Coastal Cup


The Coastal Cup is a trophy and soccer competition among the USL Championship teams based in Florida. Established in 2010, the trophy was awarded to the best team in regular season play among the league's Florida-based franchises. Head-to-head playoff games, U.S. Open Cup matches and friendlies had no bearing on the outcome of this competition. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers did not field a team in 2017. The Tampa Bay Rowdies also participated in this cup from 2010 though 2016, before leaving the NASL for the USL. Newcomers to the USL, Miami FC look to rejoin in the competition.

Pre-history

The idea of an all-Florida Cup in soccer goes back to the Tang sponsored, Florida Cup in the American Soccer League. It was contested in the 1988 ASL season between the second incarnation of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, the Miami Sharks, the Orlando Lions, and the original Tampa Bay Rowdies. In a runaway, Fort Lauderdale won the title with a total of 24 points, outpacing Orlando and Tampa Bay by 12 points and Miami by 18. They clinched the title with a month left to play in the season. They were awarded the Tang trophy on August 3 at Lockhart Stadium during halftime of their match versus Miami. Although there were at least two Florida-based clubs in the ASL through the 1993 season, the 1988 edition was the only time in that era of Florida professional club soccer that a trophy competition of this nature was contested.

History

The Coastal Cup was first contested in 2010 as part of the fifth incarnation of the Florida Derby, between FC Tampa Bay and the original Miami FC Blues, while both were members of the D2 Pro League. Within two years time both teams would re-brand using the names of the historic NASL clubs from the two regions of Florida and were themselves part of the new NASL.
Tampa Bay won the first four Coastal Cups, with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers finally breaking through in 2014. The addition of the Jacksonville Armada to the NASL for the 2015 season made the Coastal Cup a triangular competition. The Strikers retained the trophy in 2015 with one match to spare by virtue of Jacksonville's 2–0 upset victory over the Rowdies on September 26. In the 2016 season the new Miami FC squad joined the NASL to make the competition a four-team affair. Shortly after Tampa Bay secured its fifth cup title, the franchise announced it would be leaving the NASL for the United Soccer League beginning in 2017. Miami FC joined the USL in 2020 and are looking to rejoin the competition and revive this all Florida rivalry.

Most recent

Tiebreaker sequence: 1. Goal Differential - 2. Total Goals - 3. Head-To-Head Record - 4. Away Goal Difference - 5. Away Goals Scored

By season

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
FC Tampa Bay10430193+6
Fort Lauderdale Strikers1403139-6

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Tampa Bay Rowdies94310105+5
Fort Lauderdale Strikers34130510-5

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Tampa Bay Rowdies9431094+5
Fort Lauderdale Strikers3413049-5

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Fort Lauderdale Strikers63210550
Tampa Bay Rowdies33120550

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Fort Lauderdale Strikers156510104+6
Tampa Bay Rowdies96330910-2
Jacksonville Armada36150711-4

TeamPtsPldWLDGFGAGD
Tampa Bay Rowdies1493151511+4
Jacksonville Armada1393241211+1
Fort Lauderdale Strikers109234911-2
Miami FC891351013-3

All-time

*totals through 2016 season