North American Soccer League

This article covers the American professional football league that existed from 1968 to 1984. The article on the league founded under the same name in 2009 can be found under North American Soccer League (2011) .

North American Soccer League
Full name	North American Soccer League
abbreviation	NASL
First edition	1968
Last event	1984
Teams	24
master	Chicago Sting (1984)
Record champions	New York Cosmos (5 tracks)

The North American Soccer League ( NASL ) was a professional soccer league in the United States of America (USA) and Canada. It was operated from 1968 to 1984.

history

In 1967, two men's professional football leagues were formed simultaneously in the United States. On the one hand the United Soccer Association , recognized by FIFA , which recruited twelve complete teams from Europe and South America, and on the other hand the National Professional Soccer League , which consisted of only ten teams.

Both leagues were merged in 1968 in the North American Soccer League ( NASL ), which existed until 1984.

The most famous club in the league is New York Cosmos , whose games at times attracted more than 40,000 spectators. Otherwise, the average number of visitors was always below 15,000, less than the Major League Soccer can show today .

Football ( soccer ) in North America had never the value and popularity as in Europe or South America. Attempts were made to bring football closer to the public with moderate success, with rules tailored to the habits of American sports fans. The fact that they mainly bought old stars from Europe and South America and that American players hardly got a chance did the rest.

While the NASL was a failure, it did help bring football to a wider audience. The sport has now become the most popular team sport among children.

The MLS was also able to build on the experiences of the past, although initially some mistakes were repeated, but these were eradicated over time. Special football stadiums are now being built for the teams, whereas large American football arenas used to be rented. The rules are now back to world standards, and the import of ex-stars from the major soccer nations has been reduced.

Former clubs 1968–1984

• Atlanta Apollos (1968–1973, as Atlanta Chiefs from 1968–1972)
• Atlanta Chiefs (1978–1981, as Colorado Caribous 1978)
• Baltimore Bays (1968-1969)
• Boston Beacons (1968)
• Boston Minutemen (1974-1976)
• Calgary Boomers (1978–1981, as Memphis Rogues from 1978–1980)
• California Surf (1968–1981, as St. Louis Stars from 1968–1977)
• Chicago Mustangs (1968)
• Chicago Sting (1975-1984)
• Cleveland Stokers (1968)
• Dallas Tornado (1968–1981)
• Detroit Cougars (1968)
• Edmonton Drillers (1975–1982, as Hartford Centennials 1975–1976, as Connecticut Bicentennials 1977, as Oakland Stompers 1978)
• Houston Stars (1968)
• Houston Hurricane (1978-1980)
• Jacksonville Tea Men (1978–1982, as New England Tea Men 1978–1980)
• Kansas City Spurs (1968-1970)
• Los Angeles Wolves (1968)
• Los Angeles Aztecs (1974–1981)
• Minnesota Strikers (1970–1984, as Washington Darts 1970–1971, as Miami Gatos 1972, as Miami Toros 1973–1976, as Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1977–1983)
• Minnesota Kicks (1974–1981, as Denver Dynamo 1974–1975)
• Montreal Olympique (1971–1973)
• Montreal Manic (1978–1983, as Philadelphia Fury 1978–1980)
• New York Generals (1968)
• New York Cosmos (1971–1984)
• Oakland Clippers (1968)
• Philadelphia Atoms (1973–1976)
• Portland Timbers (1975-1982)
• Rochester Lancers (1970-1980)
• San Diego Toros (1968)
• San Diego Sockers (1974–1984, as Baltimore Comets 1974–1975, as San Diego Jaws in 1976 and as Las Vegas Quicksilvers in 1977)
• San José Earthquakes (1974–1984, as Golden Bay Earthquakes 1983–1984)
• Seattle Sounders (1974-1983)
• Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975-1984)
• Team America (1983)
• Toronto Falcons (1968)
• Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984, as Toronto Metros 1971–1974, as Toronto Metros-Croatia 1975–1978)
• Tulsa Roughnecks (1975–1984, as San Antonio Thunder 1975–1976, as Team Hawaii 1977)
• Vancouver Royals (1968)
• Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984)
• Washington Whips (1968)
• Washington Diplomats (1974–1980)
• Washington Diplomats (1978–1981, as Detroit Express 1978–1980)

NASL final winner

year	master	Second	Top scorer	Trainer
1968	Atlanta Chiefs	San Diego Toros	John Kowalik	Phil Woosnam
1969	Kansas City Spurs	Atlanta Chiefs	Kaizer Motaung	János Bédl
1970	Rochester Lancers	Washington darts	Kirk Apostolidis	Alex Perolli
1971	Dallas tornado	Atlanta Chiefs	Carlos Metidieri	Valdemar Rodrigues Martin's "Oreco"
1972	New York Cosmos	St. Louis Stars	Randy Horton	Gordon Bradley
1973	Philadelphia Atoms	Dallas tornado	Kyle Rote, Jr.	Al Miller
1974	Los Angeles Aztecs	Miami Toros	Paul Child	Doug McMillan
1975	Tampa Bay rowdies	Portland Timbers	Steve David	Eddie Firmani
1976	Toronto Metros-Croatia	Minnesota kicks	Giorgio Chinaglia	Domagoj Kapetanovic
1977	New York Cosmos	Seattle Sounders	Steve David	Eddie Firmani
1978	New York Cosmos	Tampa Bay rowdies	Giorgio Chinaglia	Eddie Firmani
1979	Vancouver Whitecaps	Tampa Bay rowdies	Oscar Fabbiani	Tony Waiters
1980	New York Cosmos	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	Giorgio Chinaglia	Hennes Weisweiler
1981	Chicago Sting	New York Cosmos	Giorgio Chinaglia	Willy Roy
1982	New York Cosmos	Seattle Sounders	Giorgio Chinaglia Karl-Heinz Granitza	Julio Mazzei
1983	Tulsa roughnecks	Toronto Blizzard	Roberto Cabañas	Terry Hennessey
1984	Chicago Sting	Toronto Blizzard	Steve Zungul	Willy Roy

NASL indoor soccer final winner

• 1980 Memphis Rogues
• 1981 Edmonton Drillers
• 1982 San Diego Sockers
• 1983 no games played
• 1984 San Diego Sockers

Important NASL players

• Dick Advocaat
• Carlos Alberto
• Sam Allardyce
• Willie Anderson
• Adrian Alston
• Gordon Banks
• Peter Beardsley
• Franz Beckenbauer
• Colin Bell
• Clyde Best
• George Best
• Roberto Bettega
• Sam Bick
• Hubert Birkenmeier
• Vladislav Bogićević
• Peter Bonetti
• Ivan Buljan
• Giorgio Chinaglia
• Charlie Cooke
• Milan Čop
• Joe Corrigan
• Johan Cruyff
• Teófilo Cubillas
• Rick Davis
• Buzz Demling
• Mark Demling
• Kazimierz Deyna
• Andranik Eskandarian
• Eusebio
• Elias Figueroa
• Trevor Francis
• Jimmy Gabriel
• Archie Gemmill
• Franz Gerber
• Johnny Giles
• Karl-Heinz Granitza
• Bruce Grobbelaar
• Mark Hateley
• Alan Hudson
• Geoff Hurst
• Wim Jansen
• Helmut Kremers
• Ruud Krol
• Peter Lorimer
• Flemming Lund
• Francisco Marinho
• Rodney Marsh
• Arnie Mausser
• Peter McParland
• Bobby Moore
• Gerd Müller
• Glenn Myernick
• Johan Neeskens
• Jimmy Nicholl
• Peter Nogly
• Björn Nordqvist
• Peter Osgood
• Pelé
• Harry Redknapp
• Rob Rensenbrink
• Wim Rijsbergen
• Bruce Rioch
• Julio César Romero
• Hugo Sánchez
• Graeme Souness
• Arno Steffenhagen
• Alex Stepney
• Nobby Stiles
• Wolfgang Sühnholz
• Wim Suurbier
• Brian Talbot
• Colin Todd
• Klaus Toppmöller
• Jan van Beveren
• François Van Der Elst
• Vavá
• Roy Wegerle
• Peter Withe
• Gerd Zimmermann
• Slaviša Žungul

Others

A special feature of the NASL, compared to European or South American league football, was, as with other American sports, that teams could not be relegated. There were also no promoters. In the foreground when joining the privately organized league and staying in it, as with today's Major League Soccer , the attractiveness and fan base of each region as well as the available financial resources were in the foreground . The championship was decided in play-off mode. There was no draw, such games were decided by a so-called "shoot-out", which was similar to the penalty shootout in ice hockey .

Web links

• A site dedicated to the history of the NASL
• NASL All-time Player Register
• American Soccer History Archives
• NASL Attendance Figures