1980 North American Soccer League season

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North American Soccer League 1980 season
Season1980
Teams20
Champions New York Cosmos
(4th title)
Premiers New York Cosmos
(4th title) most total points
Seattle Sounders
best Won/Loss record
Matches played384
Goals scored1,371 (3.57 per match)
Top goalscorer Giorgio Chinaglia
(32 goals)
Highest attendance70,312
(Ft. Lauderdale @ NY)
Lowest attendance254
(Memphis at New England)
Average attendance14,440
1979
1981

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.

Contents

Overview

The league comprised 24 teams; for the only time in NASL history, the lineup of teams was identical to the year before, with no clubs joining or dropping out, franchise shifts or even name changes. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (Seattle) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.

Changes from the previous season

The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season. [1]

New teams

Teams folding

Teams moving

Name changes

Map of clubs

Blue pog.svg American East Division Red pog.svg American Central Division Black pog.svg American West Division
Green pog.svg National East Division Purple pog.svg National Central Division Orange pog.svg National West Division

Regular season

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

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

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

NASL All-Stars

First Team  Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention [2] [3]
Flag of England.svg Phil Parkes, Chicago G Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jack Brand, Seattle Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale
Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Alberto, New York D Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Mihalj Keri, Los Angeles Flag of England.svg David Nish, Seattle
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Mike Connell, Tampa BayD Flag of the Netherlands.svg Wim Rijsbergen, New York Flag of Scotland.svg John Gorman, Tampa Bay
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Rudi Krol, VancouverD Flag of Germany.svg Peter Nogly, Edmonton Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg Frantz Mathieu, Chicago
Flag of Scotland.svg Bruce Rioch, SeattleD Flag of England.svg John Ryan, Seattle Flag of Iran.svg Andranik Eskandarian, New York
Flag of Germany.svg Franz Beckenbauer, New York M Flag of Germany.svg Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago Flag of England.svg Ray Hudson, Ft. Lauderdale
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Vladislav Bogićević, New YorkM Flag of the Netherlands.svg Johan Neeskens, New York Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Ace Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota
Flag of Peru.svg Teófilo Cubillas, Fort LauderdaleM Flag of England.svg Alan Hudson, Seattle Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Jomo Sono, Toronto
Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Chinaglia, New York F Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay Flag of Scotland.svg Tommy Hutchison, Seattle
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Johan Cruyff, WashingtonF Flag of Germany.svg Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago Flag of England.svg Alan Green, Washington
Flag of England.svg Roger Davies, SeattleF Flag of Brazil.svg Luis Fernando, Los Angeles Flag of Paraguay.svg Julio César Romero, New York

Playoffs

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The last two spots would go to the next best teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three conference seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were given wild-card berths. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by regular season point total, regardless of first-round seeding. [4] The Soccer Bowl remained a single game final.

In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one win apiece, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If there was no winner after the 30 minutes ended, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. [5]

Bracket

Conference QuarterfinalsConference SemifinalsConference Championships Soccer Bowl '80
                  
AC1 Chicago 1 31(0)
AC8 San Diego 22 1(3)
San Diego 60 1(2)
Tampa Bay 3 61(0)
AC2 Tampa Bay 14
AC7 New England 0 0
San Diego 1 40
Fort Lauderdale 22 2
AC3 Edmonton 20 1
AC6 Houston 1 10
Edmonton 0 2(2)0
Fort Lauderdale 12(1)3
AC4 Fort Lauderdale 20 0(3)
AC5 California 1 20(2)
Fort Lauderdale 0
New York 3
NC1 New York 38
NC8 Tulsa 1 1
New York 30 3
Dallas 2 30
NC3 Dallas 12
NC6 Minnesota 0 0
New York 23
Los Angeles 1 1
NC4 Los Angeles 0 1(5)2
NC5 Washington 11(4)0
Los Angeles 30 1(2)
Seattle 0 41(0)
NC2 Seattle 23
NC7 Vancouver 1 1

First round

Lower seedHigher seedGame 1Game 2Mini-game(lower seed hosts Game 1)
Minnesota Kicks - Dallas Tornado 0–10–2xAugust 27 • Metropolitan Stadium • 17,461
August 31 • Texas Stadium • 8,674
San Diego Sockers - Chicago Sting 2–12 - 32–1 (SO, 3–0)August 27 • San Diego Stadium • 12,125
August 30 • Comiskey Park • 12,267
New England Tea Men - Tampa Bay Rowdies 0–10–4xAugust 27 • Schaefer Stadium • 17,121
August 30 • Tampa Stadium • 26,368
Vancouver Whitecaps - Seattle Sounders 1–2 (OT)1 –3xAugust 27 • Empire Stadium • 27,231
August 30 • Kingdome • 35,254
Washington Diplomats - Los Angeles Aztecs 1–01–2 (SO, 4–5)0–2August 27 • RFK Stadium • 20,231
August 30 • Rose Bowl • 14,163
Houston Hurricane - Edmonton Drillers 1–21–00–1August 27 • Astrodome • 3,902
August 31 • Commonwealth Stadium • 22,059
California Surf - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1–22–00–1 (SO, 2–3)August 28 • Anaheim Stadium • 2,929
August 31 • Lockhart Stadium • 15,282
Tulsa Roughnecks - New York Cosmos 1–31–8xAugust 28 • Skelly Stadium • 22,890
August 31 • Giants Stadium • 40,285

Conference semifinals

Lower seedHigher seedGame 1Game 2Mini-game(lower seed hosts Game 1)
Los Angeles Aztecs - Seattle Sounders 3–00–42–1 (SO, 2–0)September 3 • Rose Bowl • 13,466
September 5 • Kingdome • 32,564
Edmonton Drillers - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0–13–2 (SO, 2–1)0 - 3September 3 • Commonwealth Stadium • 18,029
September 6 • Lockhart Stadium • 17,380
Dallas Tornado - New York Cosmos 2–33–00–3September 3 • Texas Stadium • 7,459
September 7 • Giants Stadium • 45,153
San Diego Sockers - Tampa Bay Rowdies 6–30–62–1 (SO, 2–0)September 4 • San Diego Stadium • 20,109
September 7 • Tampa Stadium • 25,852

Conference Championships

Lower seedHigher seedGame 1Game 2Mini-game(lower seed hosts Game 1)
San Diego Sockers - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1–24–20–2September 11 • San Diego Stadium • 27,635
September 13 • Lockhart Stadium • 18,420
Los Angeles Aztecs - New York Cosmos 1–21–3xSeptember 10 • Rose Bowl • 25,487
September 13 • Giants Stadium • 42,324

Soccer Bowl '80

New York Cosmos 3–0 Fort Lauderdale Strikers
Romero Soccerball shade.svg47:55' (Chinaglia, Bogićević)
Chinaglia Soccerball shade.svg70:06' (Davis, Rijsbergen)
Chinaglia Soccerball shade.svg87:07' (Cabañas)
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 50,768 [8]
Referee: Paul Avis (Canada) [9]

1980 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

Post season awards

Average home attendance

TeamAverage [11]
New York Cosmos42,754
Tampa Bay Rowdies28,345
Vancouver Whitecaps26,834
Seattle Sounders24,246
Tulsa Roughnecks19,787
Washington Diplomats19,205
Minnesota Kicks18,279
Toronto Blizzard15,043
Fort Lauderdale Strikers14,279
San Jose Earthquakes13,169
San Diego Sockers12,753
Los Angeles Aztecs12,057
Chicago Sting11,672
Detroit Express11,198
Edmonton Drillers10,920
Portland Timbers10,210
Memphis Rogues9,864
New England Tea Men8,748
Rochester Lancers7,757
California Surf7,593
Dallas Tornado6,752
Houston Hurricane5,818
Atlanta Chiefs4,884
Philadelphia Fury4,465

References

  1. "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  2. "Archived copy". home.att.net. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". www.oocities.org.
  4. 1980 Official North American Soccer League Guide. 1980. p. 276.
  5. "NASL Playoffs Open Tonight". The Hour. August 14, 1979. p. 49. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  6. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search".
  7. "Cosmos regain soccer title". Christian Science Monitor. September 23, 1980.
  8. "The Evening News - Google News Archive Search".
  9. "NASL Soccer Bowl". Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  10. "Jack Brand". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  11. https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-nasl-attendance-2/

1980 Official North American Soccer League Guide. New York, NY: North American Soccer League. 1980.