| Season | 1982 |
|---|---|
| Champions | New York Cosmos (5th title) |
| Premiers | New York Cosmos (6th title) |
| Matches played | 224 |
| Goals scored | 809 (3.61 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Ricardo Alonso (21 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 52,436 Tampa Bay at New York (April 18) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,120 San Jose at Edmonton (August 4) |
| Average attendance | 13,155 |
← 1981 1983 → | |
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1982. This was the 15th season of the NASL.
The league comprised 14 teams. The New York Cosmos won the championship. The NASL no longer used the 35-yard line for offside, but retained its presence for use in tie-breaker shootouts. [1]
Atlanta, Calgary, California, Dallas and Washington folded in September 1981, [2] while Los Angeles and Minnesota were dissolved in November–December 1981.
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win in regulation and overtime, 4 point for a penalty shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each regulation goal scored, up to three per game. [3]
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Cosmos | 23 | 9 | 73 | 52 | 203 |
| Montreal Manic | 19 | 13 | 60 | 43 | 159 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 17 | 15 | 64 | 47 | 151 |
| Chicago Sting | 13 | 19 | 56 | 67 | 129 |
| Southern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 18 | 14 | 64 | 74 | 163 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 16 | 16 | 69 | 57 | 151 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 | 20 | 47 | 77 | 112 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | 11 | 21 | 41 | 71 | 105 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Sounders | 18 | 14 | 72 | 48 | 166 |
| San Diego Sockers | 19 | 13 | 71 | 54 | 162 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 20 | 12 | 58 | 48 | 160 |
| Portland Timbers | 14 | 18 | 49 | 44 | 122 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 13 | 19 | 47 | 62 | 114 |
| Edmonton Drillers | 11 | 21 | 38 | 65 | 93 |
| First Team | Position | Second Team [4] | Honorable Mention [5] |
|---|---|---|---|
 Hubert Birkenmeier, New York | G |  Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale |  Jan Möller, Toronto |
 Frantz Mathieu, Chicago | D |  Barry Wallace, Tulsa |  Bruce Wilson, Toronto |
 Cho Young-Jeung, Portland | D |  Jeff Durgan, New York |  Mike Connell, Tampa Bay |
| Peter Nogly, Tampa Bay | D |  Carlos Alberto, New York | John Wile, Vancouver |
 Andranik Eskandarian, New York | D | Ray Evans, Seattle | Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver |
 Vladislav Bogićević, New York | M | Steve Daley, Seattle | Vince Hilaire, San Jose |
| Ace Ntsoelengoe, Toronto | M | Johan Neeskens, New York | Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale |
| Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago | M |  Teófilo Cubillas, Ft. Lauderdale | Juli Veee, San Diego |
 Giorgio Chinaglia, New York | F | Steve Hunt, New York | Branko Šegota, Fort Lauderdale |
| Peter Ward, Seattle | F | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | David Byrne, Toronto |
 Ricardo Alonso, Jacksonville | F | Pato Margetic, Chicago | Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa • Godfrey Ingram, San Jose • Carl Valentine, Vancouver |
| Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Soccer Bowl '82 (Single match) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Cosmos | 5 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Cosmos | 2 | 2 | – | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | 1 | – | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | San Diego Sockers | 5 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | New York Cosmos | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Montreal Manic | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 4 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | Toronto Blizzard | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Attendance† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Cosmos | Tulsa Roughnecks | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | August 25 • Giants Stadium • 23,917 August 28 • Skelly Stadium • 15,817 September 1 • Giants Stadium • 24,209 |
| Seattle Sounders | Toronto Blizzard | 4–2 | 1–2 (OT) | 4–2 | August 25 • Kingdome • 13,005 August 27 • Exhibition Stadium • 5,099 September 1 • Kingdome • 17,332 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Montreal Manic | *2–3 (OT) | 1–0 (OT) | 4–1 | *August 25 • Olympic Stadium • 15,232 August 29 • Lockhart Stadium • 10,696 September 1 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,897 |
| San Diego Sockers | Vancouver Whitecaps | 5–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | August 25 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 7,267 August 29 • Empire Stadium • 18,253 September 2 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 8,857 |
† Higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3
* Montreal Manic hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2) due to stadium conflicts with the Expos baseball club.
| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Attendance† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Cosmos | San Diego Sockers | 2–1 | 2–1 (OT) | × | September 5 • Giants Stadium • 34,653 September 8 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 13,074 |
| Seattle Sounders | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2–0 | 3–4 (OT) | 1–0 (OT) | September 4 • Kingdome • 17,338 September 8 • Lockhart Stadium • 15,196 September 10 • Kingdome • 28,986 |
† Higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3
| New York Cosmos | 1–0 | Seattle Sounders |
|---|---|---|
Chinaglia  30:17' |
1982 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos
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 Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1984 to 1988. They were North American Soccer League champions in 1981 and 1984, one of only two NASL teams to win the championship twice.
Giorgio Chinaglia was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to play for Massese, Internapoli and S.S. Lazio in 1969. Chinaglia led Lazio to the club's first league championship in the 1973–74 season, during which he was also the league's leading scorer. He played international football for Italy, making 14 appearances and scoring 4 goals between 1972 and 1975, including two appearances at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Chinaglia was the first player in Italian football history to be called up internationally from the second division.
The 1984 North American Soccer League season was the 72nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 17th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada. It would be the 17th and final season of the NASL.
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.
The 1978 North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada.
The 1979 North American Soccer League season was the 67th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer and the 12th with a national first-division league in the United States and Canada.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1981. This was the 14th season of the NASL.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1983. This was the 16th and penultimate season of the NASL.
Soccer Bowl '78 was the North American Soccer League's championship final for the 1978 season. It was the fourth NASL championship under the Soccer Bowl name.
The 1983 New York Cosmos season was the original Cosmos franchise's thirteenth season of existence, and their thirteenth in the original North American Soccer League. At the time, the NASL represented the top tier of American soccer. Finishing the season with 194 points off of 22 wins and eight losses, the Cosmos clinched their sixth-consecutive regular season championship, and their seventh overall. In the postseason, however, the Cosmos lost to Montreal Manic.
The 1976 New York Cosmos season was the sixth season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Cosmos' sixth year of existence the club finished second only to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in both the five-team Eastern Division and the 20-team league. The Cosmos returned to the playoffs for the first time in two years, but were eliminated in the conference semifinals by the rival Rowdies. 1976 marked the first year for Giorgio Chinaglia with the club; Chinaglia would go on to become the all-time leading scorer in both Cosmos and NASL history.
The 1978 New York Cosmos season was the eighth season for the Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. It was also the second and final year in which "New York" was dropped from their name. The double-winning club set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark and 212 points, securing their second premiership on the way to their third championship. They beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 7–0 on opening day and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation. Giorgio Chinaglia scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. In Soccer Bowl '78, the Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in front of 74,901 fans at Giants Stadium, still to this day a record for attendance at a North American championship soccer game.
The 1982 New York Cosmos season was the 12th season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. The Cosmos completed their fourth double—a feat not matched by any NASL or, as yet, MLS club—finishing 37 points ahead of Seattle for the league premiership, and defeating the Sounders in Soccer Bowl '82 for the league championship.
Soccer Bowl '80 was the championship final of the 1980 NASL season. The New York Cosmos took on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The match was played on September 21, 1980 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. The Cosmos won, 3–0, to claim their fourth league championship, and third in the past four seasons.
Soccer Bowl '81 was the championship final of the 1981 NASL season, between the Chicago Sting and the New York Cosmos. The match was played on September 26, 1981, at Exhibition Stadium, in Toronto, Ontario. Following regulation and 15 minutes of golden goal overtime, the match remained tied, 0–0. With that, the game moved to a shoot-out. The Sting won the shoot-out, 2–1, and were crowned the 1981 NASL champions. This was Chicago's first NASL title.
Soccer Bowl '82 was the championship final of the 1982 NASL season. The New York Cosmos advanced to the Soccer Bowl for the third consecutive year and took on the Seattle Sounders in a rematch of Soccer Bowl '77. The match was played on September 18, 1982, at Jack Murphy Stadium, in San Diego, California. New York won, 1–0, and were crowned the 1982 NASL champions. This was the Cosmos' fifth North American championship and fourth in the past six years.
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