Rowdies Cup
| Other names | Mayor's Cup (1972–2005) |
|---|---|
| Sport | Soccer |
| Location | Tampa, Florida |
| First meeting | November 5, 1972 South Florida 9–2 Tampa |
| Latest meeting | August 14, 2023 South Florida 6–1 Tampa[1] |
| Next meeting | tbd |
| Stadiums | South Florida: Corbett Stadium Tampa: Pepin Stadium |
| Trophy | Rowdies Cup |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 40 |
| All-time series | Official matches: South Florida (10–7–2) Exhibition matches: South Florida (16–4–1) Total matches: South Florida (26–11–3) |
| Largest victory | South Florida 21–0 Tampa (Sept 20, 1973) |
| Longest win streak | South Florida: 5 (1985–89, 2015–2019) |
| Longest unbeaten streak | South Florida: 7 matches (2005–11) |
| Current win streak | South Florida, 2 |
The Rowdies Cup is a traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the annual college soccer derby between the University of South Florida Bulls and the University of Tampa Spartans, two NCAA men's programs based in the city of Tampa, Florida. The rivalry was known as the Mayor's Cup from 1979 to 2005.[2][3][4] It was renamed to honor the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a first-division professional team in the original North American Soccer League, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their Soccer Bowl '75 championship.
History
[edit]
The rivalry was first contested on November 5, 1972. USF won the match, 9–2. That meeting happens to have the greatest margin of victory in the series among games played during the regular season. The following year in a preseason exhibition, USF, who had been in training for over three weeks, overwhelmed the out-of-shape Spartans in the September heat by a count of 21–0.[5] UT would finally taste victory for the first time four years later in a 1977 preseason match, by the score of 3–2.[6]
USF has been a Division I program for all but the first meeting between the two schools, while UT has competed at the Division II level for their entire history. In the early years from 1972 to 1997 all but three of the twenty-two meetings were played during the two schools' regular season. Since the rivalry's renewal in 2005 all of the matches have been part of their preseason exhibition schedules. As of the 2023 edition, USF holds a 26–11–3 edge in the all-time series.[7][8]
The name "Rowdies Cup" was first used at the 2005 meeting. It comes from the first professional sports franchise in the region, the Tampa Bay Rowdies, whose alumni were celebrating the 30th anniversary of their championship victory in Soccer Bowl '75 on August 24, 1975, with a day-long soccer festival held on August 20, 2005. The Bulls-Spartans exhibition match was the final event of the day and has been played every August ever since, aside from 2020 when the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]
In 2011, USF opened the new Corbett Stadium, named after former Rowdies owners and USF alumni Dick and Cornelia Corbett.
Trophy
[edit]The winner of the annual match is awarded a traveling trophy and has the honor of hoisting the Soccer Bowl '75 trophy, though the Soccer Bowl trophy remains on permanent display at Corbett Stadium no matter who wins the annual game. The current Rowdies Cup trophy is the second edition of the rivalry trophy. The current one, used since the series was renamed to the Rowdies Cup, is a golden circle with the Rowdies wordmark and a soccer ball inside, while the original was more in the style of a traditional soccer trophy (a large golden cup with a wooden base).[10]
Results
[edit]| South Florida victories | Tampa victories |
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References
[edit]- ^ "2023 Men's Soccer Schedule". gousfbulls.com.
- ^ Bulls Looking to Bring Rowdies Cup Back to USF - GoUSFBulls.com—Official Athletics Web Site of the University of South Florida
- ^ "Bulls Down Spartans to Claim Rowdies Cup". gousfbulls.com. Retrieved August 24, 2015.
- ^ "Bulls Retain Rowdies Cup". gousfbulls.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
- ^ Vorse, Barry (September 21, 1973). "USF swamps Tampa, 21-0". The Tampa Times. p. 4C. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Spartans Boot USF In Exhibition". Tampa Tribune. September 22, 1977. p. 3C. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
- ^ "Rudderham Scores Hat Trick, Bulls Retain Rowdies Cup". gousfbulls.com. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Spartans Take Rowdies Cup With 1-0 Victory Over USF". Tampa Spartans. Archived from the original on March 20, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
- ^ "Bulls face Spartans for Cup". St. Petersburg Times. August 20, 2005. p. 5C. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
- ^ "UT History Series: Men's Soccer and The Mayor's Cup". 2021-08-11.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "South Fla. Series History". TampaSpartans.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
- ^ "Men's Soccer History vs University of Tampa from Aug 18, 2007 - Aug 18, 2012". gousfbulls.com. August 19, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2019.