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North American Soccer League

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

Flag of Canada 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

History

In 1967 two professional soccer leagues started in the United States: the FIFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association 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, Minnesota, New York, and San Diego) 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 Brazilian superstar Pelé (considered to be the greatest player of all time) played for them. 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 fewer than 5,000.

The NASL faced challenges 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 traditional half way line, and a shootout to decide matches that ended in a draw. 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.

Overexpansion 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 talent 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.

NASL champions

NASL indoor champions

Teams of NASL 1968-1984

 

Annual honors

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

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

Selected former players

Famous and prominent players of the NASL. Players featured here are internationals, played five or more seasons in the NASL or featured prominently in NASL statistical records.

Current professionals with parents in the NASL

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

See also

Teams named after NASL teams

References

  1. ^ A-LEAGUE WRAP: Thunder to open in Metrodome, Soccer America, February 26, 2003, <http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562132961>
  2. ^ [1]


External links

v • d • e
Defunct Soccer Leagues In The United States

AFA (1884–88) • ALPF (1894–95) • NAFBL (1895-1921) • ASL I (1921–33) • ASLII (1933–83) • NPSL I (1967) • USA (1967) • NASL (1968–85) •
MISL I (1978–92) • NPSL II 1984–01 • USL I (1984–85) • WSL (1985–89) • LSSA (1987–92) • ASL III (1988–89) • CISL (1993–97) •
EISL (1997–98) • WISL (1998–01) • WUSA (2001–03)


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

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