Editor’s Note: This article (hopefully a series of articles) came from me seeing all the work Dan Creel was doing for his great substack, which, among other things, digs into the dusty corners of soccer history. Dan kept sharing clubs with interesting stories that I had never heard of and I reached out and asked him to do some articles on dead clubs: their history, how they died, why they are important. Thankfully, Dan obliged.

The Jackson Chargers were one of the best teams in the early history of the USL. They made the playoffs of the original PDL (now USL League Two) and were regular season champions for two of those seasons. And, while they never won the PDL championship, the Chargers were a juggernaut in the 1998 season going undefeated in the regular season while putting up some dazzling numbers.

Formation

The Jackson Chargers became a provisional member of the USISL in mid-April of 1994, just after the regular season began. The USISL had first gained Division III professional sanctioning from the USSF for that 1994 season, the league was technically made up of both professional and amateur teams. The Chargers were part of the nine-team Midsouth Division. All Midsouth teams were formally amateur teams under the USASA. In 1994, the Chargers played a limited 12-game schedule against other Midsouth Division teams and were not eligible for the USISL playoffs.

The Northeast Jackson Soccer Organization paid an expansion fee in the range of $10,000 to $15,000 to join the USISL. Local Jackson businessman, Bob Dausman, was the founder of the NEJSO and the primary backer of the Jackson Chargers. The team would play its home games at NEJSO field behind The Sports Club on Westbrook Road in northeast Jackson, Miss.

Najjar Era

The USISL split its men’s outdoor league into the Division III professional USISL Pro League and the amateur USISL Premier League starting in 1995. The Jackson Chargers would join the Premier League as part of the 10-team Eastern Division.

The Chargers were coached by Trinidadian Hannibal Najjar who was a former youth national team member for Trinidad & Tobago. Najjar had become coach of the Belhaven College Blazers soccer team in 1994 and most of the Chargers players were from that squad. The Belhaven Blazers had won the 1992 NAIA men’s soccer title under then-coach Peter Fuller.

Najjar had a long and storied coaching career.

At the end of March, a month before the USISL regular season started, the Jackson Chargers defeated Old Style Hockey to win the National Indoor Soccer Tournament held in Atlanta. It was the Chargers second straight NIST title.

Bob Dausman would install lights at the Sports Club Soccer Center at the end of May. The Chargers would play their first home night game against the Columbia Heat winning 3-2 on June 3. Dausman estimated his yearly expenses would be $60,000 to $70,000 and that he would need to average 800 to 1000 each match to break even.

The Chargers had a successful first season ending in fourth place in the Eastern Division. Jackson lost 3-1 in their first playoff game to the Cocoa Expos. The Expos would go on to be the USISL Premier League runners-up to the Richmond Kickers.

The Jackson Chargers would improve the next season. The team would come second in the Eastern Conference’s Northern Division. The Chargers would also host the Eastern Conference playoffs at The Sports Club. Jackson would receive a bye in the conference semifinals when the Orlando Lions pulled out of the playoffs due to players returning to college.

The Chargers beat the Nashville Metros 3-2 on August 10, 1996 to win the Eastern Conference final and a trip to the Premier Six final tournament. Jackson would upset the host Cocoa Expos 1-0 in their first game but lose to The Central Coast Roadrunners of San Luis Obispo in their next match. The Roadrunners would beat the San Francisco Bay Seals to win the 1996 USISL Premier League.

The USISL would rename its leagues for the 1997 season. The USISL’s Premier League became the Premier Development Soccer League, or PDSL for short. The Chargers would take part in the USISL PDSL’s five-team Mid-South Division.

Jackson again placed second and again hosted the divisional playoffs at The Sports Club. The Chargers would beat the Lexington Bluegrass Bandits 1-0 in the divisional semifinals. And, on July 27, 1997, Jackson would upset the Cincinnati Riverhawks 3-0 before 1200 in attendance in the divisional final. On August 2, Jackson visited the Cocoa Expos in the South Regional playoff losing 2-1 in front of 1500 fans. The Chargers 513 in attendance for the 1997 USISL PDSL season.

Fuller Era

Hannibal Najjar would leave Jackson’s Belhaven College to take up head coaching duties at Bethel College in eastern Tennessee. Bob Dausman would hire Peter Fuller to take his place. Fuller had been the Belhaven College soccer coach from 1991 to 1993 and led them to their NAIA men’s title in 1992. He became the men’s soccer coach at the University of Mobile in 1995. Fuller would regularly make the over three-hour drive from Mobile to Jackson for practices and games.

Before Fuller headed CFC, he coached with Jackson.

Fuller would build a core roster of players from his connections at Belhaven and Mobile. His roster would include Trinidadian Sheldon Bennett. As a sophomore, Bennett was named the 1992 NAIA Championship Tournament MVP for Belhaven’s title winners. In addition Fuller would bring in some top tier players from other college programs. Among these were two attackers who would go on to play for the Kenya men’s national team, Bonaventure Murati and Paul Oyuga, and Richard Mulrooney who would have a long career in MLS.

Following a 3-1 exhibition loss to the USISL D3-Pro League Indiana Blast, the Jackson Chargers’ first competitive matches were four U.S. Open Cup qualifiers. On April 18, 1998, the Chargers beat the Shreveport-Bossier Lions of the D3-Pro League 7-0 at Parkway Stadium in Bossier City. Paul Oyuga would score Jackson’s first goal in the third minute and Bonaventure Murati would score another. But it was midfielder Matt Millet, a member of Fuller’s Mobile Rams, who stole the show scoring four goals.

Eight days later the Chargers would blank the Alabama Saints from Birmingham 5-0 in their second U.S. Open Cup qualifier. On May 2, Jackson hosted the D3-Pro League Texas Toros of Dallas but lost 1-0 in overtime. The Alabama Saints visited the Chargers on May 15 in the final USOC qualifier for both teams. It was a 7-1 victory for Jackson which put them in first of the Southeast Division qualifying group and a spot in the playoffs. On May 23 the Chargers beat the Bradenton Academics 5-0 at The Sports Club which qualified them for the First Round of the 1998 U.S. Open Cup. In five games of U.S. Open Cup qualifying, Jackson won four out of five, scoring 24 goals while only giving up two.

After heavy rain canceled their USISL PDSL opening match on May 29 against Pensacola S.C. of the D3-Pro League, the Jackson Chargers beat another D3-Pro League team, the Tallahassee Tempest, 9-1 on May 30 in their first league match. The game was played on Corry Field in Quincy, Fla. before 267 fans.

The Chargers would win their next four league matches, two of which were road blowouts. On June 7 they beat the Alabama Saints 10-2 and on June 12 they crushed the South Florida Future 11-1. On June 16 the Chargers would visit the D3-Pro League Orlando Nighthawks in the First Round of the U.S. Open Cup. Jackson would be knocked out of the cup with a 2-1 loss.

The Chargers’ next match was a league match three days later again against the Orlando Nighthawks. Jackson won 1-0 at home off a goal in overtime by Bonaventure Maruti. That would start a 10-game win streak through the end of the USISL PDSL regular season.

The final five matches of the 1998 regular season would see the Jackson Chargers completely dominate their opponents. On July 10 and 11, the Chargers beat the South Florida Future and Cocoa Expos 10-1 each. The next weekend saw the Chargers beat the Alabama Saints 11-0 and Central Florida Lionhearts 8-1.

In their final regular season match, on July 24, Jackson beat Pensacola S.C. 7-1 at home. That completed an undefeated 16-game regular season for the Chargers. Only the Orlando match went into overtime. Incredibly the Chargers scored 104 goals and only gave up 17 - a stunning +87 goal differential. Bonaventure Maruti led the league with 27 goals which was 11 more than any other player.

That dominance continued into the Southeast Division playoffs. The Chargers beat the Miami Tango 7-0 in the divisional semifinals and the host Cocoa Expos 8-2 in the divisional final. Jackson beat the Mid Michigan Bucks of Saginaw 3-2 in a regional playoff at The Sports Club on August 8 to advance to the national semifinals.

The 1998 USISL PDSL national semifinals and final were held August 14 and 15 at Kalamazoo, Mich. Jackson blanked the Kalamazoo Kingdom 2-0 in the semifinals but were upset 3-2 by the San Gabriel Valley Highlanders of Pasadena, Cali. in the final. Peter Fuller was named USISL PDSL Coach of the Year. Later that month the NAIA ruled that five players, along with six others who had graduated or were not returning to Belhaven College, would lose eligibility in the coming year primarily because they received medical insurance from the Jackson Chargers organization.

During that offseason, the USISL became the United Soccer Leagues and the PDSL became the Professional Development League. Peter Fuller returned to coach the Jackson Chargers and many of the prior year’s players also returned. The Chargers had another stellar year going 14-2 for the USL PDL regular season. The Chargers won the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division regular season and the overall PDL regular season title for the second straight year. While their 67 goals weren’t quite as impressive as in 1998 the Chargers still had a +55 goal differential thanks to only giving up 12 goals all regular season. Jackson’s goalkeeper, Jeremy DoBay, was voted as the 1999 USL PDL Goalkeeper of the Year.

The Jackson Chargers hosted the Eastern Conference playoffs at The Sports Club on August 6 and 7. Led by Bonaventure Maruti’s four goals the Chargers easily won their conference semifinal 9-1 over the Brooklyn Knights. But Jackson was upset in the conference final 1-0 by the New York Freedom.

Even though it was still the best team in the USL PDL, the Jackson Chargers had not seen much of a boost in attendance over their six seasons in the league. So, after losing over $50,000 each year, Bob Dausman quietly folded the Chargers that offseason.

Epilogue

Peter Fuller would lead the Mobile Rams men’s soccer team to the NAIA national title match in 1999. He would win it all in 2002. Fuller was named the NAIA Coach of the Year in both 1999 and 2002. He would go on to join the New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union coaching staffs and become head coach for Chattanooga FC in their first two professional seasons in 2020 and 2021.

Hannibal Najjar would continue to coach for college teams in the U.S. for a number of years. Najjar would later coach the Trinidad and Tobago men’s national team during qualifying for the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The success on the field of the Jackson Chargers would lead to the formation of the Jackson Calypso women’s soccer team for the 1997 USISL W-League season. The Calypso would be promoted to the W-League’s elite W-1 Division for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. That team would also fold following the 1999 USL season.

The USL would return to the Jackson-area in 2007 with the formation of the Mississippi Brilla. That team joined the USL PDL and has been a mainstay of the renamed USL League Two ever since.

- Dan Creel