TULSA, Okla. — Before the OKC Thunder won the NBA Finals in June, the first professional sports title in Oklahoma belonged to the soccer team that played its home games at University of Tulsa's Skelly Field.
WATCH: Tulsa's first pro soccer player reflects on city's original championship franchise:
The Tulsa Roughnecks became the smallest market to win the North American Soccer League's Soccer Bowl '83 with a 2-0 triumph over the Toronto Blizzard before a crowd of 53,000 in Vancouver.
But before that championship, Charlie Mitchell became Tulsa's first professional soccer player in 1978 when his employer, Team Hawaii, relocated to Tulsa.
"The fans, if you made a mistake, they didn’t know any difference," Mitchell told 2 News via Zoom on Nov. 22 before FC Tulsa's USL Championship final match. "If you did something good, everybody cheered. So the Tulsa environment was great.”
Mitchell was the only player retained from Team Hawaii as it moved to become the Roughnecks.
The Scotland native and former New York Cosmos teammate of all-time great Pele (Mitchell provided the assist to one of Pele's greatest goals) soon became a player-coach with the squad.
"That first year was just a great experience," Mitchell said. "It was great for all of the Tulsa people to get the opportunity to see professional soccer.”
He added he has followed FC Tulsa's success in the 2025 USL Championship playoffs.
“It’s great that FC Tulsa is doing what they’re doing. But it’s all surrounded by the youth programs (established during the Roughnecks' era). And they’re getting their crowd now from the youth programs that were created for boys and girls.”
Almost a half-century after the first Tulsa crowds enjoyed a soccer game, the glory of a title match came to home soil on Nov. 22 as FC Tulsa lost to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in a penalty kick shootout after a scoreless 0-0 regulation and overtime.
“They've achieved something already," Mitchell said before the match. "Giving the Tulsa fans a final to come and watch is a great achievement. Nobody likes to lose, but it's getting there. There's another bunch of teams out there that would love to be in this position.”
Although now retired in Florida, Mitchell never forgets the playing, managing, restaurateur, and youth coaching roots he laid in Green Country.
"The Tulsa people were great," he said. "They were so supportive. I mean, they’d come out in droves and they cheered. And it’s followed through to the present day.”
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