The nickname—“Iron Mike’’—was appropriate.

Connell, a beloved player for the Tampa Bay Rowdies from 1975-84, started in a North American Soccer League-record 179 consecutive regular-season matches and appeared in 252 games overall (third in league history). The streaks were paused in 1976 when Connell missed the entire season while fulfilling his South African military obligation.

More than anything, Connell was about winning. He was a defensive mainstay (as an 18-year-old) on the 1975 expansion Rowdies squad that won the NASL Soccer Bowl and played on two outdoor championship runners-up (1978, 1979), while also competing with an indoor champion (1980) and runner-up (1981).

A two-time first-team NASL All-Star, Connell’s No. 6 jersey was retired by the Rowdies in 2013.

Connell made his professional debut at age 16 with the Johannesburg Rangers and had a six-month trial with Arsenal in England before being brought to Tampa by Coach Eddie Firmani after a South African scouting expedition.

Connell has given back to the game in his post-Rowdies life. He was the head boys soccer coach for two seasons at Clearwater Central Catholic, leading the Marauders (23-1-1) to a 1-0 overtime victory against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 3A state-title game to cap his first season in 1986. Connell also co-founded the FC Tampa Rangers, an organization that he helped get to the Florida Youth Soccer Association State Cup championship.