1973 North American Soccer League season

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North American Soccer League 1973 season
Season1973
Champions Philadelphia Atoms
Premiers Dallas Tornado
Matches played90
Goals scored246 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorer Warren Archibald
Ilija Mitić
(12 goals)
Longest unbeaten run13, Philadelphia
Highest attendance21,700 (Dallas @ Phil)
Lowest attendance1,100 (NY @ Montreal)
Average attendance6,290
← 1972
1974 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1973. This was the 6th season of the NASL. [1]

Contents

Overview

Nine teams took part in the league with the Philadelphia Atoms winning the championship.

During the season, Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz from Vera Cruz, Mexico, played each of the nine NASL clubs in exhibition games that counted in the league's final standings. The 1973 season would be the last season in which games from non-league clubs counted in league standings. [2]

A week before the NASL Final 1973, commissioner Phil Woosnam announced that no team in the league made a profit during the season. [3]

In a unique twist, the team with home field for the NASL Championship Game determined the date and time the game was to be played. When the Dallas Tornado won their semi-final, setting up the final with Philadelphia, they chose August 25 as the date of the game. They did this because the NASL loan agreements with players from the English First Division (the precursor to today's Premier League) expired before that date. [4]

Because of this, Philadelphia's two leading scorers, Andy "The Flea" Provan and Jim Fryatt, were on their way back to England when the championship match was played on the 25th. Despite this, Philadelphia coach, Al Miller, put Bill Straub, a defender who had not played a minute for the club prior to the championship game, into the lineup at forward. The move paid off as Straub headed home the second goal in a 2–0 win with under five minutes remaining in the final. [4]

Changes from the previous season

New teams

Teams folding

Teams moving

Name changes

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, PTS= Total Points

POINT SYSTEM
6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each goal scored up to three per game.

 -Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.
Eastern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Philadelphia Atoms 928291426104
New York Cosmos 75731232891
Miami Toros 85626212288
Northern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Toronto Metros 64932182689
Montreal Olympique 510425322264
Rochester Lancers 49617271759
Southern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Dallas Tornado 1144362533111
St. Louis Stars 77527272582
Atlanta Apollos 39723402362

NASL All-Stars

First Team [5] [6]   Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention
Ken Cooper, Dallas G Bob Rigby, Philadelphia Sam Nusum, Montreal
John Best, Dallas D Bob Smith, Philadelphia John Sewell, St. Louis
Chris Dunleavy, PhiladelphiaD Derek Trevis, Philadelphia Barry Barto, Philadelphia
David Sadler, MiamiD Dick Hall, Dallas Werner Roth, New York
Brian Rowan, TorontoD Roy Evans, Philadelphia John Collins, Dallas
Ilija Mitic, Dallas M Pat McBride, St. Louis Al Trost, St. Louis
Fernando Pinto, TorontoM Francisco Escos, Rochester Roy Turner, Dallas
Ian McPhee, TorontoM Roberto Aguirre, Miami George O'Neill, Philadelphia
Andy Provan, Philadelphia F Joey Fink, New York Paul Child, Atlanta
Jim Fryatt, PhiladelphiaF Rick Reynolds, Dallas Kyle Rote Jr., Dallas
Warren Archibald, MiamiF Randy Horton, New York Nick Jennings, Dallas

Playoffs

All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.

Bracket

Semifinals NASL Final 1973
      
1 Dallas Tornado 1
4 New York Cosmos 0
1 Dallas Tornado 0
2 Philadelphia Atoms 2
2 Philadelphia Atoms 3
3 Toronto Metros 0

Semifinals

August 15 New York Cosmos 0–1 Dallas Tornado Texas Stadium • Att. 9,009 [1]
August 18 Toronto Metros 0–3 Philadelphia Atoms Veterans Stadium • Att. 18,766 [1]

NASL Final 1973

Dallas Tornado 0–2 Philadelphia Atoms
Best Soccerball shade.svg66' (o.g.)
Straub Soccerball shade.svg85' (Evans)
Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas [7] [8]
Attendance: 18,824 [1]
Referee: Bill Gallagher (Canada) [9]

1973 NASL Champions: Philadelphia Atoms

Post season awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North American Soccer League (1968–1984)</span> Defunct major soccer league in the United States and Canada

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Soccer Association</span> A professional soccer league

The United Soccer Association (USA) 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dallas Tornado</span> Soccer club

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Atoms</span> Defunct American soccer club

The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors were blue and white. The club was succeeded by the Philadelphia Fury in 1978.

Walter Chyzowych was a Ukrainian-born soccer player who played for Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals and Newark Sitch of the American Soccer League and was later a coach for the United States national soccer team. His older brother Gene Chyzowych (1935–2014) was also a professional soccer player and coach.

Al Miller is an American former collegiate and professional soccer coach. After leaving coaching, he then became a general manager for two indoor soccer clubs in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

William ("Bill" or "Billy") Straub is a former U.S. soccer player. He spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League. He also earned three caps with the United States in 1975.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1976. This was the 9th season of the NASL.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1977. This was the 10th season of the NASL.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1975. This was the 8th season of the NASL.

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.

The 1969 North American Soccer League season was the second season of the North American Soccer League, the top division in US soccer in 1969.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1971. This was the 4th season of the NASL.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1974. This was the 7th season of the NASL.

Division 1 professional soccer returned to Vancouver in 1974 with the Vancouver Whitecaps as interest began to grow in U.S. soccer, and the NASL grew after stabilizing in terms of attendance and number of teams with six to eight teams. In 1974 the Whitecaps were one of five expansion teams that were the first teams since 1968 west of Dallas, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.

In early 1975, the North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NASL Final 1973</span> Soccer match

NASL Final 1973 was the championship match of the 1973 season, between the expansion Philadelphia Atoms and the Dallas Tornado. The match was played on August 25, 1973 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The Philadelphia Atoms won the match, 2–0, and were crowned the 1973 North American Soccer League champions.

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.

The Philadelphia Fury were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. The team was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and played their home games at Veterans Stadium. Included in the team's ownership group were rock musicians Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton, Mick Jagger, and Paul Simon. During the team's three years of play in Philadelphia it never had a winning record, but qualified for, and advanced to the second round, of the 1979 playoffs. After the 1980 NASL season, the team was sold and moved to Montreal, rebranding as the Montreal Manic.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Year in American Soccer - 1973". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  2. ↑ Jose, Colin (1989). NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League. USA: Brredon Books. p. 360. ISBN   978-0907969563.
  3. ↑ Rickey, Jim (August 19, 1973). "Despite No Profits: Soccer Plans Expansion". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 5D. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Flashback: Philly in the 1973 NASL playoffs". www.phillysoccerpage.net.
  5. ↑ "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  7. ↑ Edwin Shrake (September 3, 1973). "Armed with Americans, Philadelphia's soccer team beat - 09.03.73 - SI Vault". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Philadelphia Atoms @ Dallas Tornado 1973 NASL Finals Highlights - YouTube". YouTube . Archived from the original on December 29, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Past Winners | North American Soccer League". Naslsoccerbowl.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
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