The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League

American Soccer League

The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...

 in 1988. The team were renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League

American Professional Soccer League

The American Professional Soccer League is a former professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. It was the first outdoor soccer league to feature teams from throughout the United States since the demise of the original North American Soccer League...

 in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League

Western Soccer League

Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alliance...

. The club played in the Orange Bowl

Miami Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...

 in Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

.

Team president and General Manager Julio Moreira, a native of Ecuador, resided in Miami since 1954.

1990

In 1990, the Miami Freedom played their first seaons in the new American Professional Soccer League

American Professional Soccer League

The American Professional Soccer League is a former professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. It was the first outdoor soccer league to feature teams from throughout the United States since the demise of the original North American Soccer League...

 (APSL) in the South Division of the league's East Conference. The other members of the division included the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, which won the division that year, the
Tampa Bay Rowdies, Orlando Lions

Orlando Lions

The Orlando Lions was an American soccer team from Orlando, Florida which existed from 1985 to 1996. Over the years, the Lions competed at both the amateur and professional levels including some seasons as an independent team....

 and Washington Diplomats

Washington Diplomats

The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C.. Throughout their existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium...

.

While the Freedom were one of the best defensive teams in the league, having only 25 goals scored against them, they had difficulty scoring. The team's leading scorer, Lazlo Barna, with 7 goals and 5 assists, finished the season 18th in the league's ranking.

The Miami Freedom finished this season with an 8-12. Despite this record, the team fell just one victory short of reaching post-season play.

Rosters

1988: Windsor del Llano

Windsor del Llano

Windsor Alfred Del Llano Suárez is a retired Bolivian-American soccer forward who earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973 and another thirty with Bolivia between 1975 and 1981...

, Jerry DiPiero, Troy Edwards

Troy Edwards (soccer)

Troy Edwards is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally in several U.S. leagues including one season in Major League Soccer...

, Joao Carlos Fietoza, Juan Carlos Gomez, Patrick Johnson, Ricardo Johnson, Paul Khoury, Tommy Lehoczky, Dan Pingrey, Guillermo Pizzaro, Pedro Tavares, Jody Weil, Marc Wolff

1989: Maicol Antelo, Mark Barnett, Scott Bauer, Dennis Brose, Mirko Castillo

Mirko Castillo

Mirko Castillo was a Peruvian soccer forward who spent his entire professional career in the United States. He played two seasons in the American Soccer League, tying Ricardo Alonso as the 1990 league leading scorer...

, Mario Chavez, Teofilo Cubillas

Teófilo Cubillas

Teófilo Juan Cubillas Arizaga is a Peruvian former footballer. He was selected as Peru's greatest ever player in an IFFHS poll, in which he was also included in the world's Top 50...

, Euclides DeGouveia, Dirceu

Dirceu

Dirceu José Guimarães, known as Dirceu , was a football player from Brazil. He played as an attacking midfielder with many teams, in particular Botafogo and the Brazilian national team. He died at only 43 years old in a road accident. He played 84 games and scored 18 goals for Atlético Madrid...

, Jerry DiPiero, Tchaly Eleazard, Juan Carlos Gomez, Wellington Guerra, Brain Japp, Ricardo Johnson, Hughes Joseph, Francisco Lopez, Willington Oritz, Dan Pingre, Guillermo Pizzaro, Tab Ramos

Tab Ramos

Tabaré Ramos Ricciardi, known as Tab Ramos is a retired U.S. Olympic Team and National Team soccer midfielder. He played professionally for 13 seasons in Spain, Mexico and the United States. Ramos was the first player to sign with Major League Soccer, where he played seven years with the MetroStars...

, Luis Reyna, Arnold Siegmund, Pedro Tavares, Huber Vallejos

1990: Laszlow Barna, Mark Barnett, Michael Brown, Paul Carollo, Euclides DeGouveia, Ricardo Dillon, Ian Fairbrother

Ian Fairbrother

Ian Fairbrother is a retired English football player. He spent the majority of his career in the United States....

, Elias Feanny, Joao Carlos Fietoza, Joseph Flood, Decio Guimaraes, Timo Hamalainen, Brian Japp, Patrick Johnson, Steve Kinsey, David Kulik, Dorian Mesa, Fernando Ramos, Rick Rivera-Gomez, Arnold Siegmund

1991: Celvin Alonzo, Ricardo Alonso

Ricardo Alonso

Ricardo Alonso was a soccer player who began as a forward before moving to defender later in his career. Alonso spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League, four in Major Indoor Soccer League, at least three in the American Indoor Soccer Association, one in the American Soccer League and...

, Alex Bahr, Laszlo Barna, Mark Barnett, Brown, Kenny Borden, Juan Castillo, Chrinos, Hugo DeCasanova, Euclides DeGouveia, Paul Dougherty

Paul Dougherty

Paul Dougherty is an English former professional footballer and football coach who began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England...

, John Garvey

John Garvey (soccer)

John Garvey is a retired American soccer player.-College:Garvey played college soccer at the University of Maryland from 1987 to 1990.-Professional:...

, Grant Gibbs

Grant Gibbs

Grant Gibbs is a former U.S. soccer defender who spent his professional career in clubs F.C. Portland, Seattle Storm and Miami Freedom.-Bio:Gibbs grew up in Federal Way, Washington where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School. After graduating from high school in 1982, Webber attended Warner...

, Rick Iverson, Brian Japp, Pedro Magellanes, Jimmy McGeough

Jimmy McGeough, Jr.

Jim McGeough is a retired Irish-American soccer defender. His career spanned over a dozen teams in seven leagues including the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League, Major Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League.-Player:...

, Dorian Mesa, Dale Mulholland, Benjamin Ortiz, Fernando Ramos, Ken Snow

Ken Snow

Kenneth “Ken” Snow is a former U.S. soccer forward who was a two-time winner of the Hermann Trophy as the outstanding college soccer player in 1988 and 1990. He had an eight year professional career playing indoor soccer in the United States...

, Juan Valencia, Huber Vallejo, Tony DePhillpis, Patrick Johnson

1992: Jose Angulo, Kossivi Asare-Kokou, Mark Barnett, Scott Benedetti

Scott Benedetti

Scott “Benny” Benedetti is a retired American soccer player. He began his professional career with the semi-professional F.C. Portland in 1986 and ended it with the U.S. second division club Portland Timbers in 2005. While he spent most of his career in the lower U.S...

, Roger Campagnola, Juan Castillo, Javier Centeno, Zico Doe

Zico Doe

Ezekiel Koffa "Zico" Doe is a retired Liberian football player who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League, Major Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League...

, Miljice Donev, Chris Edwinson

Chris Edwinson

Chris Edwinson is a retired American professional soccer player. He played one season with Atlas in the Mexican Primera División. He played high school soccer at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.-External links:*...

, Kevin Grimes

Kevin Grimes (soccer)

Kevin Grimes is a former U.S. soccer defender who played five seasons in the American Professional Soccer League, two in the USISL and one each in Iceland and Major League Soccer. He also earned five caps with the U.S. national team in 1988.-Youth:Grimes grew up in St...

, Darrin Karuzas, John Boa, John Klein

John Klein

John Klein is a retired American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He currently coaches the Columbia College men's soccer team.-Player:...

, John Maessner

John Maessner

John Maessner who spent six seasons in Major League Soccer, two in France, two in USISL, two in the National Professional Soccer League and one in Germany. He is currently the Director of Youth Development for D.C. United.-Youth:Maessner was a 1987 Parade Magazine High School All American soccer...

, Diego Mandagaran, Luis Medina, Dorian Mesa, Dale Mulholland, Victor Ogunsanya, Boniface Okafor

Boniface Okafor

Boniface Okafor was a Nigerian football player.Okafor attended the University of West Florida where he played soccer from 1988 to 1990. He was a 1990 NAIA Second Team All American. In 2007, Okafor was inducted into the Argonauts Hall of Fame....

, Rodrique Rocques, Derek Sanderson

Derek Sanderson (soccer)

Derek Sanderson is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in eight leagues including the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Professional Soccer League. He played three games for the U.S. at the 1983 FIFA World Youth...

, Arturo Velazco

Arturo Velazco

Arturo Velazco is a former U.S. soccer defender. He played four seasons in the Western Soccer Alliance, five in the American Professional Soccer League, at least three in the National Professional Soccer League and one in the Continental Indoor Soccer League. He also earned two caps with the U.S...

, Scoop Stanisic

Scoop Stanisic

Vojislav "Scoop" Stanisic is a former American soccer goalkeeper. He spent most of his career playing indoor soccer in the United States, but also played five outdoor seasons in the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and USISL. He earned one cap with the U.S...

,

Coaches

• Wim Suurbier 1989
• David Irving
  David Irving (footballer)
  David Irving is a former professional football striker. His childhood ambition was to play for then Football League side Workington...
  
   (1990–1991)
• Jorge Alzerreca (1991)
• Amancio Suarez (1992)

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1988	N/A	ASL	5th, Southern	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1989	N/A	ASL	5th, Southern	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1990	N/A	APSL	4th, ASL South	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1991	N/A	APSL	5th, American	Did not qualify	Did not enter
1992	N/A	APSL	5th	Did not qualify	Did not enter