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 was 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 New York Cosmos were an American professional soccer club based in New York City and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York, including Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the club remained for the rest of its history.
The Caribous of Colorado were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1978 season. The team was based in Denver, Colorado and played their home games at Mile High Stadium. After the season, the club was sold and moved to Atlanta to become the Atlanta Chiefs.
The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1976 NASL season. At the end of 1977 season, the team was sold and relocated to California becoming the Oakland Stompers.
The New York Generals were an American professional soccer team based in New York City that competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968.
Tony Chursky is a former Canadian national soccer team and NASL goalkeeper.
Edwin Ronald "Eddie" Firmani is a former professional football player and manager. A former forward, he spent most of his career in Italy and England. Born in South Africa, he represented the Italy national team internationally.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Durgan is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally for the New York Cosmos and seven times for the U.S. national team.
Robert "Bobby" Smith is a retired U.S. soccer defender who spent nine years in the North American Soccer League and one in the League of Ireland and the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned eighteen caps with the United States men's national soccer team and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Jimmy McAlister is a U.S. soccer defender during the 1970s and 1980s. He was the 1977 NASL Rookie of the Year and earned six caps with the U.S. national team.
Henry McCully is a retired Scottish-American soccer forward. A native of Scotland, McCully spent most of his career in the New England area of the United States. He earned two caps, scoring one goal, with the United States in 1975.
Benjamin Brewster is an American retired soccer forward who earned one caps, scoring a single goal, as a member of the U.S. national team in 1973. He played three seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least two in the American Soccer League.
John Best was an American international soccer defender. He spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League where he was a five-time first team All Star. He later coached the NASL Seattle Sounders and served as the general manager of the Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps. He also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973.
Gordon Bradley was an English-American soccer midfielder born and raised on Wearside who played several seasons with lower-division English clubs before moving to play in Canada at the age of 30. During the Canadian off-season, he played and coached in the U.S.-based German American Soccer League. In 1971, he became a player and head coach for the New York Cosmos. In addition to coaching the Cosmos, he has coached the U.S. national team and at the collegiate and high school levels. Bradley also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Michael Lawrence Renshaw was an English-American football left winger. He began as a youth player with Blackpool before moving to the United States to join the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League in 1968. He also spent time with Margate F.C. and Rhyl F.C. He earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1973 despite not being a U.S. citizen at the time. Finally, he coached the Dallas Tornado in 1981.
Ramón Antonio Mifflin Páez is a former Peruvian football player.
Cirilo "Pepe" Fernández is a former Uruguayan footballer who competed in several soccer leagues in the United States and Netherlands during the 1960s and 1970s. He played as a forward for one season in the National Professional Soccer League, four in the North American Soccer League, one in the American Soccer League, and five in the Netherlands.
Roy Sinclair was an English professional football midfielder. He spent eleven seasons in the lower English divisions before moving to the United States where he played in the North American Soccer League, American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League.
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.
The 1975 New York Cosmos season was the fifth season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Cosmos' fifth year of existence the club finished 3rd in the five-team Northern Division and 12th out of 20 in the overall league table. Despite Pelé joining the club midseason in what English writer Gavin Newsham said was "the transfer coup of the century," bringing unprecedented attention to soccer in the United States, the Cosmos missed the playoffs for the second straight year.
