Miami Fusion

 

There are a lot of defunct football clubs to have come out the United States, mostly all were defunct before the creation of the modern-day MLS of course. In fact, since the start of the MLS, there have only been three clubs that have been dissolved since, with two of those clubs coming from the state. That state would be Florida, one that has a population of around 21 million people, so the reason why those two clubs couldn’t survive surely cant because of a small population and lack of fans could it? Maybe it could. But then how is their two soccer clubs in the MLS, representing the State of Florida currently? Orlando City and Inter Miami are both newly formed clubs that have gained a support from the Florida public and their respective cities. Tampa Bay Mutiny were one of the Florida based clubs to bow out of the MLS, with Chivas USA, a Californian based club being another club to have been declared defunct. While both will feature in some part of Forgotten Clubs coverage, it is the third club that we are going to write about here. That club struggled to gain the support it needed to survive in the MLS, despite having a little bit of success, even picking up some silverware in its short lifetime. Their downfall could also be attributed toto the fact Florida has so many other established sports teams in different disciplines. Perhaps the three NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams and the two NHL teams took most of the potential fan base away. But then, how have Orlando City and inter Miami managed to gain support? I highlight Inter Miami, because the club we are about to look at is a club that was from Miami, so the comparisons have to be made in that respect. Maybe it was all just bad timing and, back when Miami Fusion Football Club existed there wasn’t much of an appetite for ‘Soccer’ in the United States, like there is now with the league expanded every season with new football clubs joining in. Maybe, Miami Fusion were just unlucky? Let’s see

Miami Fusion was first announced as new expansion team to join the MLS in 1997, competing in the 1998 season. Alongside, Chicago Fire, they would be the first clubs to be added to the MLS since 1995. The aim was simple, to bring ‘soccer’ to the people of South Florida. The owner of the club and someone who believed in this project was businessman Ken Horowitz. The club would play their home games at the new Lockhart Stadium, the first purpose built stadium for just soccer in the state of Florida.

Everything looked set for a success story, with a new stadium fit for a top flight soccer team, Miami Fusion attracted over 20,000 people to their first game in 1998, which took place against DC United on March 15^th, 1998. DC United won the game, despite having Jaime Moreno sent off in the 29^th minute. DC scored either side of the sending off, with Ritchie Williams scoring in the 16^th minute, while Tony Sanneh netted the second on the 37^th minute. It was enough to win the game.

Miami had to wait until their fourth game to pick up their first win, after losing 2-0 to Chicago Fire and drawing with state rivals Tampa Bay, 0-0. It was on April 4^th, 1998, when they recorded that win against New England Revolution. It came as a surprise to most, as Miami went down to ten men after only 13 minutes had been played. Colombian, Carlos Valderrama saw red and put his team on the backfoot. But they weren’t to be put off by this set-back and they took the lead thanks to their Peruvian striker, Terry Tamashiro in the 27^th minute. It was to be the first goal that Miami Fusion had scored in the MLS, and so Tamashiro wrote his name in Miami soccer history.  New England struck back almost immediately when Raul Diaz Arce scored in the 31^st minute. But Miami wasn’t to be denied their first win, and against the odds they scored a second when Diego Serna scored in the 62^nd minute. That proved to be enough and was a huge relief to the already under pressure manager, Carlos Cordoba.

Diego Serna

The results differed for the first 19 games, when the owners decided a change of manager was needed. So, on July 24^th, 1998, Cordoba was relieved of his duties and in came Brazilian, Ivo Wortmann the next day. The decision proved to be an inspired one as Miami Fusion finished in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, just one point ahead of their Florida rivals, Tampa Bay Mutiny, qualifying them for the MLS Play-off finals. Their overall league finish was 10^th, winning ten, drawing five and losing seventeen. It meant they would play DC United in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

The first leg was played on September 30^th, 1998, at the RFK Stadium, in front of a crowd of 15,000 people. DC were heavy favourites, having topped the Eastern Conference group already. They didn’t let that weigh them down and raced into an early two goal lead courtesy of goals from Lassiter (28^th) and Moreno (36^th). With the tie getting away from them already, Miami knew they needed to pull at least one goal back to give themselves a chance. And that’s what they did. In the 69^th minute, McLaren gave the Florida side hope going into the final 20 minutes of the match. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find an equaliser to bring the game to penalties and so DC took the first game, meaning a win in the second game would put them through to the Eastern Conference final.

Preki

The return leg was played at the Lockhart Stadium on October 4^th, 1998, in front of 13,000 spectators. Unfortunately, they were not treated to a classic and the game was played and ended without much incident, finishing 0-0. As it was back then, there were no draws in the play-off matches, nor were the ties decided on goal difference, and so the game itself went to a penalty shoot-out or a 35-yard shoot-out, which DC United won 3-2. On an individual level, Diego Serna won the Player of the Week award twice and the Player of the Month award once that season.

The 1999 season finished the same way as the first one, with Miami finishing 4^th in the Eastern Conference and securing their place in the semi finals of the Eastern Conference play-off. In the overall table, they finished 9^th, winning eight, drawing five and losing nineteen. But just as it was last season, they were defeated by DC united. First 2-0 in the first game, 2-0. The second game once again, finished 0-0 and was decided on penalties. Once again, DC United won and booed their place in the Eastern Conference final. While it wasn’t exactly a successful season on the pitch for Miami, and with crowd attendances dwindling, their was one positive note. Diego Serna had gotten into the top ten goal scorers list that year, finishing the season with a total of 10 goals.

The 2000 MLS season had a slightly different format with three divisions being competed in instead of the two, While the Eastern and Western Divisions were still present, a Central Division was set up, for clubs that were in the central states. Miami remained in the Eastern division, finishing 3^rd in the four-club group. Unfortunately, they missed out on the MLS Play-offs in the overall standings, finishing 9^th, two points behind Colorado Rapids who occupied the final place for qualification. And so their season ended early and the club had to watch the remainder of the season play out without them involved. Once again Diego Serna finished the clubs top goal scorer and finished in the top three over all in the MLS that season with a total of 16 goals, which seems even more impressive when you consider they didn’t make the play-offs.

It was the 2001 season that Miami Fusion would remember as their best and most successful in their history. The club finished top of the Eastern Conference and won their first piece of major silverware when they lifted the MLS Shield. This time, in the play-offs they faced Kansas City Wizards and the club were feeling confident they could progress. The first game went according to plan when they won 2-0, with goals from Serna and Pineda Chacon. The second game took place on the 26^{th of} September, 2001, but the results were reversed, when Kansas won 3-0. It meant it went down to a third and decisive game. It would be played at the Lockhart Stadium on the 29^th September in front of a crowd of just over 8,000 people. While Kansas took the lead in the 13^th minute, thanks to a goal from Lowe, Miami hit back almost instantly, with a goal in the 14^th minute by Preki. In what was a tense affair, Fusion eventually broke the deadlock in the 71^st minute when USA international Chris Henderson struck. It would be the winning goal and saw Miami progress to the semi-finals to face San Jose Earthquakes.

On October 10^th, 2001, Miami beat San Jose by one goal to nil, courtesy of a goal from Preki. It meant the were one nil up in the series and another win would see them progress to their first ever MLS Final. But the second game was won convincingly by San Jose, 4-0. And so it was down to the third game once again to decide who would be progressing to the final. The game too place on the 17^th of October at the Lockhart Stadium in front 11,000 fans. They were treated to a tense 0-0 draw which meant the game went to extra time. It was in the 94^th minute that San Jose decided the game, when USA International, Troy Dayak scored. Miami had no reply and so the goal was enough to knock Fusion out. It was some season for the Miami Fusion strikers, as the occupied the top positions in the goal scoring charts. Surprisingly it wasn’t Diego Serna who finished top. He had to settle for second place with 15 goals that season. The golden boot went to his strike partner, Alex Pineda Chacon, who scored an impressive 19 goals that season.

Despite the success on the field for the Fusion, it was their off-field troubles that made the headlines in 2002. Ultimately, the club failed to catch the imagination of the locals and low attendances resulted in financial trouble, which eventually led to the club leaving the MLS after just four years and dissolving. Along with them the other club from the state of Florida, who had their own problems financially, left the MLS and dissolved as well. The MLS reverted to two Conferences, disbanding the Central Conference and going back to just having the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. That was the end of the club from Miami, with no other club representing the area in the MLS until Inter Miami were brought in, in 2020.

As mentioned, Miami Fusion were only one of three clubs to have left the modern-day MLS. It seems as though they were just unlucky with their timing, because Inter Miami seems to be doing well, in regard to creating a fanbase and a buzz around the city, something that wasn’t around in the early 00’s in America. The MLS at that time was never taken seriously by anybody in the United States, not by anybody outside the States. It was always seen as the inferior sport of choice, and could never compete with the likes of the NFL, MLB and NHL. Nowadays, soccer and the MLS has made huge strides in becoming a decent league, with quality and entertainment on show in every match that is played. It continues to expand, adding new clubs from different states every year. With the World Cup being hosted there in 2026, we are sure to see the progression of soccer reach heights it has never seen before in the United States of America in the next decade. Unfortunately, Miami Fusion wont apart of it. Or maybe they will? Can they comeback? Maybe not. But who knows. Stranger things have happened.