Martin Nuñez | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| December 23, 2014 | 20 | FW | Darwin Espinal | Darton State College | - |
| December 24, 2014 | 3 | DF | Brad Rusin | Orlando City | - |
| December 30, 2014 | 0 | MF | Robert Hernández | Deportivo Anzoátegui | - |
| January 6, 2015 | 5 | DF | Stefan Antonijevic | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| January 29, 2015 | 22 | MF | Keith Savage | None | Signed after being released on November 7 |
| February 3, 2015 | 8 | MF | Marcelo Saragosa | None | - |
| February 4, 2015 | 29 | FW | Maicon Santos | None | - |
| February 5, 2015 | 13 | MF | Justin Chavez | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| February 23, 2015 | 14 | MF | Jeff Michaud | Eastern Florida State College | - |
| February 23, 2015 | 23 | MF | Marquez Fernandez | Maryland-Baltimore County | - |
| February 23, 2015 | 24 | GK | Chris Glodack | Clemson University | - |
| February 23, 2015 | 15 | DF | Zac Portillos | University of Akron | - |
| February 24, 2015 | 33 | FW | Zak Boggs | Charlotte Eagles | - |
| February 25, 2015 | 1 | GK | Kamil Čontofalský | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| March 2, 2015 | 4 | DF | Ben Sweat | Columbus Crew SC | - |
| March 30, 2015 | 19 | MF | Verneri Välimaa | University of North Carolina | - |
| April 29, 2015 | 3 | MF | Richard Menjivar | San Antonio Scorpions | Traded for Brad Rusin |
| July 29, 2015 | 28 | FW | Omar Salgado | Tigres UANL | - |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes |
| November 7, 2014 | GK | Diego Restrepo | Charlotte Independence | - |
| November 7, 2014 | GK | Cody Mizell | Knattspyrnufélagið Fram | Free Transfer |
| November 7, 2014 | DF | J. P. Rodrigues | None | Retirement. |
| November 7, 2014 | DF | Jay Needham | None | - |
| November 7, 2014 | DF | Willie Hunt | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | - |
| November 7, 2014 | MF | Darel Russell | None | - |
| November 7, 2014 | MF | Keith Savage | None | - |
| November 7, 2014 | MF | Anthony Wallace | New York Red Bulls | - |
| November 7, 2014 | MF | Ricardo Morris | Montego Bay United F.C. | - |
| November 7, 2014 | FW | Devin Del Do | None | - |
| November 7, 2014 | FW | Luciano Olguín | None | - |
| November 7, 2014 | FW | Casey Townsend | Oklahoma City Energy | - |
| November 7, 2014 | FW | Lucky Mkosana | New York Cosmos | - |
| January 13, 2015 | DF | Frankie Sanfilippo | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - |
| January 13, 2015 | MF | Shane Hill | None | - |
| April 29, 2015 | DF | Brad Rusin | San Antonio Scorpions | Traded for Richard Menjivar |

## Squad statistics

    As of Match played 25 July 2015

### Goal scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Number | Name | NASL Spring Season | NASL Fall Season | U.S. Open Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | | 29 | Maicon Santos | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | MF | | 7 | Martin Nuñez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | FW | | 20 | Darwin Espinal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | FW | | 11 | Corey Hertzog | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | FW | | 10 | Georgi Hristov | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | DF | | 5 | Stefan Antonijevic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | FW | | 26 | Robert Hernández | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | | 25 | Rich Balchan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | FW | | 21 | Brian Shriver | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | | 2 | Darnell King | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | | | | Own goal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 15 | 4 | 0 | 19 |

### Disciplinary record

| Number | Position | Name | NASL Spring Season | NASL Spring Season | NASL Fall Season | NASL Fall Season | U.S. Open Cup | U.S. Open Cup | Total | Total |
| 2 | DF | Darnell King | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Richard Menjivar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Ben Sweat | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Stefan Antonijevic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | Martin Nunez | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | Marcelo Saragosa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Georgi Hristov | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | Corey Hertzog | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | MF | Justin Chavez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Zac Portillos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Juan Francisco Guerra | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Tamika Mkandawire | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Darwin Espinal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | Keith Savage | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Robert Hernández | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Maicon Santos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | FW | Zak Boggs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 44 | DF | Gale Agbossoumonde | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 27 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 4 |