Tuesday trivia

Do you remember the Kicks?

I’m guessing that not many of you are going to do well on this week’s edition of Tuesday trivia. The topic is the Minnesota Kicks.

The Kicks played in the North American Soccer League from 1976-1981. They were reasonably successful on the pitch and wildly successful at the box office. At least for a while.

The team folded in 1981, and the league closed shop in 1984. Honestly it was a little difficult to come up with questions, so I called it good with nine.

The answers are below.

If you have any ideas on what you’d like to see as a theme for Tuesday trivia, let me know. Contact me at sportsdr44@hotmail.com.

Questions

1: What was the original home of the Kicks franchise?

2: Where did the Kicks play their home games?

3: What international superstar attracted a NASL record crowd in 1976?

4: Who was the first head coach of the Kicks?

5: In what year did the Kicks advance to Soccer Bowl (the NASL championship game)?

6: Which Kicks player set the NASL record for goals in a playoff match?

7: Who was the Kicks primary goalie during their years in the NASL?

8: The Kicks signed a major international star in 1979. Who was it?

9: An announcer better known for his hockey play-by-play called Kicks games on radio in 1980. Who was it?

Answers

1: The team started as the Denver Dynamos. A group of 10 investors from Minnesota, led by Jack Crocker, bought the Denver team on Nov. 25, 1975, and relocated to Minnesota.

Metropolitan Stadium was the home of the Minnesota Kicks for their existence from 1976-1981.

2: They played at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.

A crowd of 46,164 packed Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington to watch Pele and the New York Cosmos beat the Kicks 2-1. If you look closely, you’ll see me in the right field bleachers.

3: Pelé and the New York Cosmos beat the Kicks 2–1 before 46,164 fans.

4: Freddie Goodwin was the coach from 1976-1978.

5: The Kicks made it Soccer Bowl in 1976, losing 3–0 to the Toronto Metros-Croatia at Seattle's Kingdome in front of 25,000. The winning goal scored by Portuguese legend Eusébio.

6: Allan Willey scored five goals for the Kicks in a 9-2 win over the Cosmos at Met Stadium.

7: Martino "Tino" Lettieri. He also represented Canada twice at the Summer Olympics (1976 and 1984) and at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

8: Minnesota brought in defender Björn Nordqvist, Sweden's all-time caps leader.

A promo for North Stars announcers Al Shaver and Steve Cannon.

9: Al Shaver, who called Minnesota North Stars games from 1967 until they moved to Dallas in 1993, did one season of soccer.