Diplomats Beat Reporter

Before he was ubiquitous on the sports scene, John Feinstein was the Washington Diplomats beat reporter for the Washington Post. He discusses those days on his blog.

Photo Matching

From a collecting standpoint, it is always exciting when you are able to match a jersey to a photo or video clip from game action. Don Droege wore the jersey shown below in the Dips June 1, 1980 match against the Cosmos at RFK Stadium. The letters used to spell out the name on the back of Droege's jersey are not consistent with others used during the 1980 season. Those were thicker and a slightly different font, as exemplified by the photo of Johan Cruyff below. There were a few jersey anomalies over the years which will be featured in future posts.

John Kerr Passes

John Kerr, who played for the Dips during the 1976 & 1977 seasons, passed away from heart disease on June 19. He was a leader in the 1979 movement to unionize the NASL. Mr. Kerr was always kind and candid when I spoke with him, and he was his own harshest critic when discussing past matches. The Dips uncerimoniously released Kerr in the midst of the 1977 season, a move that puzzled many.

Kerr watches with

Alex Pringle in 1977.

Kerr in action during the 1976 season.

1979 Training Camp

Jack Mann of the Washington Star added a touch of social commentary to his coverage of the Dips preparations for the upcoming season.

First Year Jersey Mystery

The 1974 program includes two photos of the Diplomats playing in what appear to be powder blue (carolina blue) jerseys with white trim. I am only familiar with solid navy blue jerseys (first picture below) or solid white jerseys being used during the first season.

The jerseys in question were made by Unbro, who maufactured the Dips uniforms their first three seasons, as evidenced by the company's trade mark triangle at the neck. The body is the lighter blue color, with the sleeves, collar and triangle at the neck in white. The logo patch used during the first season is on the left breast, and player numeral on the right. They lack the horizontal stripes the navy blue and white versions sported. If anyone has any informaton, or can provide other photos, please help me out.

First Game

The first Dips game I attended was on August 10, 1975 against the Chicago Sting. The Dips had been eliminated from the playoff contention in their previous match but still came from behind to win via penalty kicks.

Paul Cannell Sighting

Paul Cannell is alive and well and running a pub east of New Castle named The Alexandria. Perhaps there was already a pub named The Georgetowner.

Photo from: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2010/01/saturday_kickaround_24.html