JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Perhaps the names Alan Green, Jack Charmichael, Arnie Mauser, Jean Pierre Tokoto, Ringo Cantillo, Dennis Witt, John Lignos or Nino Zec don't immediately jump out of your sports memory bank. But I'm sure Pele, Giorgio Chinaglia, Franz Beckenbauer and Julie V probably do if you've followed sports for the last 30 years. The second group is, of course, a list of the stars of the North American Soccer League (NASL), of the early ‘80's mostly from the New York Cosmos. The first group is a collection of the biggest sports stars in Jacksonville at the time: members of the Jacksonville Tea Men, our first foray into so-called "big time" sports.
As benchmarks, the Florida/Georgia game, the Gator Bowl and The Players have been mainstays of North Florida's sports culture. But the Tea Men were the first shot at a league that brought big names to town playing for the visitors and a certain civic pride in having "Jacksonville" listed next to New York, LA, Chicago and other cities in the standings. The NASL wasn't what MLS is now. It was a full-fledged attempt to jump into the public consciousness all in a couple of years. If you've seen the documentary on the Cosmos, that's what the league was about all the time. A constant party, a traveling circus with international stars and for the most part, big budgets. The league had live television coverage, traveling media and rivalries. The Tea Men moved here from New England (Boston) and were owned by the Lipton Tea Company (thus the name). Their natural rivals were in Ft. Lauderdale (the Strikers) and Tampa Bay (the Rowdies). Play got so heated against the Strikers that a Tea Man player (Bob Newton) received death threats and had to have some police protection because of some of the things he said and the fact that he had knocked one of the Strikers (Figeroua) teeth out during a previous game. It all seems tame now, but at the time it was the biggest thing in town.
Recommended Videos
It's been just over thirty years since the Tea Men picked Jacksonville as their second home. Perhaps their two biggest stars were on the bench: Noel Cantwell, the head coach, was a two-sport national team player for Ireland in both soccer and cricket. He played for West Ham and was the captain of Manchester United. His assistant, Dennis Viollet was a bona fide superstar in international soccer. He was on the English National team and once scored 32 goals in 36 games for Man U. Among the players, Cantillo was a member of the US National team and was the MVP of the American Soccer League as a 17-year old rookie. Tokoto was captain of the Cameroon National Squad. Green played for Liverpool in the Premier League and Charmichael spent some time with Arsenal. The Tea Men's Player Personnel Director, Arthur Smith, knew players from all over Europe and was busy fulfilling Cantwell's wishes to bring in talent that could compete at the highest level. The Tea Men were playoff contenders, but never did make a deep playoff run.
But it was fun, that's for sure. So when the US takes on Scotland on May 26th in a "friendly," give a nod to the guys who helped put Jacksonville on the map.
If only for a fleeting moment.