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North American Soccer League

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North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League
Sport Football (soccer)
Founded 1968
No. of teams Maximum of 24
Country(ies)  United States

 Canada
Ceased 1985
Last
champion(s)		 Chicago Sting, 1984

North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States of America (U.S.) and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

In 1967 two professional soccer leagues started in the United States: the FIFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association, which consisted of entire European and South American teams brought to the US and given local names, and the unsanctioned National Professional Soccer League. The National Professional Soccer League had a national television contract in the U.S. with the CBS television network, but the ratings for matches were unacceptable even by weekend daytime standards and the arrangement was terminated. The leagues merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL). It has been suggested that the timing of the merge was related to the huge amount of attention given throughout the English-speaking world to the victory by England in the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the resulting documentary film, Goal. The league lasted until the 1984 NASL season when it suspended operations. However, four NASL teams (Chicago Sting, Minnesota Strikers , New York Cosmos, and San Diego Sockers) joined the Major Indoor Soccer League for its 1984-85 season. The NASL itself operated an indoor soccer league from 1979-80 to 1981-82 and in 1983-84.

The biggest club in the league and the organization's bellwether was the New York Cosmos, who drew upwards of 40,000 fans per game at their height while aging superstars Pelé (Brazil) and Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) played for them. Although both well past their prime by the time they joined the NASL the two were considered to have previously been the best attacking (offensive) (Pelé) and defensive (Beckenbauer) players in the world. Giants Stadium (actually in East Rutherford, New Jersey) sold out (73,000+) their 1978 championship win. However, the overall average attendance of the entire league never reached 15,000, with some clubs averaging fewer than 5,000.

The NASL faced obstacles in regard to selling the sport of soccer to Americans, which was then completely foreign to the majority of them. The league "Americanized" the rules in the attempt to make the game more exciting, and comprehensible, to the average American sports fan. These changes included a clock that counted time down to zero as was typical of other timed American sports, rather than upwards to 90 minutes as was traditional, a 35 yard line for offsides rather than the usual half way line, and a shootout to decide matches that ended in a draw. The league began a college draft in 1972 in an attempt to increase the number of US- and Canadian-born players in the league. The foreign image of soccer was not helped, however, by a league that brought in many older, high profile foreign players, and frequently left Americans on the bench. This effort was often doubly futile, as while many of the foreign players were perhaps "big names" in their home countries, almost none of them qualified as such in North America, and they quickly absorbed most of the available payroll, such as it was, which could have otherwise been used to pay North American players better.

Over-expansion was a huge factor in the death of the league. Once the league started growing, new franchises were awarded quickly, and it doubled in size in a few years, peaking at 24 teams. Many have suggested that cash-starved existing owners longed for their share of the expansion fee charged of new owners, even though Forbes Magazine reported this amount as being only $100,000. This resulted in the available personnel being spread too thinly, among other problems. Additionally, many of these new owners were not "soccer people", and once the perceived popularity started to decline, they got out as quickly as they got in. They also spent millions on aging stars to try to match the success of the Cosmos, and lost significant amounts of money in doing so.

Also, FIFA's decision to award the hosting of the 1986 FIFA World Cup to Mexico after Colombia withdrew, rather than the U.S., is considered a factor in the NASL's demise.

While the NASL ultimately failed, it introduced soccer to the North American sports scene on a large scale for the first time and was a major contributing factor in soccer becoming one of the most popular sports among American youth. In the late-1980s, FIFA did award the World Cup to the U.S., which would be staged in 1994. It has also provided lessons for its successor Major League Soccer, which has taken precautions against such problems. American college and high school soccer still use some NASL-style rules.

[edit] NASL indoor

The NASL began playing indoor soccer as well as "outdoor" soccer in the mid-70s with a series of tournaments. The NASL started a full league schedule a 12-game season with 10 team in 1979-80. For the 1980-81 season, the number of teams playing indoor soccer increased to 19 and the schedule went to 18 games. The schedule remained at 18 games, but the teams participating decreased to 13 for the 1981-82 season. The league canceled the 1982-83 indoor season, but three teams (Chicago, Golden Bay, and San Diego) played in the MISL for that season. The NASL indoor season returned for 1983-84 with only seven teams but a 32-game schedule.

[edit] NASL champions

[edit] NASL indoor champions

[edit] Teams of NASL 1968-1984

 

[edit] Teams in NASL indoor 1979-84

  • Atlanta Chiefs (1979-81)
  • Calgary Boomers (1979-81 as Memphis Rogues in 1979-80)
  • California Surf (1979-81)
  • Chicago Sting (1980-82, 1983-84)
  • Dallas Tornado (1980-81)
  • Detroit Express (1979-81)
  • Edmonton Drillers (1980-82)
  • Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (1979-81)
  • Golden Bay Earthquakes (1980-84 as San Jose Earthquakes in 1980-82)
  • Jacksonville Tea Men (1979-82 as New England Tea Men 1979-80)
  • Los Angeles Aztecs (1979-81)
  
  • Minnesota Kicks (1979-81)
  • Montreal Manic (1981-82)
  • New York Cosmos (1981-82, 1983-84)
  • Portland Timbers (1980-82)
  • San Diego Sockers (1980-82, 1983-84)
  • Seattle Sounders (1980-82)
  • Tampa Bay Rowdies (1979-82, 1983-84)
  • Tulsa Roughnecks (1979-82, 1983-84)
  • Toronto Blizzard (1980-82)
  • Vancouver Whitecaps (1980-82, 1983-84)

[edit] Commissioners

[edit] Annual honors

[edit] Scoring leaders

Year Player, team G A PTS
1967 USA Roberto Boninsegna, Chicago 11 1 23
1967 NPSL Yanko Daucik, Toronto 20 8 48
1968 John Kowalik, Chicago 30 9 69
1969 Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta 16 4 36
1970 Carlos Metidieri, Rochester 16 3 35
1971 Carlos Metidieri, Rochester 19 8 46
1972 Randy Horton, New York 9 4 22
1973 Kyle Rote, Jr., Dallas 10 10 30
1974 Paul Child, San Jose 15 6 36
1975 Steve David, Miami 23 6 52
1976 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 19 11 49
1977 Steve David, Los Angeles 26 6 58
1978 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 34 11 79
1979 Oscar Fabbiani, Tampa Bay 25 8 58
1980 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 32 13 77
1981 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 29 16 74
1982 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 20 15 55
1983 Roberto Cabanas, New York 25 16 66
1984 Steve Zungul, Golden Bay 20 10 50

[edit] MVP, Rookie and Coach of the Year

Year MVP Rookie Coach
1968 John Kowalik Kaizer Motaung Phil Woosnam
1969 Cirilio Fernandez Siegfried Stritzl Janos Bedl
1970 Carlos Metidieri Jim Leeker Sal de Rosa
1971 Carlos Metidieri Randy Horton Ron Newman
1972 Randy Horton Mike Winter Casey Frankiewicz
1973 Warren Archibald Kyle Rote, Jr. Al Miller
1974 Peter Silvester Doug McMillan John Young
1975 Steve David Chris Bahr John Sewell
1976 Pelé Steve Pecher Eddie Firmani
1977 Franz Beckenbauer Jim McAlister Ron Newman
1978 Mike Flanagan Gary Etherington Tony Waiters
1979 Johan Cruyff Larry Hulcer Timo Liekoski
1980 Roger Davies Jeff Durgan Alan Hinton
1981 Giorgio Chinaglia Joe Morrone, Jr. Willy Roy
1982 Peter Ward Pedro DeBrito John Giles
1983 Roberto Cabanas Gregg Thompson Don Popovic
1984 Steve Zungul Roy Wegerle Ron Newman

[edit] Average attendance

  • 1968: 4,747
  • 1969: 4,699
  • 1970: 2,930
  • 1971: 3,163
  • 1972: 4,159
  • 1973: 4,780
  • 1974: 5,954
  • 1975: 7,770
  • 1976: 7,642
  • 1977: 10,295
  • 1978: 13,558
  • 1979: 13,084
  • 1980: 14,201
  • 1981: 14,084
  • 1982: 13,155
  • 1983: 13,258
  • 1984: 10,759

[edit] See also

[edit] Teams named after NASL teams

[edit] References

  1. ^ ([dead link] – Scholar search) A-LEAGUE WRAP: Thunder to open in Metrodome, Soccer America, February 26, 2003, http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562132961 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
North American Soccer League seasons
NPSL 1967 · USA 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 ·
1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984
v • d • e
Defunct soccer leagues in the United States
AFA (1884–88) • ALPF (1894–95) • NAFBL (1895–1921) • ASL I (1921–33) • ASL II (1933–83) • NPSL I (1967) • USA (1967) • NASL (1968–85) • MISL I (1978–92) • NPSL II (1984–2001) • USL I (1984–85) • WSA (1985–89) • LSSA (1987–92) • ASL III (1988–89) • CISL (1993–97) • EISL (1997–98) • WISL (1998–2001) • WUSA (2001–03) • MISL II (2001–08)


Preceded by
ASL II		 Division 1 Soccer League in the United States
1967-1984		 Succeeded by
Major Indoor Soccer League

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Soccer_League"
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