The New England Tea Men were a soccer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 team based out of Foxboro, MA (a suburb of Boston) that played in the NASL

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was Schaefer Stadium.

Led in its initial season by ex-Charlton striker Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan (footballer)

Michael "Mike" Flanagan is an English former professional footballer and manager. He most recently worked as assistant manager of Margate, a post he left in July 2007....

, the Tea Men won their division to much public acclaim, with Flanagan winning the league MVP award. Subsequent seasons proved not as successful for two important reasons: Flanagan, contracted to Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

, remained in England (an attempt to secure him via a transfer failed, reportedly over endorsement rights), and the team was temporarily evicted from Foxboro when the owners of Bay State Raceway

Foxboro Raceway

Foxboro Raceway, known for much of its existence as Bay State Raceway, was a harness racing track located in Foxborough, Massachusetts that operated from 1947 until 1997. It stood next to Foxboro Stadium and the site of Gillette Stadium....

 next door claimed the Tea Men's matches were causing problems on racing dates. After spending one unhappy season at Nickerson Field

Nickerson Field

Nickerson Field is a stadium on the site of Braves Field, in Boston, Massachusetts, the former home of the National League Boston Braves baseball team which is now located in Atlanta...

, the team reached an accord with Bay State to play at Foxboro but not on racing dates, so the Tea Men had to play many Monday night dates, which caused attendance to dwindle. After leaving Boston, the team moved to Jacksonville and became the Jacksonville Tea Men

Jacksonville Tea Men

The Jacksonville Tea Men were an American soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League from 1980–1982, then in the lower level American Soccer League and United...

.The original owner of the team was the Lipton Tea company and so the name was given with the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...

 in mind.

Former players

Laurie Abrahams

Laurie Abrahams

Lawrence Adam Michael "Laurie" Abrahams is a retired English professional footballer who played as a striker in England, the United States, and Australia...

 (1978) Brian Alderson

Brian Alderson

Brian Alderson was a Scottish footballer. He predominantly played as a winger, but was also able to play as a striker....

 (1978-79) http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/brianalderson.htm Tony Brown (English footballer) (1980) Jack Carmichael

Jack Carmichael

Jack Carmichael is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Active in Scotland, England and the United States, Carmichael made over 400 career league appearances.-Career:...

 (1980) http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/peterborough/peterborough.htm Peter Carr (1978-80) Mike Flanagan

Mike Flanagan (footballer)

Michael "Mike" Flanagan is an English former professional footballer and manager. He most recently worked as assistant manager of Margate, a post he left in July 2007....

 Roger Gibbins

Roger Gibbins

Roger Graeme Gibbins is an English former professional footballer. He represented England at Schools level....

 (1978-79) Kevin Keelan

Kevin Keelan

Kevin Damien Keelan MBE is a former professional football goalkeeper. He spent the majority of his career with Norwich City, though he also played for Stockport County, Wrexham, New England Tea Men and Tampa Bay Rowdies.-Youth:...

 (1978-80) Larry May

Larry May

Larry May is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender, making over 350 career appearances.-Career:...

 Francis Pantuosco (1979) Geoff Pike

Geoff Pike

Geoff Pike is an English former footballer midfielder.Pike played his early football in Thurrock and later with Gidea Park Rangers. He joined West Ham United in 1975 and was a member of the side that reached the 1975 FA Youth Cup Final. He made his league debut on 6 March 1976 against Birmingham...

 Keith Weller

Keith Weller

Keith Weller was an English footballer. He is considered to be one of Leicester City's greatest ever players. Following seven operations for cancer, he died in the United States in 2004 aged 58.-England:...

 (1978-80) Gerry Daly

Gerry Daly

Gerard Anthony Daly was an Irish football player.Daly started his football career in Drumcondra with the famous schoolboy nursery Stella Maris...

 (1978-79)   Peter Ioanou Artur Correia Salif Keita

Salif Keita (footballer)

Salif Keïta Traoré , known as Keita, is a retired Malian footballer who played as a striker.-Club career:In his country, Keita played for AS Real Bamako and Stade Malien...

 David Egan

David Egan

Reuben David Egan is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist based in Lafayette, Louisiana, who composes, records, and performs rock, Cajun-rock, soul, and blues.- Selected discography :...

Year-by-year

Year	League	W	L	T	Pts	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1978	NASL	19	11	—	165	1st(t), American Conference, Eastern Division	Lost 1st Round (Ft. Lauderdale)	12,064
1979	NASL	12	18	—	110	4th, American Conference, Eastern Division	Did not qualify	6,562
1979/80	NASL Indoor	2	10	—	—	5th, Eastern Division	Did not qualify
1980	NASL	18	14	—	154	3rd, American Conference, Eastern Division	Lost 1st Round (Tampa Bay)	8,748

See also

• Boston Rovers
  Boston Rovers
  Boston Rovers were a United States soccer team that competed in the United Soccer Association league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts and played their home games at the Manning Bowl. The USA league was actually made up of visiting club teams from Europe and South America...
  
  
• Boston Beacons
  Boston Beacons
  The Boston Beacons were a United States soccer team from Boston. In 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer League but folded after just one season. The Beacons were actually a relaunch of the United Soccer Association team Boston Rovers. They played their home games at Fenway...
  
  
• Boston Minutemen
  Boston Minutemen
  The Boston Minutemen were a soccer team based out of Boston that played in the NASL. They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium in Foxborough, Veterans Memorial Stadium in Quincy and Sargent Field in New Bedford.Portuguese legend...
  
  
• New England Tea Men
• Jacksonville Tea Men
  Jacksonville Tea Men
  The Jacksonville Tea Men were an American soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League from 1980–1982, then in the lower level American Soccer League and United...