The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with a 12–18 record, in third place and out of playoff contention.

At the end of the 1977 NASL season, Silicon Valley businessman (and former owner of the San Jose Earthquakes) Milan Mandarić bought the Connecticut Bicentennials and relocated them to Oakland.

[2] The club, renamed the Stompers, hired Mirko Stojanović as head coach and signed a 10-year lease at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum,[3] previously home of the NASL's Oakland Clippers in 1967–68.

[5][6] The club drew 32,104 in their home opener against cross-Bay rivals San Jose Earthquakes on April 2, 1978, with about half of those in attendance being supporters of the visiting team.

[10] (The Coliseum was a lonely place in the summer of '78: the Stompers' co-tenants, baseball's Oakland Athletics, attracted just 7,218 fans per home date.)