.jpg)
Name: Victor MorelandBorn: 15 June 1957, Belfast
Height: 6.01 ft
Weight: 12.00 st
Position: Midfielder
Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 6 Full Caps / 1 Goal (1978-1979), 1 Under-21 Cap (1978).
Club Honours: (with Glentoran) Irish League Champion 1976/77; Gold Cup Winner 1976/77, 1977/78; City Cup Winner 1974/75; Ulster Cup Winner 1976/77; (with Tulsa Roughnecks) NASL Soccer Bowl Champion 1983; (with Dallas Sidekicks) MISL Champions 1986/87; (with Fort Lauderdale Strikers) American Soccer League Champion 1989.
Club Career:
Teams
|
Seasons
|
Signed
|
Fee
|
League
|
FA Cup
|
FL Cup
|
Europe
|
Other
|
Glentoran
|
73/74-78/79
|
-
|
Youth
|
*155(4)/ 27
|
-
|
-
|
9(1)/0
|
-
|
Tulsa
Roughnecks
|
1978
|
Apr-78
|
Loan
|
28(-)/ 0
|
-
|
-
|
1(-)/0
|
|
Derby
County
|
78/79-79/80
|
Sep-78
|
£45k
|
38(4)/ 1
|
1(0)/0
|
1(1)/0
|
-
|
-
|
Tulsa
Roughnecks
|
1980 - 1984
|
Mar-80
|
-
|
136(-)/ 14
|
-
|
-
|
12(-)/0
|
|
Chicago
Sting
|
84/85
|
-
|
-
|
*38(-)/ 11
|
(MISL)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Dallas
Sidekicks
|
85/86-87/88
|
Sep-85
|
-
|
144(-)/ 27
|
(MISL)
|
-
|
-
|
25(-)/6
|
Wichita
Wings
|
88/89-90/91
|
Jul-88
|
-
|
125(-)/ 20
|
(MISL)
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
|
1989 - 1991
|
Jun-89
|
-
|
-
|
(ASL/APSL)
|
-
|
||
Tulsa
Ambush
|
91/92
|
Aug-91
|
-
|
-
|
(NPSL)
|
-
|
||
Tulsa
Roughnecks
|
94/95-97/98
|
Nov-94
|
-
|
-
|
(USISL Indoor & Outdoor)
|
-
|
||
TOTALS
|
-
|
£45k
|
664(8)/100
|
1(0)/0
|
1(1)/0
|
9(1)/0
|
38(0)/6
|
|
Biography:
Vic Moreland’s career will be forever linked with that of Billy Caskey. The pair seemed inseparable for much of their playing days – they played in the same Glentoran team throughout the mid to late seventies; they played together for Tulsa Roughnecks in the NASL in 1978; they returned to the UK to sign for Derby County in a joint £90,000 deal that September; they made their international debuts in the same match; they again teamed up back at Tulsa to win the NASL title in 1983 (though Caskey missed the Soccer Bowl through injury); and finally they played together for Dallas Sidekicks in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Moreland rose through the ranks at the Oval to make his firstteam debut against Crusaders in the 1973/74 season. Still a teenager he was a regular from the following season on, his powerful running from midfield geeing-up the Glens team in a number of trophy winning campaigns. In March 1978 he was recognised at international level when Danny Blanchflower included him in an Under-21 game against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. The following month he travelled to the USA to join up with Caskey in Tulsa. Moreland really enjoyed his footballing experience in America as the Roughnecks made the play-offs.
Moreland and Caskey returned to Glentoran early in the 1978/79 season, but within a month were on the move to Derby County. On his signing, Derby manager Tommy Docherty hailed Moreland as “one of the most accomplished midfield players in Britain”. He wasn’t able to live up to that mantle, the enthusiasm and aggression that had been so successful in the Irish League and NASL not sitting well in the English First Division where a more disciplined approach was expected.
Danny Blanchflower appreciated Moreland’s gung-ho style more than most and granted him his international debut against Bulgaria in November 1978. He remained a regular in the Northern Ireland team throughout the final year-and-a-half of Blanchflower’s management, using his aggression to boss the midfield behind the likes of Sammy McIlroy and Bryan Hamilton. He scored his only international goal, a consolation penalty in a 5-1 defeat by England in October 1978. That remained the final Northern Ireland goal scored against the English in Belfast until David Healy’s strike in 2005.
Although not a regular with Derby, Moreland did prove a useful squad player slotting in as a midfielder or defender. Still, he was keen to return to Tulsa Roughnecks and left the Baseball Ground behind in the closing weeks of the 1979/80 season. In his absence Derby were relegated to Division Two. It was in the USA the Moreland was to enjoy the most popularity and success.
In four campaigns with Tulsa, Moreland took his total to a "franchise" record 166 appearances. He was captain of the side, coached by ex-Wales and Derby defender Terry Hennessey, that claimed the Soccer Bowl in 1983 and was regarded as one of the most influential players in the latter days of the North American Soccer League. He was a love-him-or-hate-him sort of player, “competitive” or “dirty”, “aggressive” or “enthusiastic”. When the NASL folded Moreland, who had married a Tulsa woman, joined up with Chicago Sting in indoor soccer. He then joined Dallas Sidekicks, claiming an MISL championship ring as captain in 1987. He was twice named an MISL Eastern Division All-Star and twice awarded an All-MISL Honorable Mention.
After leaving Dallas in a “salary cap” move in June 1988, Moreland played indoor soccer for Wichita Wings - where he was regarded as a "defender par excellence" - as well as in the American Professional Soccer League for Fort Lauderdale Strikers and for Tulsa Ambush in the National Professional Soccer League. While with Fort Lauderdale he actually played in a 5-2 win over the Irish League, who were touring the USA in July 1989. Old cohort Billy Caskey was in the Irish side and was infact sent off for throwing a punch at an opponent!
Moreland was player-coach at Tulsa Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League before retiring in 1992. He returned tp playing when he joined the "new" Tulsa Roughnecks, then of the USISL for the 1994/95 indoor season and played both indoor and outdoor football sporadically through to the 1997/98 indoor season. Also Roughnecks' head-coach from 1995-1996, he founded and continues to run the Tulsa Nationals Soccer Academy in 1995.
The Rams
NASL Shirts
Dallas Sidekicks Record
Tulsa Nationals Soccer Club
Where Are They Now?
Northern Ireland Cap Details:
29-11-1978 Bulgaria.... A W 2-0 ECQ sub
02-05-1979 Bulgaria.... H W 2-0 ECQ sub
19-05-1979 England..... H L 0-2 BC
22-05-1979 Scotland.... A L 0-1 BC
17-10-1979 England..... H L 1-5 ECQ 1 goal
21-11-1979 Rep. Ireland H W 1-0 ECQ
Summary: 4(2)/1. Won 3, Drew 0, Lost 3.
Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
08-03-1978 Rep. Ireland A D 1-1 FR
Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 0.
Comments