Event | Soccer Bowl | ||||||
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Date | October 1, 1983 | ||||||
Venue | BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, British Columbia | ||||||
MVP | Njego Pesa (Tulsa Roughnecks) | ||||||
Referee | Ed Bellion (United States) | ||||||
Attendance | 53,326 | ||||||
Soccer Bowl '83 was the 17th edition of the Soccer Bowl, the championship match of North American Soccer League (NASL), which took place on October 1, 1983. It was the final match of the 1983 North American Soccer League playoffs and was contested by the Tulsa Roughnecks and the Toronto Blizzard at the Stadium at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. [1] [2]
The Tulsa Roughnecks won the Southern Division with a 17–13 record and a total of 145 points. They dispatched the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the quarterfinals with a two-game sweep. By virtue of their two games to one victory In the semifinals against the Montreal Manic, the Roughnecks advanced to the Soccer Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
The Toronto Blizzard qualified for the playoffs as a wild card by finishing third in the Eastern Division with a 16–14 record and a total of 135 points. In the quarterfinals they were the upset-winner over the Western Division champion Vancouver Whitecaps by two games to one. Vancouver had only lost 6 matches all season. The Blizzard pulled off a second upset in their semifinal match-up by sweeping the Golden Bay Earthquakes in two games, and earning their second ever trip to the Soccer Bowl.
During game three of their semifinal series with Montreal, Tulsa forward Ron Futcher picked up his third yellow card of the playoffs. By rule this earned him a one-match suspension, and league director of operations Ted Howard was poised to enforce it. For his part, Futcher was not only the team's leading scorer, but also a leader in the Roughnecks' locker room. Tulsa's owners appealed the yellow card and even alluded to the press, the possibility of boycotting the final if Futcher was not allowed to play. Toronto team president Clive Toye felt that bending the rules for a star player might set a bad precedent, but was nevertheless prepared to face whatever lineup Tulsa put on the pitch. Ultimately, NASL president Howard J. Samuels overruled Ted Howard and decided to allow Futcher to play, because he felt that the fans in attendance would be the ones made to suffer by Futcher's absence. [3] [4]
Tulsa Roughnecks | 2–0 | Toronto Blizzard |
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Pesa 56' Futcher 62' | Report |
Tulsa Roughnecks | Toronto Blizzard |
|
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1983 NASL Champions: Tulsa Roughnecks
Soccer Bowl MVP: |
Assistant referees: |
Television: Budwieser Network (syndicated)
Announcers: Bob Carpenter, Gordon Bradley
Touchline reporter: Al Miller
Statistic [11] | Tulsa | Toronto |
---|---|---|
Goals scored | 2 | 0 |
Total shots | 11 | 14 |
Shots on target | 4 | 3 |
Saves | 3 | 2 |
Corner kicks | 2 | 5 |
Fouls | 19 | 19 |
Offsides | 4 | 9 |
Yellow cards | 0 | 2 |
Red cards | 0 | 0 |
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 Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) were a North American Soccer League (NASL) team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It played its home games at Skelly Stadium on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The team, previously Team Hawaii, moved to Tulsa after the 1977 season. In 1983, Alex Skotarek became general manager and led one of the lowest-budgeted teams in the NASL to a championship, defeating Toronto, 2–0, at Soccer Bowl '83.
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