During the heydays of the old, lovable, winning Tampa Bay Rowdies of Rodney Marsh, John Boyle, Eddie Firmani, Winston DuBose, Farrukh Quarishi, Mike Connell, that crowd, sitting in the southwest end zone corner of old Tampa Stadium was the late Bern Laxer, owner of Bern’s, up and coming steak house, along his side was young David, his son. Bern would have a bug in his ear so he could listen to Cracker Jack Harris of WFLA, call the game on radio.

The Rowdies were big. The place was often sold out. The crowd, including Bern would sing We Are The Rowdies. . . . A Kick In The Grass. . . along with everybody else. It was fun, friendly times.

“Dad loved it ... loved soccer and the Rowdies. I did, too,” said David Laxer, boss now of the great Tampa landmark restaurant his dad began with a few tables in his original Bern’s, now so big and sprawling. “I grew up with it and with soccer, with the Rowdies, too. Never lost my passion.. Neither did dad,” who died as a result of an automobile accident years back. He was sideswiped.

David has made that clear his passion remains.

“In 1970, Dad and Mom (Gert) bought acreage on Waters out by Benjamin Road and the Veterans Expressway to farm organically for our restaurant. We did then. We still do,” said young Laxer, like his dad a tireless worker who adores Tampa.

Now, Laxer will fulfill a dream he shared with his dad. Laxer (above, center), and partners Andrew Nestor (right) and Hind Howard (left), who have shared the dream, are buying a United Soccer Division team and building a stadium in which the new “Rowdies” will play. Yes, they own that name of the old club Cornelia and Dick Corbett owned, had. Good. It is all good.

The neat soccer stadium will have a permanent seating capacity of 5,500. It can be expanded to 9,000 with end zone inclusions, and, perhaps by 1,000 more to 10,000. Big enough. Ambitious enough. In those other days of the full Tampa Stadium the Rowdies were leaders in the biggest of leagues, playing Pele and the New York Cosmos before wonderful crowds.

The Rowdies of those days — of owner George Strawbridge — did not fail: the league did by insisting on going directly against the National Football League. That idea belonged to Donald Trump, whose latest flop here in Tampa was a downtown tower near the Platt Street Bridge.

This Rowdie team will begin in what is considered the second-level soccer league. They will be in the city of the headquarters of their league, the United, which old soccer friends Francisco Marcos and Matt Weide now head.

The sport is going to fill a need, said Laxer, “For soccer fans, for sports fans for our broad sports experience in Tampa. We needed to have soccer back. We needed to have the Rowdies back and kicking. We need to have the chance to sing our song — ‘We’re the Rowdies’,” said Laxer.

“I’m just glad dad bought that property in northwest Tampa where we can build this new stadium and put this new franchise. A coach and players? Later. Right now we have plenty to do and we will need all the help we can get from old Rowdies and new ones.”

He started to hum, but interrupted, by saying, “Oh, we will still have land out there to farm okra and tomatoes and mushrooms.”