| Season | 1973 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Philadelphia Atoms |
| Premiers | Dallas Tornado |
| Matches played | 90 |
| Goals scored | 246 (2.73 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Warren Archibald Ilija Mitić (12 goals) |
| Longest unbeaten run | 13, Philadelphia |
| Highest attendance | 21,700 (Dallas @ Phil) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,100 (NY @ Montreal) |
| Average attendance | 6,290 |
← 1972 1974 → | |
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1973. This was the 6th season of the NASL. [1]
Nine teams took part in the league with the Philadelphia Atoms winning the championship.
During the season, Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz from Vera Cruz, Mexico, played each of the nine NASL clubs in exhibition games that counted in the league's final standings. The 1973 season would be the last season in which games from non-league clubs counted in league standings. [2]
A week before the NASL Final 1973, commissioner Phil Woosnam announced that no team in the league made a profit during the season. [3]
In a unique twist, the team with home field for the NASL Championship Game determined the date and time the game was to be played. When the Dallas Tornado won their semi-final, setting up the final with Philadelphia, they chose August 25 as the date of the game. They did this because the NASL loan agreements with players from the English First Division (the precursor to today's Premier League) expired before that date. [4]
Because of this, Philadelphia's two leading scorers, Andy "The Flea" Provan and Jim Fryatt, were on their way back to England when the championship match was played on the 25th. Despite this, Philadelphia coach, Al Miller, put Bill Straub, a defender who had not played a minute for the club prior to the championship game, into the lineup at forward. The move paid off as Straub headed home the second goal in a 2–0 win with under five minutes remaining in the final. [4]
W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, PTS= Total Points
POINT SYSTEM
6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each goal scored up to three per game.
| Eastern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Atoms | 9 | 2 | 8 | 29 | 14 | 26 | 104 |
| New York Cosmos | 7 | 5 | 7 | 31 | 23 | 28 | 91 |
| Miami Toros | 8 | 5 | 6 | 26 | 21 | 22 | 88 |
| Northern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Metros | 6 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 18 | 26 | 89 |
| Montreal Olympique | 5 | 10 | 4 | 25 | 32 | 22 | 64 |
| Rochester Lancers | 4 | 9 | 6 | 17 | 27 | 17 | 59 |
| Southern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | BP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dallas Tornado | 11 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 25 | 33 | 111 |
| St. Louis Stars | 7 | 7 | 5 | 27 | 27 | 25 | 82 |
| Atlanta Apollos | 3 | 9 | 7 | 23 | 40 | 23 | 62 |
| First Team [5] [6] | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Cooper, Dallas | G | Bob Rigby, Philadelphia | Sam Nusum, Montreal |
| John Best, Dallas | D | Bob Smith, Philadelphia | John Sewell, St. Louis |
| Chris Dunleavy, Philadelphia | D | Derek Trevis, Philadelphia | Barry Barto, Philadelphia |
| David Sadler, Miami | D | Dick Hall, Dallas | Werner Roth, New York |
| Brian Rowan, Toronto | D | Roy Evans, Philadelphia | John Collins, Dallas |
| Ilija Mitic, Dallas | M | Pat McBride, St. Louis | Al Trost, St. Louis |
| Fernando Pinto, Toronto | M | Francisco Escos, Rochester | Roy Turner, Dallas |
| Ian McPhee, Toronto | M | Roberto Aguirre, Miami | George O'Neill, Philadelphia |
| Andy Provan, Philadelphia | F | Joey Fink, New York | Paul Child, Atlanta |
| Jim Fryatt, Philadelphia | F | Rick Reynolds, Dallas | Kyle Rote Jr., Dallas |
| Warren Archibald, Miami | F | Randy Horton, New York | Nick Jennings, Dallas |
All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.
| Semifinals | NASL Final 1973 | ||||||||
| 1 | Dallas Tornado | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | New York Cosmos | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Dallas Tornado | 0 | |||||||
| 2 | Philadelphia Atoms | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Philadelphia Atoms | 3 | |||||||
| 3 | Toronto Metros | 0 | |||||||
| August 15 | New York Cosmos | 0–1 | Dallas Tornado | Texas Stadium • Att. 9,009 [1] |
| August 18 | Toronto Metros | 0–3 | Philadelphia Atoms | Veterans Stadium • Att. 18,766 [1] |
| Dallas Tornado | 0–2 | Philadelphia Atoms |
|---|---|---|
Best  66' (o.g.)Straub 85' (Evans) |
1973 NASL Champions: Philadelphia Atoms
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United States. The league final was called the Soccer Bowl from 1975 to 1983 and the Soccer Bowl Series in its final year, 1984. The league was headed by Commissioner Phil Woosnam from 1969 to 1983. The NASL laid the foundations for soccer in the United States that helped lead to the country hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup and setting up Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.
The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. Every team in the league was actually an imported European or South American club, that was then outfitted with a "local" name. Dick Walsh served as the commissioner.
The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons.
The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors were blue and white. The club was succeeded by the Philadelphia Fury in 1978.
Walter Chyzowych was a Ukrainian-born soccer player who played for Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and Newark Sitch of the American Soccer League and was later a coach for the United States national soccer team. His older brother Gene Chyzowych (1935–2014) was also a professional soccer player and coach.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1976. This was the 9th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1977. This was the 10th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1975. This was the 8th season of the NASL.
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 1969 North American Soccer League season was the second season of the North American Soccer League, the top division in US soccer in 1969.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1971. This was the 4th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1974. This was the 7th season of the NASL.
Division 1 professional soccer returned to Vancouver in 1974 with the Vancouver Whitecaps as interest began to grow in U.S. soccer, and the NASL grew after stabilizing in terms of attendance and number of teams with six to eight teams. In 1974 the Whitecaps were one of five expansion teams that were the first teams since 1968 west of Dallas, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.
The 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies season was the first season of the club's existence.
North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. Beginning in 1975, the league final was called the Soccer Bowl.
In early 1975, the North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated.
Soccer Bowl '79 was the championship final of the 1979 NASL season. The National Conference champion Vancouver Whitecaps played the American Conference champion Tampa Bay Rowdies. The match was played on September 8, 1979, at Giants Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. This was the second straight year that Giants Stadium hosted the Soccer Bowl. The Whitecaps won the match, 2–1, to claim their first North American championship.
NASL Final 1974 was the championship match of the 1974 season, between the expansion Los Angeles Aztecs and the Miami Toros. The match was played on August 25, 1974 at the Orange Bowl, in Miami, Florida. The teams played to a, 3–3, draw, and after a short break the game moved directly to a penalty shoot-out. Los Angeles won the shoot-out, 5–3, and were crowned the 1974 champions. This was the second consecutive year that an expansion team won the NASL title
NASL Final 1973 was the championship match of the 1973 North American Soccer League season, between the expansion Philadelphia Atoms and the Dallas Tornado. The match was played on August 25, 1973 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The Philadelphia Atoms won the match, 2–0, and were crowned the 1973 North American Soccer League champions.
