| Event | Soccer Bowl (NPSL) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| on aggregate | |||||||
| First leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | September 3, 1967 | ||||||
| Venue | Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland | ||||||
| Referee | Walter Crossley (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 16,619 | ||||||
| Second leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | September 9, 1967 | ||||||
| Venue | Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, Oakland, California | ||||||
| Referee | Mike Ashkenazi | ||||||
| Attendance | 9,037 | ||||||
The 1967 NPSL Final was the National Professional Soccer League's postseason championship final of the 1967 season. The event was contested in a two-game aggregate match between the Oakland Clippers and the Baltimore Bays. The first leg was played on September 3, 1967 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Bays winning 1–0. The return leg was contested on September 9, 1967 at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland, California, and the Clippers won it by the score of 4–1. With the two-day competition complete, the Oakland Clippers held a 4–2 aggregate lead and were crowned the 1967 NPSL champions. [1] [2] [3]
The Baltimore Bays finished first in the Eastern Division regular season with 14 wins, 9 draws, and 9 losses for a total of 162 points. The Philadelphia Spartans had the exact same record, but finished in second position with only 157 points. This was due to the league's unique scoring system that allowed up to three bonus points per match for each goal scored. The Oakland Clippers finished first in the Western Division, as well as first overall in the league, with 19 wins, 5 draws, and 8 defeats for 185 points. The Clippers easily outpaced the division runner-up St. Louis Stars by 29 points. As division champions each squad earned the right to compete in the championship series.
| Western Division Champions | Eastern Division Champions | 1st. leg | Venue | 2nd. leg | Venue | Agg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Clippers | Baltimore Bays | 0–1 | Memorial Stadium | 4–1 | Oakland-Alameda Coliseum | 4–2 |
| Oakland Clippers [8] | 4–1 | Baltimore Bays |
|---|---|---|
Djukic  27', 35', 38' (pen.)Marín 58' | Report 1 Report 2 Report 3 | Santisteban  38'Saint-Vil 41' |
         Oakland Clippers [9] |  Baltimore Bays |
1967 NPSL Champions: Oakland Clippers
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.
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The Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland founded in 1967 as one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the rival United Soccer Association (USA) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team moved to the new league. The Bays played its home matches at Memorial Stadium during its first two seasons and moved to Kirk Field, a high school football stadium, in 1969. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1969 NASL season.
The Boston Beacons were an American soccer professional team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968. The team was based in Boston and played their home games at Fenway Park. Originally intended to be a charter member of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967, the team played its first and only season in the 1968 NASL following the merger of the NPSL and rival United Soccer Association.
The Oakland Clippers were an American soccer team based in Oakland, California. They played in the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the following season. Their home field was Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.
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The Vancouver Royals were a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1967 as the Vancouver Royal Canadians, they were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA), and when the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team, rebranded as the Royals, moved to the new league. The Royals played its home matches at the Empire Stadium. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.
Ilija Mitić was a professional soccer player. Born in Yugoslavia, he represented the United States internationally.
The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) was a North American professional soccer league that existed for only the 1967 season before merging with the United Soccer Association (USA) to form the North American Soccer League. It was a "wild league", i.e. unlike its competitor, the US, not associated with FIFA. It had ten charter members, nine from the United States and one from Canada. To encourage attacking play, the NPSL introduced a new standings points system that was later used by the NASL – 6 points for a win, 3 for a draw, 0 for a loss and 1 bonus point for each of the first three goals scored. The circuit's commissioner was Ken Macker, an American publisher of three Philippines-based newspapers. The name National Professional Soccer League was revived in 1990 and used by a United States professional indoor soccer league.
Dietrich Albrecht is a retired American soccer player. He spent one season in the National Professional Soccer League and two in the North American Soccer League. He also earned nine caps, scoring three goals, with the United States national team in 1968 and 1969.
Momčilo "Gabbo" Gavrić was a Yugoslavian-born 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.
The 1968 North American Soccer League season was the 56th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 1st with a national first-division league with the inaugural season of the NASL.
Mirko Stojanović is a Croatian retired footballer. In his career, he made four international appearances for the Yugoslavia national team.
Melvyn Douglas Scott was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Brentford and Chelsea. He was capped by England at youth and U23 level.
Luís Fernando Trieweiler, better known as Luís Fernando Gaúcho, is a Brazilian retired footballer who played as a forward in the 1970s and 80s in Brazil, the United States and Portugal. He was known simply as Luís Fernando while playing in the North American Soccer League.
NASL Final 1974 was the championship match of the 1974 season, between the expansion Los Angeles Aztecs and the Miami Toros. The match was played on August 25, 1974 at the Orange Bowl, in Miami, Florida. The teams played to a, 3–3, draw, and after a short break the game moved directly to a penalty shoot-out. Los Angeles won the shoot-out, 5–3, and were crowned the 1974 champions. This was the second consecutive year that an expansion team won the NASL title
NASL Final 1971 was the championship series of the 1971 season. It was contested as a best-of-three series between the Dallas Tornado and the Atlanta Chiefs. The matches were held on September 9, 15, and 19, 1971. Games one and three were played at Atlanta Stadium, in Atlanta, Georgia. Game two was played at Franklin Stadium of Hillcrest High School in Dallas. A combined 14,361 people attended the three game series. The Chiefs won game one, while the Tornado won games two and three to claim their first NASL championship.
NASL Final 1970 was the North American Soccer League's postseason championship final of the 1970 season. As no championship game was played for the 1969 season, it was the first championship game since the 1968 season. The event was contested in a two-game aggregate match between the Rochester Lancers and the Washington Darts. The first leg was held on September 5, 1970 at Aquinas Memorial Stadium in Rochester, New York, with the Lancers victorious by a score of 3–0. The second leg was played on September 13, 1970 at Brookland Stadium in Washington, D.C. That day the Darts came out on top by the score of 3–1. Renato Costa, who played under the alias of "Raul Herrera" that year, scored three of Rochester's four goals. With the two-legged competition completed, the Rochester Lancers held a 4–3 aggregate lead and were crowned the 1970 NASL champions.
