1968 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League 1968 season
Season	1968
Country	United States ; Canada
Champions	Atlanta Chiefs
Premiers	San Diego Toros ; most total points ; *Atlanta Chiefs ; best Won/Loss record
Matches played	271
Goals scored	924 (3.41 per match)
Top goalscorer	Janusz Kowalik ; (30 goals)
Average attendance	4,669
	← NPSL 1967 ; USA 1967 1969 →

Last updated September 10, 2025

The 1968 North American Soccer League season was the 56th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 1st with a national first-division league with the inaugural season of the NASL.

The NASL was formed this year as a merger between the former top division soccer leagues, the United Soccer Association along with the National Professional Soccer League. In the inaugural year, the Atlanta Chiefs were the champions, by winning the NASL Final 3–0, in a two-game aggregate over the San Diego Toros. While the Chiefs were the champions for the season, the premiers for this season were the Toros, who obtained the highest point total.^[1]

Overview

17 teams competed in this inaugural season, and the Atlanta Chiefs won the championship. While San Diego won the premiership, Atlanta's winning percentage was higher because a match had been canceled.^[1] This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership. The Oakland Clippers had an identical record to the Western Division Champion Toros and a higher goal-differential, but just as with Atlanta the Toros had more league points. Oakland had won every competition in the NPSL's 1967 season, but were denied a chance to defend their title in the merged league because of this unique points system.

8 came from the NPSL: Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City (from Chicago), New York, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego ( from Los Angeles) and Toronto.
9 came from the USA: Boston (nickname changed), Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver (nickname shortened) and Washington.
2 teams from the NPSL folded (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).
3 teams from the USA folded (New York, San Francisco and Toronto).
2 teams, Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL), had the same nickname the "Stars".

Map of clubs

Chiefs

Bays

Beacons

Generals

Whips

Mustangs

Stokers

Cougars

Falcons

Tornado

Houston Stars

Spurs

St. Louis Stars

Wolves

Clippers

Toros

Royals

Atlantic Division

Lakes Division

Gulf Division

Pacific Division

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system, Avg Att= Average Attendance^[2]

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). -Best record. -Other playoff teams.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Avg Att
Atlanta Chiefs	18	7	6	50	32	174	5,794
Washington Whips	15	10	7	50	32	167	6,586
New York Generals	12	8	12	62	54	164	5,606
Baltimore Bays	13	16	3	42	43	128	4,628
Boston Beacons	9	17	6	51	69	121	4,004

Lakes Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Avg Att
Cleveland Stokers	14	7	11	62	44	175	4,305
Chicago Mustangs	13	10	9	68	68	164	2,463
Toronto Falcons	13	13	6	55	69	144	5,284
Detroit Cougars	6	21	4	48	65	88	4,266

Western Conference

Gulf Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Avg Att
Kansas City Spurs	16	11	5	61	43	158	8,510^
Houston Stars	14	12	6	58	41	150	3,246
St. Louis Stars	12	14	6	47	59	130	5,388
Dallas Tornado	2	26	4	28	109	52	2,929

Pacific Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Avg Att
San Diego Toros	18	8	6	65	38	186	4,245
Oakland Clippers	18	8	6	71	38	185	3,700
Los Angeles Wolves	11	13	8	55	52	139	2,441*
Vancouver Royals	12	15	5	51	60	136	6,197

^League best, *League worst

NASL All-Stars

First Team^[3]^[4]	Position	Second Team
Mirko Stojanović, Oakland	G	Vic Rouse, Atlanta
Mel Scott, Oakland	D	John Worbye, Washington
Momcilio Gavric, Oakland	D	John Cocking, Atlanta
David Davidovic, Oakland	M	Dennis Viollet, Baltimore
Ron Crisp, San Diego	M	Milan Čop, Oakland
Ruben Navarro, Cleveland	M	Tony Knapp, Los Angeles
Janusz Kowalik, Chicago	F	Victorio Casa, Washington
Pepe Fernandez, San Diego	F	Mario Baesso, Oakland
Jorgen Kristensen, Detroit^[5]	F	Eric Barber, Kansas City
Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis	F	Vavá, San Diego
Ilija Mitic, Oakland	F	Enrique Mateos, Cleveland

Playoffs

Bracket

Conference Finals^[6] (2-match aggregate)					NASL Final 1968 (2-match aggregate)

E1	Atlanta Chiefs	1	2	3

E2	Cleveland Stokers	1	1	2
					E1	Atlanta Chiefs	0	3	3

					W1	San Diego Toros	0	0	0
W1	San Diego Toros	1	1	2

W2	Kansas City Spurs	1	0	1

Conference finals

Higher seed	Aggregate	Lower seed	First leg	Second leg	Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs	3–2	Cleveland Stokers	1–1	2–1 (OT)	September 11 • Cleveland Stadium • 3,431 September 14 • Atlanta Stadium • 6,645
San Diego Toros	2–1	Kansas City Spurs	1–1	1–0 (2OT)	September 11 • Municipal Stadium • 5,042 September 16 • Balboa Stadium • 6,271^[1]^[7]^[6]

NASL Final 1968

Eastern Champion	Aggregate	Western Champion^[8]	First leg	Second leg	Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs	3–0	San Diego Toros	0–0	3–0	September 21 • Balboa Stadium • 9,360^[9] September 28 • Atlanta Stadium • 14,994

First leg

September 21

San Diego Toros	0–0	Atlanta Chiefs
	Report

Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California

Attendance: 9,360

Referee: Reg Clark (Canada)

Second leg

September 28

Atlanta Chiefs	3–0	San Diego Toros
Peter McParland 22:34' (Hughes) Delroy Scott 42:53' Kaizer Motaung 79:50'	Report

Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Attendance: 14,994

Referee: Jim Carr (USA)

1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs

Post season awards

Most Valuable Player: Janusz Kowalik, Chicago
Coach of the year: Phil Woosnam, Atlanta
Rookie of the year: Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta

Average home attendance

Team	Average^[10]
Kansas City Spurs	8,510
Washington Whips	6,318
Vancouver Royals	6,197
Atlanta Chiefs	5,626
New York Generals	5,606
St. Louis Stars	5,388
Toronto Falcons	5,284
Cleveland Stokers	4,305
Detroit Cougars	4,183
San Diego Toros	4,137
Baltimore Bays	4,112
Boston Beacons	3,992
Oakland Clippers	3,690
Houston Stars	3,246
Dallas Tornado	2,929
Los Angeles Wolves	2,396
Chicago Mustangs	2,379

References

1 2 3 "The Year in American Soccer - 1968". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
↑ "Attendance Project: NASL". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
↑ "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
↑ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
↑ "NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
1 2 "San Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal". Google news. September 17, 1968.
↑ "Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News". September 16, 1968.
↑ "San Diego Toros 1968". www.nasljerseys.com.
↑ "San Diego Toros All-time Game Results | SoccerStats.us".
↑ https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-nasl-attendance-2/

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[sover1968-1] 1 2 3 "The Year in American Soccer - 1968". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[2] "Attendance Project: NASL". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved June 13, 2012.

[3] "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[4] "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[5] "NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[google3634-6] 1 2 "San Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal". Google news. September 17, 1968.

[google1-7] "Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News". September 16, 1968.

[8] "San Diego Toros 1968". www.nasljerseys.com.

[9] "San Diego Toros All-time Game Results | SoccerStats.us".

[10] ttps://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-nasl-attendance-2/

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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 (Skelly) 1978 (Schlitz) 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 ¹ Calgary Boomers California Surf Chicago Mustangs Chicago Spurs ² 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 Skyliners ¹ Oakland Clippers Oakland Stompers Philadelphia Spartans ² Philadelphia Atoms Philadelphia Fury Pittsburgh Phantoms ² Portland Timbers Rochester Lancers San Antonio Thunder San Diego Jaws San Diego Sockers San Diego Toros San Francisco Golden Gate Gales ¹ San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders St. Louis Stars Tampa Bay Rowdies Team America Team Hawaii Toronto Blizzard Toronto City ¹ Toronto Falcons 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.