Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1976 NASL season.

The team began play during the 1975 NASL Indoor tournament, finishing second in Region 2 and missing the final four on goal difference.

[1] Prior to the 1975 outdoor season, the Bicentennials signed fourteen players from the 1974 American Soccer League (ASL) champions Rhode Island Oceaneers, including goalkeeper Arnie Mausser, Charlie McCully, and Mohammad Attiah, as well as hiring the Oceaneers' head coach Manny Schellscheidt and General Manager Michael Bosson.

[2][3] The Bicentennials finished their inaugural season in last place of the Northern Division with a record of six wins and sixteen loses and an average attendance of 3,720 playing their home games at the Dillon Stadium which they shared with the Connecticut Yankees of the ASL.

[8] Playing their home games at the Yale Bowl, the team finished the 1977 season in last place of the Atlantic Conference Northern Division with a record of seven wins and nineteen losses.