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 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 Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding in 1968 through 1974, the championship game was known as the NASL Championship Final, and in 1984 the single game was replaced by a best-of-three series known as the Soccer Bowl Series.
The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. Every team in the league was actually an imported European or South America club, that was then outfitted with a "local" name. Dick Walsh served as the commissioner.
The Los Angeles Wolves were an American professional soccer team that played for two seasons. In 1967 they played in the United Soccer Association, finishing as champions, and in 1968 they were founding members of the North American Soccer League.
The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium.
The Houston Stars were an American professional soccer team based out of Houston, Texas. The Stars were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967 and when the USA and rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) merged in 1968 to form the North American Soccer League (NASL), the team moved to the new league. The Stars played its home matches at the Astrodome. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1968 NASL season.
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 Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons.
The Oakland Clippers, also named the California Clippers, were an American soccer team based out of 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.
The Washington Darts were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, though in 1967 they were known as Washington Britannica. They won two ASL championships and played for the NASL championship once. They also won the 1970 NASL International Cup. The club left Washington after 1971 and became the Miami Gatos (1972), Miami Toros (1973–76), Ft. Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83), and Minnesota Strikers (1984) in the NASL's final season. The club's colors were blue, white and gray.
The New York Skyliners were a soccer team based in the Bronx borough of New York City. The club were a charter member of the United Soccer Association (USA) in 1967 and played their home games as Yankee Stadium.
Philip Parkes is an English former professional football goalkeeper. He was Wolverhampton Wanderers' first-choice keeper for much of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Robert Brown Clark is a Scottish football player and coach. Clark, who played as a goalkeeper, spent most of his playing career with Aberdeen. He also played for Queen's Park, Washington Whips, San Antonio Thunder and Clyde. Clark played 17 times for Scotland and represented the Scottish League. He later became a coach, mainly working in New Zealand and the United States.
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 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.
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1977. This was the 10th season of the NASL.
The 1967 Washington Whips season was the club's first season of existence, participating in the United Soccer Association (USA), which, at the time, was the top division of American soccer. The Whips were an imported team of Aberdeen F.C. of Scotland. They won the USA's Eastern Division and played the Los Angeles Wolves for the title. A coin toss placed the game in Los Angeles, where the Whips, after playing with 10 players for the last 30 minutes, lost on an own goal scored in extra time by Ally Shewan.
The USA Final 1967 was the United Soccer Association's first, and only, postseason championship game. The Los Angeles Wolves (composed of players from England's Wolverhampton Wanderers defeated the Washington Whips, 6 to 5, in a sudden-death overtime after 90 minutes of regular play and 30 minutes of extra time, with the win coming from an own goal credited against Washington's Ally Shewan. The title game, a single-game match, took place on July 14, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before a crowd of only 17,482 people. The game was described as "the greatest final ever played in American soil".
The 1968 Vancouver Royal Canadians season was the second season in the history of the Vancouver Royal Canadians soccer club. The club played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The 1971 NASL Professional Hoc-Soc Tournament was the first indoor variant of soccer sanctioned by the North American Soccer League. It was held in St. Louis, Missouri on the evening of March 19, 1971 and involved four of the league's eight franchises.
