1972 North American Soccer League season

Soccer league season

Football league season

North American Soccer League 1972 seasonSeason| 1972

|

Champions| New York Cosmos
Premiers| New York Cosmos
Matches played| 56
Goals scored| 156 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorer| Randy Horton
(9 goals)
Longest winning run| 5, St. Louis Stars
Highest attendance| 24,742
(Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas)
Lowest attendance| 1,100  (Dallas @ Montreal)
Average attendance| 5,340

← 1971

1973 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.

## Overview

[edit]

Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship.

## Changes from previous season

[edit]

### Rules changes

[edit]

The league changed its offside rule during the season on June 26. They created a "Blue Line" which was an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line. This made the NASL unique in the soccer world; the league received temporary approval for the change from FIFA on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.[1]

### New teams

[edit]

* None

### Teams folding

[edit]

* None

### Teams moving

[edit]

* Washington Darts to Miami Gatos

### Name changes

[edit]

* None

## Map of clubs

[edit]

Olympique

Cosmos

Lancers

Metros

Chiefs

Tornado

Gatos

Stars

Northern Division  Southern Division

## Regular season

[edit]

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

-Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.
Northern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT

|
|
|
|
|
|

New York Cosmos | 7 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 77
Rochester Lancers | 6 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 22 | 64
Montreal Olympique | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 57
Toronto Metros | 4 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 53
Southern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT

|
|
|
|
|
|

St. Louis Stars | 7 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 69
Dallas Tornado | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 60
Atlanta Chiefs | 5 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 56
Miami Gatos | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 32 | 44

## NASL All-Stars

[edit]

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

|
|
|

Ken Cooper, Dallas  | G | Dick Howard, Toronto  | Sam Nusum, Montreal
John Best, Dallas  | D | Dick Hall, Dallas  | Adolfo Gori, Rochester
John Sewell, St. Louis  | D  | Clive Charles, Montreal  | Charlie Mitchell, Rochester
Peter Short, Rochester  | D  | Wilf Tranter, St. Louis  | John Cocking, Atlanta
Willie Evans, Miami  | D  | Brian Rowan, Toronto  | Joe Puls, St. Louis
John Kerr, New York  | M | Francisco Escos, Rochester  | Mick Hoban, Atlanta
Graeme Souness, Montreal  | M  | Dave Metchick, Miami  | Larry Hausmann, St. Louis
Pat McBride, St. Louis  | M  | Siggy Stritzl, New York  | Billy Fraser, Miami
Randy Horton, New York  | F | Carlos Metidieri, Rochester  | Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Paul Child, Atlanta  | F  | Art Welch, Atlanta  | Warren Archibald, Miami
Michael Dillon, Montreal  | F  | Jorge Siega, New York  | Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis

## Playoffs

[edit]

All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.

### Bracket

[edit]

| Semifinals | | | NASL Final 1972 |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| N1 | New York Cosmos | 1 | |
| S2 | Dallas Tornado | 0 |
| | N1 | New York Cosmos | 2 |
|  |
| | | S1 | St. Louis Stars | 1 |
| S1 | St. Louis Stars | 2 |

| N2 | Rochester Lancers | 0 |

### Semifinals

[edit]

August 15  | Rochester Lancers | 0–2 | St. Louis Stars | Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319

|
|
|
|

|  |

* * *

August 19  | Dallas Tornado | 0–1 | New York Cosmos | Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026

|
|
|
|

|  |

### NASL Final 1972

[edit]

Main article: NASL Final 1972

August 26

8 pm EDT

New York Cosmos| 2–1| St. Louis Stars

|
|

Horton 5' (Young)
Jelinek 86' (pen.) | Report | Frankiewicz 52' (Sewell)

Hofstra Stadium, Hempstead, New York

Attendance: 6,102[4]

Referee: Roger Schott (USA)[5]

1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

## Post season awards

[edit]

* Most Valuable Player: Randy Horton, New York
* Coach of the year: Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis
* Rookie of the year: Mike Winter, St. Louis

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1972". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
2. ^ Christopher S. Page. "NASL Homepage". Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
3. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". oocities.org. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
4. ^ Flachsbart, Harold (August 27, 1972). "Stars Lose Title Match". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1C. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
5. ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 16, 2014.

## External links

[edit]

* Complete Results and Standings

* v
* t
* e

North American Soccer League (1968–1984)

* Broadcasters
* USSF
* CSA
* Portal
* NASL (2011–2017)
* First overall draft picks

Seasons|

* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984

Soccer Bowls|

* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984

Predecessors|

* USA 1967
* Final
* NPSL 1967
* Final

Indoor seasons|

* 1971
* 1975
* 1976
* 1978
* 1979
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1983
* 1983–84

Conferences|

1968
East
West
1976–1977
Atlantic
Pacific
1978–1980
American
National

Related|

* Soccer Bowl broadcasters
* NASL Indoor Championship

Clubs|

* Atlanta Apollos
* Atlanta Chiefs
* Baltimore Bays
* Baltimore Comets
* Boston Beacons
* Boston Minutemen
* Boston Shamrock Rovers†
* Calgary Boomers
* California Surf
* Chicago Mustangs
* Chicago Spurs2
* Chicago Sting
* Cleveland Stokers
* Caribous of Colorado
* Connecticut Bicentennials
* Dallas Tornado
* Denver Dynamos
* Detroit Cougars
* Detroit Express
* Edmonton Drillers
* Fort Lauderdale Strikers
* Golden Bay Earthquakes
* Hartford Bicentennials
* Houston Hurricane
* Houston Stars
* Jacksonville Tea Men
* Kansas City Spurs
* Las Vegas Quicksilvers
* Los Angeles Aztecs
* Los Angeles Wolves
* Memphis Rogues
* Miami Gatos
* Miami Toros
* Minnesota Kicks
* Minnesota Strikers
* Montreal Manic
* Montreal Olympique
* New England Tea Men
* New York Cosmos
* New York Generals
* New York Skyliners1
* Oakland Clippers
* Oakland Stompers
* Philadelphia Spartans2
* Philadelphia Atoms
* Philadelphia Fury
* Pittsburgh Phantoms2
* Portland Timbers
* Rochester Lancers
* San Antonio Thunder
* San Diego Jaws
* San Diego Sockers
* San Diego Toros
* San Francisco Golden Gate Gales1
* San Jose Earthquakes
* Seattle Sounders
* St. Louis Stars
* Tampa Bay Rowdies
* Team America
* Team Hawaii
* Toronto Blizzard
* Toronto City1
* Toronto Metros
* Toronto Metros-Croatia
* Tulsa Roughnecks
* Vancouver Royals
* Vancouver Whitecaps
* Washington Darts
* Washington Diplomats
* Washington Whips

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.
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template