1975 North American Soccer League season

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North American Soccer League 1975 season
Season1975
Champions Tampa Bay Rowdies
Premiers Portland Timbers
Matches played220
Goals scored750 (3.41 per match)
Top goalscorer Steve David (23)
Highest attendance35,620 (NY @ Washington)
Lowest attendance1,146 (Seattle @ Hartford)
Average attendance7,642
1974
1976

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1975. This was the 8th season of the NASL.

Contents

Overview

The league comprised 20 teams with the Tampa Bay Rowdies winning the championship.

Pelé joined the New York Cosmos in 1975.

1975 was the first year the league used the term Soccer Bowl for their championship game.

Changes from the previous season

Rules changes

The 1975 season saw the removal of tie games. Matches that were level after 90 minutes would go to 15 minutes of sudden death overtime, and then onto penalty kicks if needed. [1] [2] It would not be until 2000 that a top-tier American soccer league would again allow matches to end in a draw.

New teams

Teams folding

Teams moving

Name changes

*after merger with Toronto Croatia of National Soccer League

Regular season

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

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.
Northern DivisionWLGFGAPT
Boston Minutemen 1394129116
Toronto Metros-Croatia 1393928114
New York Cosmos 1012393891
Rochester Lancers 616294964
Hartford Bicentennials 616275161
Eastern DivisionWLGFGAPT
Tampa Bay Rowdies 1664627135
Miami Toros 1484730123
Washington Diplomats 12104247112
Philadelphia Atoms 1012334290
Baltimore Comets 913345287
Central DivisionWLGFGAPT
St. Louis Stars 1393834115
Chicago Sting 12103933106
Denver Dynamos 913374285
Dallas Tornado 913333883
San Antonio Thunder 616244659
Western DivisionWLGFGAPT
Portland Timbers 1664327138
Seattle Sounders 1574228129
Los Angeles Aztecs 12104233107
Vancouver Whitecaps 1111382899
San Jose Earthquakes 814374883

NASL League Leaders

Scoring

*(2 points per goal, 1 per assist)

PlayerTeamAppsGlsAstPts
Steve David Miami2123652
Derek Smethurst Tampa Bay2218339
Gordon Hill Chicago2116739
Peter Withe Portland2216638
Uri Banhoffer Los Angeles2014937
Tommy Ord Rochester/NY2116335
Ilija Mitic Dallas/SJ1915333
Ade Coker Boston1510626
Ace Ntsoelengoe Denver2110525
John Coyne Toronto2271125

Goalkeeping

*(1,260 minutes minimum)

PlayerTeamMinSVGASHGAA
Shep Messing Boston16391401760.93
Barry Watling Seattle20321402661.15
Graham Brown Portland19481442651.20
Željko Bilecki Toronto19491232781.25
Greg Weber Vancouver1273951951.34
Mervyn Cawston Chicago1586942441.36
Peter Bonetti St. Louis18291892851.38
Sam Nusum New York15541312531.45
Ken Cooper Dallas18561303241.55
Bob Rigby Philadelphia18021443241.60

NASL All-Stars

First Team  Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention [3]
Peter Bonetti, St. Louis G Ken Cooper, Dallas Barry Watling, Seattle
Bob Smith, Philadelphia D Tony Want, Philadelphia Tom McConville, Washington
Mike England, SeattleD Stewart Jump, Tampa Bay Dave Gillett, Seattle
Werner Roth, New YorkD Ralph Wright, Miami Graham Day, Portland
Farrukh Quraishi, Tampa BayD Charlie Mitchell, Rochester Brian Rowan, Toronto
Arfon Griffiths, Seattle M Barry Powell, Portland John Sissons, Tampa Bay
Ronnie Sharp, MiamiM John Boyle, Tampa Bay Hugh Fisher, Denver
António Simões, BostonM Bobby Hope, Philadelphia Wolfgang Sühnholz, Boston
Steve David, Miami F Peter Withe, Portland Clyde Best, Tampa Bay
Pelé, New YorkF Tommy Ord, Roch & NY Derek Smethurst, Tampa Bay
Gordon Hill, ChicagoF Stewart Scullion, Tampa Bay Uri Banhoffer, Los Angeles

Playoffs

All playoff games in all rounds including Soccer Bowl '75 were single game elimination match ups.

Bracket

Quarter-finalsSemi-finals Soccer Bowl '75
         
W1 Portland Timbers 2
W2 Seattle Sounders 1
W1 Portland Timbers 1
C1 St. Louis Stars 0
C1 St. Louis Stars 1(5)
W3 Los Angeles Aztecs 1(4)
W1 Portland Timbers 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2
E2 Miami Toros 2
N1 Boston Minutemen 1
E2 Miami Toros 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 1

Quarterfinals

August 12 Seattle Sounders 1–2(OT) Portland Timbers Civic Stadium • Att. 31,523

August 13 Miami Toros 2–1(OT) Boston Minutemen Nickerson Field • Att. 2,187

August 13 Los Angeles Aztecs 1 – 2(PK, 4–5) St. Louis Stars Francis Field • Att. 6,119

August 13 Toronto Metros-Croatia 0–1 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Stadium • Att. 16,111

Semifinals

August 16 Miami Toros 0–3 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Stadium • Att. 22,710

August 17 St. Louis Stars 0–1 Portland Timbers Civic Stadium • Att. 33,503

Soccer Bowl '75

Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0 Portland Timbers
Auguste Soccerball shade.svg66:00' (Smethurst)
Best Soccerball shade.svg87:40'
Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California
Attendance: 17,483
Referee: Henry Landauer (USA) [4] [5] [6]

1975 NASL Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies

Post season awards

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References

  1. Risolo, Donn (2010). Soccer Stories: Anecdotes, Oddities, Lore, and Amazing Feats. Lincoln, NE. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN   978-0-8032-3014-9
  2. Risolo, Donn (2010). Soccer Stories: Anecdotes, Oddities, Lore, and Amazing Feats. ISBN   978-0803233959.
  3. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search" . Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  5. "-CoqWWZryDfU/Tk-SyjDtXOI/AAAAAAAALNs/QprEBSLeOSg/s1600/1975-8-24+Soccer+Bowl+Report+2". 3.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  6. "_axffduAi2BA/TTVkBYFN2BI/AAAAAAAAKgM/fGOuEI7O-Io/s640/Soccer%2BBowl%2B%252775%2BTicket". 2.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  7. "The Year in American Soccer - 1975". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.