1976 North American Soccer League season

Soccer league season

Football league season

North American Soccer League 1976 seasonSeason| 1976

|

Champions| Toronto Metros-Croatia
Premiers| Tampa Bay Rowdies
Matches played| 240
Goals scored| 760 (3.17 per match)
Top goalscorer| Derek Smethurst
(20 goals)
Highest attendance| 58,218  (NY @ Seattle)
Lowest attendance| 531  (Chicago @ Boston)
Average attendance| 10,295

← 1975

1977 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1976. This was the 9th season of the NASL.

## Overview

[edit]

The league's twenty teams were divided into two conferences (Atlantic or Pacific), playing a total of 240 matches. Each team's 24 matches were divided between a round-robin with other teams in the same conference and six matches against different teams in the other conference. Points were awarded for wins (six) and each goal (up to three) regardless of results; ties in regulation were decided by 15 minutes of sudden death overtime followed by a penalty shootout from 35 yards (105 ft). The playoffs were expanded from eight to twelve teams with automatic berths for the top two teams in each of the four divisions and two wild card slots per conference for the remaining best finishing teams.[1]

The Toronto Metros-Croatia defeated the Minnesota Kicks in the Soccer Bowl on August 28 to win the championship. The match was hosted at the Kingdome in Seattle, the new home of the Seattle Sounders. The Tampa Bay Rowdies finished the regular season with the best record, giving them consecutive titles in three different domestic NASL competitions. Though not in a calendar year, within 12 months they won the Soccer Bowl in August 1975, the NASL indoor cup in March 1976, and the regular season shield or premiership in August 1976. Since NASL teams at that time did not participate in the U.S. Open Cup, this would be the closest one would ever come to achieving any sort of a North American treble.

## Changes from the previous season

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### New teams

[edit]

* None

### Teams folding

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* None

### Teams moving

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* Baltimore Comets to San Diego Jaws
* Denver Dynamos to Minnesota Kicks

### Name changes

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* None

## Map of clubs

[edit]

Minutemen

Sting

Bicentennials

Lancers

Metros-Croatia

Toros

Cosmos

Atoms

Rowdies

Diplomats

Kicks

Timbers

Sounders

Stars

Whitecaps

Tornado

Aztecs

Thunder

Jaws

Earth
quakes

Northern Division  Eastern Division  Southern Division  Western Division

## Regular season

[edit]

Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= total points

6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

-Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.

### Atlantic Conference

[edit]

Northern Division  Team  | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts

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Chicago Sting | 24  | 15  | 9  | 52  | 32  | +20  | 42  | 132
Toronto Metros-Croatia | 24  | 15  | 9  | 38  | 30  | +8  | 33  | 123
Rochester Lancers | 24  | 13  | 11  | 36  | 32  | +4  | 36  | 114
Hartford Bicentennials | 24  | 12  | 12  | 37  | 56  | −19  | 35  | 107
Boston Minutemen | 24  | 7  | 17  | 35  | 64  | −29  | 32  | 74

Source: [citation needed]

Eastern Division  Team  | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts

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Tampa Bay Rowdies | 24  | 18  | 6  | 58  | 30  | +28  | 46  | 154
New York Cosmos | 24  | 16  | 8  | 65  | 34  | +31  | 52  | 148
Washington Diplomats | 24  | 14  | 10  | 46  | 38  | +8  | 42  | 126
Philadelphia Atoms | 24  | 8  | 16  | 32  | 49  | −17  | 32  | 80
Miami Toros | 24  | 6  | 18  | 29  | 58  | −29  | 27  | 63

Source: [citation needed]

### Pacific Conference

[edit]

Western Division  Team  | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts

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Minnesota Kicks | 24  | 15  | 9  | 54  | 33  | +21  | 48  | 138
Seattle Sounders | 24  | 14  | 10  | 40  | 31  | +9  | 39  | 123
Vancouver Whitecaps | 24  | 14  | 10  | 38  | 30  | +8  | 36  | 120
Portland Timbers | 24  | 8  | 16  | 23  | 41  | −18  | 23  | 71
St. Louis Stars | 24  | 5  | 19  | 29  | 57  | −28  | 28  | 58

Source: [citation needed]

Southern Division  Team  | Pld | W | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts

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San Jose Earthquakes | 24  | 14  | 10  | 47  | 30  | +17  | 39  | 123
Dallas Tornado | 24  | 13  | 11  | 44  | 45  | −1  | 39  | 117
Los Angeles Aztecs | 24  | 12  | 12  | 43  | 44  | −1  | 36  | 108
San Antonio Thunder | 24  | 12  | 12  | 38  | 32  | +6  | 35  | 107
San Diego Jaws | 24  | 9  | 15  | 29  | 47  | −18  | 28  | 82

Source: [citation needed]

## NASL All-Stars

[edit]

First Team[2] |   Position   | Second Team | Honorable Mention[3]

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Arnie Mausser, Tampa Bay  | G | Eric Martin, Washington  | Paolo Cimpiel, Toronto
Keith Eddy, New York  | D | Stewart Jump, Tampa Bay  | Dave Gillett, Seattle
Bobby Moore, San Antonio  | D  | George Ley, Dallas  | Frank Spraggon, Minnesota
Tommy Smith, Tampa Bay  | D  | Ron Webster, Minnesota  | Jim Holton, Miami
Mike England, Seattle  | D  | Bob Smith, Philadelphia  | Bruce Wilson, Vancouver
Rodney Marsh, Tampa Bay  | M | Alan West, Minnesota  | Dave Clements, New York
Ramón Mifflin, New York  | M  | Bobby Hope, Dallas  | Wolfgang Sühnholz, Toronto
António Simões, San Jose  | M  | Al Trost, St. Louis  | Charlie Cooke, Los Angeles
Pelé, New York  | F | Derek Smethurst, Tampa Bay  | Jimmy Robertson, Seattle
George Best, Los Angeles  | F  | Jeff Bourne, Dallas  | Mark Liveric, San Jose
Giorgio Chinaglia, New York  | F  | Stewart Scullion, Tampa Bay  | Tommy Ord, Vancouver

## Playoffs

[edit]

All playoff games in all rounds including Soccer Bowl '76 were single game elimination match ups.

### Bracket

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| First Round | | | Division Championships | | | Conference Championships | | | Soccer Bowl '76 |

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|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| E2 | New York Cosmos | 2 | | | |
| E3 | Washington Diplomats | 0 |
| | E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 |
|  |
| | | E2 | New York Cosmos | 1 |
| |

| |
| | E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 |
| Atlantic Conference |
| | | N2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2 |
| N2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2 | |

| N3 | Rochester Lancers | 1 |
| | N1 | Chicago Sting | 2(1) |
|  |
| | | N2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2(3) |
| |

| |
| | N2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 3 |
|  |
| | | W1 | Minnesota Kicks | 0 |
| S2 | Dallas Tornado | 2 | | |

| S3 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 0 |
| | S1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 2 |
|  |
| | | S2 | Dallas Tornado | 0 |
| |

| |
| | S1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 |
| Pacific Conference |
| | | W1 | Minnesota Kicks | 3 |
| W2 | Seattle Sounders | 1 | |

| W3 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 |
| | W1 | Minnesota Kicks | 3 |
|  |
| | | W2 | Seattle Sounders | 0 |

### First round

[edit]

August 17  | Washington Diplomats | 0–2 | New York Cosmos | Shea Stadium • Att. 22,698[4]

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* * *

August 18  | Los Angeles Aztecs | 0–2 | Dallas Tornado | Ownby Stadium • Att. 9,413

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* * *

August 18  | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0–1 | Seattle Sounders | Kingdome • Att. 30,406

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* * *

August 18  | Rochester Lancers | 1–2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | Varsity Stadium • Att. 6,852

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### Conference semifinals

[edit]

August 20  | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 3–2 (PK, 3–1) | Chicago Sting | Soldier Field • Att. 8,150

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* * *

August 20  | New York Cosmos | 1–3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Stadium • Att. 36,863

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* * *

August 20  | Dallas Tornado | 0–2 | San Jose Earthquakes | Spartan Stadium • Att. 15,135

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* * *

August 21  | Seattle Sounders | 0–3 | Minnesota Kicks | Metropolitan Stadium • Att. 41,405

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### Conference Championships

[edit]

August 24  | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Stadium • Att. 28,046

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* * *

August 25  | San Jose Earthquakes | 1–3 | Minnesota Kicks | Metropolitan Stadium • Att. 49,572

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### Soccer Bowl '76

[edit]

Main article: Soccer Bowl '76

August 28

Toronto Metros-Croatia| 3–0| Minnesota Kicks

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Eusébio 40:28'
Lukačević 53:57' (Ferriera)
Ferriera 82:43' |  |

Kingdome, Seattle[5]

Attendance: 25,765

Referee: Gordon Hill[6] (England)

1976 NASL Champions: Toronto Metros-Croatia

## Post season awards

[edit]

* Most Valuable Player: Pelé, New York
* Coach of the year: Eddie Firmani, Tampa Bay
* Rookie of the year: Steve Pecher, Dallas
* North American Player of the Year: Arnie Mausser, Tampa Bay[7][8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Holt, Gordy (April 25, 1976). "There's a New Look in the NASL". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. F4.
2. ^ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
3. ^ "Mid Cities Daily News - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
4. ^ "History of Shea Stadium". Newyork.mets.mlb.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
5. ^ "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
6. ^ "1976 Soccer Bowl Toronto Metro Croatia vs Minnesota Kicks highlights (Film) NASL". YouTube.
7. ^ "The Palm Beach Post - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
8. ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Complete Results and Standings
* "The Year in American Soccer - 1976". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2014.

* v
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North American Soccer League (1968–1984)

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Related|

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Clubs|

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* Washington Diplomats
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1 United Soccer Association team that did not join NASL upon merger with NPSL.
2 National Professional Soccer League team that did not join NASL upon merger with USA.
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[BP]: Bonus points
*[Pts]: Points
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template