| Season | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Chicago Sting (2nd title) |
| Premiers | Chicago Sting most total points *San Diego best Won/Loss record |
| Matches played | 108 |
| Goals scored | 427 (3.95 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Steve Zungul (20 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 52,621 Tampa Bay at Minnesota (May 28) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,267 Tampa Bay at San Diego (August 12) |
| Average attendance | 10,759 |
← 1983 | |
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.
By 1983, the NASL had shrunk to half of the 24 teams that made up the league in 1980. The ongoing salary war with the Major Indoor Soccer League had taken its toll, along with shrinking attendances and a lack of interest from American network TV broadcasters. [1] The league made plans to have both an outdoor and indoor presence, with a 24-game outdoor season and 40-game indoor season scheduled for 1984 and beyond. [2]
The off-season following the 1983 outdoor playoffs saw three more teams fall by the wayside: the Montreal Manic, [3] Seattle Sounders [4] and Team America [5] would all fold. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers decided to move to Minnesota because of a lack of suitable indoor arenas in Southeastern Florida. [6] Things had gotten so bad for the league that the champion Tulsa Roughnecks almost folded two weeks after winning the Soccer Bowl. They survived, thanks to a fundraiser that put $65,000 in the team's coffers. [7] The league would soldier on with nine teams. While there would not be huge changes on the field, the single game Soccer Bowl would be no more. The league moved to a best-of-three championship series format, as was done back in the 1971 Final. [8] The revised NASL playoff format had the two division winners and the two next best teams qualify. The four teams would be seeded 1 through 4. [9]
When the season finally got underway in May, the nine teams were bunched together for most of the year as six teams finished within five points of each other. A hoped-for renaissance in New York never materialized, as the return of former Cosmos coach Eddie Firmani did not lead the team back to the playoffs. Rumors about a possible return by Pelé proved to be without merit. However, not everyone struggled on the field. In Oakland, Steve Zungul and Branko Segota were able to translate their talents from the MISL to the outdoor game, finishing 1–2 in the league's scoring race. Zungul would earn league MVP honors despite the Golden Bay Earthquakes' last-place finish. For the fifth time (and second year in a row), the NASL's points system rewarded a team other than the one with the best record (Chicago instead of San Diego) the regular season title and number one playoff seed. Moreover, Toronto and Minnesota also had better won-loss records than Chicago. Minnesota would not even qualify for the playoffs, despite having a better record than both Chicago and Vancouver. [10]
The Chicago Sting won the last NASL title with a two-game sweep over the Toronto Blizzard. [11] The Sting needed a last-second victory over the Cosmos in their regular season finale to qualify for the playoffs [12] and knock New York out. In the playoffs they won a deciding game over the Vancouver Whitecaps, who themselves only made the playoffs thanks to the Cosmos' loss. Vancouver's Bob Lenarduzzi scored the quickest goal in NASL playoff history 46 seconds into the match, but Chicago rallied for the win. [13]
There were still plans for a 1985 outdoor season as the year ended, but the departures of Chicago Sting, Minnesota Strikers, New York Cosmos and the San Diego Sockers to the MISL for the indoor season made that difficult. [14] The Cosmos left both the NASL and MISL on February 22. [15] A month later, on March 28, 1985, the NASL suspended operations when only Toronto and Minnesota were interested in fielding teams for a 1985 "outdoor" season. [16] [17]
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system
6 points for a win, 4 points for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 13 | 11 | 50 | 49 | 44 | 120 | 6-6 | 7-5 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 14 | 10 | 46 | 33 | 35 | 117 | 9-3 | 5-7 |
| New York Cosmos | 13 | 11 | 43 | 42 | 39 | 115 | 9-3 | 4-8 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9 | 15 | 43 | 61 | 35 | 87 | 9-3 | 0-12 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Sockers | 14 | 10 | 51 | 42 | 40 | 118 | 9-3 | 5-7 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 13 | 11 | 51 | 48 | 43 | 117 | 10-2 | 3-9 |
| Minnesota Strikers | 14 | 10 | 40 | 44 | 35 | 115 | 8-4 | 6-6 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 10 | 14 | 42 | 46 | 38 | 98 | 8-4 | 2-10 |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | 8 | 16 | 61 | 62 | 49 | 95 | 4-8 | 4-8 |
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Zungul | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 24 | 20 | 10 | 50 |
| Branko Šegota | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 24 | 18 | 11 | 47 |
| Ron Futcher | Tulsa Roughnecks | 23 | 18 | 8 | 44 |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza | Chicago Sting | 24 | 16 | 12 | 44 |
| Peter Ward | Vancouver Whitecaps | 24 | 16 | 10 | 42 |
| Ade Coker | San Diego Sockers | 22 | 16 | 7 | 39 |
| David Byrne | Toronto Blizzard | 20 | 12 | 13 | 37 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota Strikers | 24 | 15 | 4 | 34 |
| Jean Willrich | San Diego Sockers | 22 | 5 | 20 | 30 |
| Roberto Bettega | Toronto Blizzard | 23 | 8 | 13 | 29 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hammond | Toronto Blizzard | 21 | 1937 | 25 | 1.16 | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| Hubert Birkenmeier | New York Cosmos | 22 | 2007 | 34 | 1.50 | 13 | 9 | 2 |
| Tino Lettieri | Minnesota Strikers | 18 | 1622 | 28 | 1.55 | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Victor Nogueira | Chicago Sting | 18 | 1663 | 30 | 1.62 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| Winston DuBose | Tulsa Roughnecks | 22 | 1931 | 38 | 1.77 | 10 | 12 | 4 |
| Paul Bradshaw | Vancouver Whitecaps | 24 | 2161 | 46 | 1.92 | 13 | 11 | 4 |
| Jim Gorsek | San Diego Sockers | 15 | 1369 | 32 | 2.10 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Arnie Mausser | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 23 | 2100 | 57 | 2.44 | 9 | 14 | 3 |
| Bill Irwin | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 21 | 1964 | 54 | 2.48 | 7 | 14 | 2 |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hubert Birkenmeier, New York | G | Paul Hammond, Toronto | Paul Bradshaw, Vancouver |
| Andranik Eskandarian, New York | D | Dwight Lodeweges, Minnesota | Gregg Thompson, Tampa Bay |
| Johan Neeskens, New York | D | Victor Moreland, Tulsa | Fernando Clavijo, Golden Bay |
| Kevin Crow, San Diego | D | Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver | Dan Canter, New York |
| Bruce Wilson, Toronto | D | Terry Moore, Tulsa | Barry Wallace, Minnesota |
| Ray Hudson, Minnesota | M | Pato Margetic, Chicago | Kaz Deyna, San Diego |
| Frans Thijssen, Vancouver | M | Jimmy Nicholl, Toronto | Brian Quinn, San Diego |
| Vladislav Bogicevic, New York | M | Fran O'Brien, Vancouver | Ace Ntsoelengoe, Toronto |
| Steve Zungul, Golden Bay | F | Alan Willey, Minnesota | Carl Valentine, Vancouver |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | F | Branko Šegota, Golden Bay | Roberto Cabañas, New York |
| Peter Ward, Vancouver | F | David Byrne, Toronto | Ron Futcher, Tulsa |
Top team from each division qualified automatically. The next two teams with the highest point totals qualified regardless of which division they were in. [18]
| Semifinals Best-of-3 | Soccer Bowl Series '84 Best-of-3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Chicago Sting | 0 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 4 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1 | Chicago Sting | 2 | 3 | – | |||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Blizzard | 1 | 2 | – | |||||||||
| 2 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | 0 | – | |||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Blizzard | 2 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| Higher seed | Series | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | *(higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 2 - 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0–1 (OT) | 3–1 | 4–3 | September 18 • Comiskey Park • 5,484 September 23 • BC Place Stadium • 14,753 September 28 • Comiskey Park • 10,139 |
| San Diego Sockers | 0 - 2 | Toronto Blizzard | 1–2 | 0–1 | x | September 18 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 4,204 September 21 • Varsity Stadium • 12,460 |
| Higher seed | Series | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | *(higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 2 - 0 | Toronto Blizzard | 2–1 | 3–2 | x | October 1 • Comiskey Park • 8,352 October 3 • Varsity Stadium • 16,842 |
| Chicago Sting | 2–1 | Toronto Blizzard |
|---|---|---|
Margetic  50:06' (Seninho, Granitza)Rojas 85:20' (Seninho) | Wilson 15:23' (Byrne, DeLucca) |
| Toronto Blizzard | 2–3 | Chicago Sting |
|---|---|---|
| Paskin 70:55' (Ntsoelengoe) Bettega 72:28' (Byrne, Ntsoelengoe) | Simanton 16:47' (Granitza) Margetic 67:58' (Gray, Rojas)Margetic 81:33' (Rojas) |
1984 NASL Champions: Chicago Sting
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pato Margetic | Chicago Sting | 5 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza | Chicago Sting | 5 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Manny Rojas | Chicago Sting | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Ace Ntsoelengoe | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| David Byrne | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Roberto Bettega | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hammond | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 360 | 6 | 1.50 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Zoltan Toth | San Diego Sockers | 2 | 180 | 3 | 1.50 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Victor Nogueira | Chicago Sting | 5 | 459 | 8 | 1.60 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Bradshaw | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 279 | 7 | 2.33 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Club | Games | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 12 | 182,494 | 15,208 |
| Minnesota Strikers | 12 | 171,151 | 14,263 |
| New York Cosmos | 12 | 153,807 | 12,817 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 12 | 137,420 | 11,452 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 | 131,194 | 10,933 |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | 12 | 123,383 | 10,282 |
| Chicago Sting | 12 | 100,512 | 8,376 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 12 | 93,567 | 7,797 |
| San Diego Sockers | 12 | 68,422 | 5,702 |
| OVERALL | 108 | 1,161,950 | 10,759 |
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 the set-up of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.
The Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992.
The Fort Lauderdale Strikers was a professional soccer team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1977 to 1983. They played their home matches at Lockhart Stadium.
The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and played their outdoor home games at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the Met Center for indoor games. Founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts and playing in Miami as the Gatos and the Toros before playing seven season as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers the team left Florida following the 1983 North American Soccer League season. After the 1987–88 season and playing four seasons in the MISL the team ceased operations.
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.
The New York Arrows were an indoor soccer team that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1978 to 1984. They won the first four MISL championships.
Willy Roy is a retired American soccer forward and coach. He played for several teams in the National Professional Soccer League and the North American Soccer League in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the United States national team from 1965 to 1973. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Chance Fry is a retired U.S. soccer forward who began his career straight out of high school with the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League. With the collapse of the NASL, he moved to indoor soccer as well as U.S. minor leagues. Since retiring from playing, Fry has become a college soccer coach. He also earned five caps with the U.S. national team in 1984 and was the 1990 American Professional Soccer League leading goal scorer.
Dan Canter was a U.S. soccer defender. He played three seasons in the North American Soccer League and three in Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned nine caps with the U.S. national team, scoring two goals, between 1983 and 1985.
Andrew Parkinson is a retired American soccer forward/midfielder born in Johannesburg, South Africa who spent time playing in both South Africa and England before immigrating to the U.S. where he played five seasons in the North American Soccer League, two in Major Indoor Soccer League and one in the American Soccer League. Parkinson earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1984.
Gary Etherington is a retired soccer player who began his professional career in the North American Soccer League before moving to the Major Indoor Soccer League. He earned seven caps with the U.S. national team. Since retiring, Etherington has coached youth soccer and is a soccer equipment salesman.
Lawrence Adam Michael Abrahams is an English retired professional footballer who played as a striker in England, the United States, and Australia. In a career which lasted from 1977 to 1987, Abrahams played 283 career league games, and scored 142 league goals.
Stanisław Andrzej Terlecki was a Polish footballer.
The 1983–84 North American Soccer League indoor season was the fourth and last in league history. The San Diego Sockers defeated the New York Cosmos for their third straight indoor title, having won the NASL Indoor title in 1981–82 and the MISL title in 1982–83.
The 1982–83 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the fifth in league history and would end with the San Diego Sockers winning their first MISL title. It would be the Sockers' second straight indoor championship, as the club had won the North American Soccer League's indoor league the previous spring.
The 1984–85 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the seventh in league history and ended with the San Diego Sockers winning their second MISL title in three seasons over the Baltimore Blast. It was the Sockers' fourth straight indoor title, as they had also won the North American Soccer League's indoor league in the spring of 1984.
The 1985–86 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the eighth in league history and ended with the San Diego Sockers winning their third MISL title in four seasons over the Minnesota Strikers. It was the Sockers' fifth straight indoor title, as they had also won the North American Soccer League's indoor league in 1982 and 1984.
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.
Soccer Bowl Series '84, also known as Soccer Bowl '84, was the championship series of the 1984 NASL season, and the last championship of the original NASL. In a departure from previous years, it was a best-of-three series between the Chicago Sting and the Toronto Blizzard as opposed to a single-game championship. The first game of the series was held on Monday, October 1 at Comiskey Park, in Chicago, Illinois; the Sting won it, 2–1. The second game was played at Varsity Stadium, in Toronto, Ontario on October 3. Chicago won again, this time by a score of 3–2, to sweep the series and claim its second North American championship.
The 1983 NASL Playoffs was the post-season championship of North American Soccer League (NASL), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada at that time. It was the 16th edition of the NASL Playoffs, the tournament culminating at the end of the 2019 regular season. The playoffs began on September 5, 1983, and concluded with the Soccer Bowl '83 on October 1.
Jose, Colin (1989). NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League. Derby, England: Breedon Books.
Jose, Colin (2003). North American Soccer League Encyclopedia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press.
