Los Angeles Aztecs

Football club infobox
clubname = |Los Angeles Aztecs


fullname = Los Angeles Aztecs
nickname =
founded = 1974-1981
ground = Weingart Stadium, East Los Angeles College (1974)
Murdock Stadium, El Camino Junior College(1975-76)
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum(1977, 1981)
Rose Bowl (1978-80)
capacity = 20,355 (East LA)
12,127 (El Camino)
92,594 (Coliseum)
92,542 (Rose Bowl)| chairman = defunct
manager = defunct
league = NASL
season =
position =
pattern_la1=_orange_shoulders|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=_orange_shoulders
leftarm1=ffffff|body1=ffffff|rightarm1=ffffff|shorts1=ffffff|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=_blueshoulders|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_blueshoulders
leftarm2=FF6600|body2=FF6600|rightarm2=FF6600|shorts2=FF6600|socks2=FF6600

The Los Angeles Aztecs was a soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League from 1974-81. The team was based in Los Angeles, California and part-owned (for a time) by Elton John.

History

The Aztecs are remembered for their mixed success and were sometimes compared to the New York Cosmos as the Cosmos of the West Coast. However, they did not draw nearly as well as the Cosmos, or even the Seattle Sounders, who were consistently the attendance leaders among the Western N.A.S.L. teams. They won the 1974 Soccer Bowl over the Miami Toros. In 1976, a fading George Best signed with the team and played from 1976 to 1978. In 1979 attendance peaked (with an average attendance of around 14,000)as Rinus Michels signed the Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff who went on to win the NASL Most Valuable Player Award in his one year with the Aztecs.

Honors

Champions
* 1974

Rookie of the Year
* 1979 Larry Hulcer

League MVP
* 1979 Johan Cruyff

Notable Players

*flagicon|MEX Javier Aguirre
*flagicon|ENG Phil Beal (1977)
*flagicon|NIR George Best
*flagicon|England Colin Boulton (1979) [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/colinboulton.htm]
*flagicon|SCO Colin Clarke (Scottish Footballer) (1978) [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player2/colinclarke.htm]
*flagicon|SCO Charlie Cooke (1976-78)
*flagicon|NED Johan Cruyff
*flagicon|PER Teófilo Cubillas
*flagicon|ENG Chris Dangerfield (1979-81)
*flagicon|TRI Steve David
*flagicon|ENG Richard Deeb
*flagicon|BRA Luis Fernando
*flagicon|ENG Graham Horn
*flagicon|USA Larry Hulcer
*flagicon|USA Poli Garcia
*flagicon|ENG Alan Kelley (1976) [http://home.att.net/~nasl/rosters/aztecs.htm]
*flagicon|ENG Jimmy Kelly (1978)
*flagicon|USA Rich D'Sa (R)
*flagicon|ARG Edgar Sorlino (R) (1978) [http://home.att.net/~nasl/rosters/aztecs.htm]

*flagicon|ENG Matt Thorley
*flagicon|ISR Ruvein Klein (1978-79)
*flagicon|SCO Bobby McAlinden (1976-78)
*flagicon|Ireland Terry Mancini (1977)
*flagicon|YUG Ane Mihailovich (1977)
*flagicon|USA Hugo Perez
*flagicon|USA Bob Rigby
*flagicon|NED Thomas Rongen
*flagicon|Scotland Dave Smith (1976)
*flagicon|Scotland Rod Stewart (1976)

Year-by-year

Average Attendance

*1974: 5,098
*1975: 8,307
*1976: 8,051
*1977: 9,638
*1978: 9,301
*1979: 14,334
*1980: 12,057
*1981: 5,814