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 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 Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. Armory. Founded as an expansion franchise in 1974, the Diplomats competed in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, then the top-tier soccer league of the American soccer pyramid.
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 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.
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.
Steven Jay Ross was an American businessman and CEO of Time Warner, Warner Communications, and Kinney National Services, Inc. He is also known for helping to popularize soccer in the United States.
Yasin Özdenak is a former Turkish football goalkeeper and now an active coach. He is currently employed by Hume City FC as the Technical Director of the Club.
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.
Keith Eddy was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Barrow, Watford and Sheffield United in England, as well as the New York Cosmos in the United States. He went on to manage the Toronto Blizzard in the NASL from 1979 to 1981, and in retirement founded the Tulsa Soccer Club.
The New York Cosmos is an American professional soccer club based in Uniondale, New York, that is an inactive member of the third-tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The organization, established in August 2010, is a rebirth of the original New York Cosmos (1970–1985) that played in the previous North American Soccer League, which was at the time the first division of North American soccer.
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.
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 1977 New York Cosmos season was the seventh season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. The Cosmos' seventh year of existence saw them drop "New York" from the club name, move into Giants Stadium, and win their second NASL championship in Pelé's final year as a professional footballer. Pelé's last match was on October 1, 1977, in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium: in an exhibition match between New York and his former club Santos, Pelé appeared for both sides, playing one half for each. The Cosmos won the game 2–1. The Cosmos finished second in the 4-team Eastern Division and third out of 18 teams league-wide on their way to the 1977 championship.
The 1984 New York Cosmos season was the fourteenth season for the New York Cosmos playing in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. It was the final year of the original Cosmos playing in the original NASL; they would play three friendlies in 1985 before disbanding. During the 1984 season, the Cosmos finished in third place in the Eastern Division, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1975. It was also the first season since 1978 that the Cosmos failed to finish first in the overall league table, ending a streak of six premierships.
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.
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.
Tommy Lang is an Irish-American former soccer player who played as a defender.
