THROWBACK THURSDAY | Quicksilvers Hit The Pitch In Las Vegas

Alan Mayer was training for the first time in Las Vegas after the San Diego Jaws moved to become the Quicksilvers.

“I remember my first training session,” Mayer told NASL.com. “It was hot there – 115-120 degrees. We were running stairs, and I’m running up, up, up the stairs and then down the stairs to the last step. I ended up jumping down and all of a sudden there was a rattlesnake right there.”

Welcome to Las Vegas.

“It was one of the only ones I saw there, but what an opening first practice session,” he said.

The first matchup for the Quicksilvers was just as treacherous on the pitch. The New York Cosmos and Pelé were coming to town in the Las Vegas side’s first ever match to begin the 1977 NASL season.

It was more than just the Quicksilvers hosting the Cosmos, though. With Las Vegas having Eusébio and the Cosmos having Pelé, all eyes were on the two stars.

“It was billed as two of the greatest players ever to play the game at the time – Eusebio vs. Pelé. There was a big buildup. Just the honor to have Pelé to come in to your town and play there is just huge,” Mayer said.

“It was such an absolute honor to be on the field with him, and to be a teammate of Eusebio – we got along very well – and I wanted to help Eusebio beat Pelé basically. It wasn’t billed as Cosmos-Las Vegas.” 

And it was the Quicksilvers, who would come out on top in front of 11,869 fans at Las Vegas Stadium by way of Victor Arbelaez’s tally, with Mayer keeping a clean sheet in the 1-0 victory.

“I ended up playing 18 seasons of professional soccer – nine of them outdoors – and that was probably, if I look back on what was my most memorable game, that was the highlight that I have,” Mayer said.

Las Vegas had a strong start to the season as Mayer had six shutouts in the first 12 matches, and the side won nine of them. The Quicksilvers, however, eventually cooled off despite playing in the desert sun. The club finished with an 11-15 record and in fifth place in the NASL’s Southern Division.

“We started off unbelievable. We were probably the hottest teams in the first half and in the second half probably one of the coldest teams in the league.”

It may just have been the heat, among other issues, that slowed down the Quicksilvers in their lone season in the NASL before being relocated back to San Diego to become the Sockers.

“There were a few injuries we had, but those are a part of the game,” he said. “It was a situation that it just got hotter, and you’d think you had a home-field advantage, but I think it took a lot out of the players playing there towards the middle and end of the season.”

One of those players slowed down by injuries was Portuguese great Eusébio, who even with all his fame was as humble as ever. And even hampered by bad knees, in particular, could strike a brilliant free kick.

“I remember staying after practice with him, what seemed like hours, but it was probably 45 minutes, and him just going all around the 18 and from anywhere from 35 yards putting the free kicks in,” Mayer said.

The young goalkeeper, who went on to represent the United States six times internationally, had a special connection with the talismanic forward.

“I was a young American, and he didn’t have to bother or associate with me, but we got along tremendously, and it was a memorable experience,” Mayer said.

While it was a brief stay for the Quicksilvers, it was an experience Mayer will not soon forget, still owning a house in the city. Las Vegas had plenty of entertainment and plenty of soccer experiences to live long in the memory.

“I look back at my time with the Las Vegas Quicksilvers with fond memories,” he said. “It was great playing in Las Vegas. I absolutely loved it there.”

He probably could have done without the rattlesnakes, though.