- North American Soccer League
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This article is about the original soccer league that was active from 1968 to 1984. For the present-day league, see North American Soccer League (2011).
North American Soccer League Sport Soccer Founded 1968 No. of teams Maximum of 24 Country(ies) 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 and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.
Contents
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. On March 28, 1985, the NASL suspended operations for the 1985 season, when only the Minnesota Strikers and Toronto Blizzard were interested in playing. At the time, the league planned to relaunch in 1986.[1]
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.[citation needed]
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 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 less than 5,000.[citation needed]
The NASL faced obstacles in regard to selling the sport of soccer to North Americans, which was then completely foreign to the majority of them. The league modified the rules in the attempt to make the game more exciting, and comprehensible, to the average 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 (a rule designed to stop offside traps, prevalent at the time, and based on an FA experiment in 1925 between what became the offside rule at the time, or a 40-yard offside mark) [2] 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. On July 4, 1988, 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, particularly a philosophy of financial restraint (mainstream US sport, by the time of MLS' startup in 1996, had adopted financial restraint rules, which MLS adopted). American college and high school soccer still use some NASL-style rules (with shortened halves, although the time does stop for stoppage sessions), and the shootout is now used in international soccer for knockout rounds, instead of replays, as was common at the time.
North American Soccer League Progression Year Teams Games Played 1968 17 teams 32 games 1969 5 teams 16 games 1970 6 teams 24 games 1971 8 teams 1972 14 games 1973 9 teams 19 games 1974 15 teams 20 games 1975 20 teams 22 games 1976 1977 18 teams 26 games 1978 24 teams 30 games 1979 1980 32 games 1981 21 teams 1982 14 teams 1983 12 teams 30 games 1984 9 teams 24 games 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 teams 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.
NASL champions
By year
By club
Club Winner Runner-Up Seasons Won Seasons Runner-Up New York Cosmos 5 1 1972, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982 1981 Chicago Sting 2 0 1981, 1984 – Atlanta Chiefs 1 2 1968 1969, 1971 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 2 1975 1978, 1979 Toronto Metros/Blizzard 1 2 1976 1983, 1984 Dallas Tornado 1 1 1971 1973 Kansas City Spurs 1 0 1969 – Rochester Lancers 1 0 1970 – Philadelphia Atoms 1 0 1973 – Los Angeles Aztecs 1 0 1974 – Vancouver Whitecaps 1 0 1979 – Tulsa Roughnecks 1 0 1983 – Seattle Sounders 0 2 – 1977, 1982 San Diego Toros 0 1 – 1968 Washington Darts 0 1 – 1970 St. Louis Stars 0 1 – 1972 Miami Toros 0 1 – 1974 Portland Timbers 0 1 – 1975 Minnesota Kicks 0 1 – 1976 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0 1 – 1980 NASL indoor champions
By year
Year Winner (number of titles) Runners-up Top Scorer 1975 San Jose Earthquakes (1) Tampa Bay Rowdies Paul Child 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies (1) Rochester Lancers 1979–80 Tampa Bay Rowdies (2) Memphis Rogues David Byrne 1980–81 Edmonton Drillers (1) Chicago Sting Karl-Heinz Granitza 1981–82 San Diego Sockers (1) Tampa Bay Rowdies Juli Veee 1983–84 San Diego Sockers (2) New York Cosmos Steve Zungul By club
Club Winner Runner-Up Seasons Won Seasons Runner-Up Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 2 1976, 1980 1975, 1982 San Diego Sockers 2 0 1982, 1984 – San Jose Earthquakes 1 0 1975 – Edmonton Drillers 1 0 1981 – Rochester Lancers 0 1 – 1976 Memphis Rogues 0 1 – 1980 Chicago Sting 0 1 – 1981 New York Cosmos 0 1 – 1984 Teams of NASL 1968–84
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)
Commissioners
- 1967 Dick Walsh (USA)
- 1967 Ken Macker (NPSL)
- 1968 Walsh and Macker co-commissioners
- 1969–83 Phil Woosnam
- 1983–84 Howard J. Samuels
- 1984–85 Clive Toye (acting)
Annual honors
MVP, Rookie and Coach of the Year
Year MVP Rookie Coach 1968 John Kowalik Kaizer Motaung Phil Woosnam 1969 Cirilio Fernandez Cirilio Fernandez 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 Johnny Giles 1983 Roberto Cabanas Gregg Thompson Don Popovic 1984 Steve Zungul Roy Wegerle Ron Newman 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
Teams named after NASL teams
The current Heritage Cup in MLS was developed as a way to remember the NASL's heritage by having teams named after NASL teams to participate in a special trophy. Today, two MLS teams, San Jose and Seattle, play for this trophy, although Portland and Vancouver are both eligible for the trophy if they decide to participate in this derby.
- Baltimore Bays (1972–73)
- Baltimore Bays (1993–98)
- Boston Tea Men
- DFW Tornados
- Detroit Express (1981–83)
- Edmonton Drillers (1996–2000)
- Edmonton Drillers (2007)
- Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–94)
- Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1994–97)
- Fort Lauderdale Strikers (2011)
- Jomo Cosmos - Premier Soccer League
- Kaizer Chiefs FC - Premier Soccer League
- Las Vegas Quicksilver
- New York Cosmos (2010)
- Portland Timbers (USL)
- Portland Timbers (MLS) - Major League Soccer
- San Diego Sockers (2001–04)
- San Diego Sockers (2009)
- San Jose Earthquakes - Major League Soccer (Heritage Cup)
- Seattle Sounders (USL)
- Seattle Sounders FC - Major League Soccer (Heritage Cup)
- Tampa Bay Rowdies (2010)
- Toronto Blizzard (1986–93)
- Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000)
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC (USL)
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC (MLS) - Major League Soccer
- Washington Diplomats (1988–90)
See also
- NASL Most Valuable Player Award
- Soccer Bowl
- Category:North American Soccer League players
- Top Attendance in America Soccer
References
- ^ "NASL suspends operations for 1985" page 1D Minneapolis Star and Tribune March 29, 1985
- ^ The Question: Why is the modern offside law a stroke of genius?, The Guardian
- ^ http://whitecapsfc.com/club/history/coaches/
External links
- The NASL Video Archive
- American Soccer History Archives
- NASL Attendance Figures
- The NASL: It's Alive But On Death Row - A salary cap has saved the soccer league from complete collapse, but its future looks forbidding indeed by Clive Gammon Sports Illustrated May 07, 1984
North American Soccer League seasons Defunct soccer leagues in the United States ALPF (1894–95) • NAFBL (1895–1921) • ASL I (1921–33) • ASL II (1933–83) • NASFL (1946–47) • NPSL I (1967) • USA (1967) • NASL (1968–84) • 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) • AISL (2002-08) • MISL II (2001–08) • XSL (2008–09)Preceded by
NoneDivision 1 Soccer League in the United States
1967–84Succeeded by
Major League SoccerCategories:- North American Soccer League
- Organizations established in 1968
- 1984 disestablishments
- Defunct soccer leagues in the United States
- Defunct indoor soccer leagues in the United States
- Defunct soccer leagues in Canada
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