1972 North American Soccer League season
Season | 1972 |
---|---|
Champions | New York Cosmos |
Premiers | New York Cosmos |
Matches played | 56 |
Goals scored | 156 (2.79 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Randy Horton (9 goals) |
Longest winning run | 5, St. Louis Stars |
Highest attendance | 24,742 (Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas) |
Lowest attendance | 1,100 (Dallas @ Montreal) |
Average attendance | 5,340 |
← 1971 1973 → |
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.
Overview[edit]
Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship.
Changes from previous season[edit]
Rules changes[edit]
The league changed its offside rule during the season on June 26. They created a "Blue Line" which was an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line. This made the NASL unique in the soccer world; the league received temporary approval for the change from FIFA on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.[1]
New teams[edit]
- None
Teams folding[edit]
- None
Teams moving[edit]
- Washington Darts to Miami Gatos
Name changes[edit]
- None
Map of clubs[edit]
Regular season[edit]
W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.
- -Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.
Northern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Cosmos | 7 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 77 |
Rochester Lancers | 6 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 22 | 64 |
Montreal Olympique | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 57 |
Toronto Metros | 4 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 53 |
Southern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis Stars | 7 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 69 |
Dallas Tornado | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 60 |
Atlanta Chiefs | 5 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 56 |
Miami Gatos | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 32 | 44 |
NASL All-Stars[edit]
First Team[2][3] | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
---|---|---|---|
Ken Cooper, Dallas | G | Dick Howard, Toronto | Sam Nusum, Montreal |
John Best, Dallas | D | Dick Hall, Dallas | Adolfo Gori, Rochester |
John Sewell, St. Louis | D | Clive Charles, Montreal | Charlie Mitchell, Rochester |
Peter Short, Rochester | D | Wilf Tranter, St. Louis | John Cocking, Atlanta |
Willie Evans, Miami | D | Brian Rowan, Toronto | Joe Puls, St. Louis |
John Kerr, New York | M | Francisco Escos, Rochester | Mick Hoban, Atlanta |
Graeme Souness, Montreal | M | Dave Metchick, Miami | Larry Hausmann, St. Louis |
Pat McBride, St. Louis | M | Siggy Stritzl, New York | Billy Fraser, Miami |
Randy Horton, New York | F | Carlos Metidieri, Rochester | Mike Renshaw, Dallas |
Paul Child, Atlanta | F | Art Welch, Atlanta | Warren Archibald, Miami |
Michael Dillon, Montreal | F | Jorge Siega, New York | Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis |
Playoffs[edit]
All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.
Bracket[edit]
Semifinals | NASL Final 1972 | ||||||||
N1 | New York Cosmos | 1 | |||||||
S2 | Dallas Tornado | 0 | |||||||
N1 | New York Cosmos | 2 | |||||||
S1 | St. Louis Stars | 1 | |||||||
S1 | St. Louis Stars | 2 | |||||||
N2 | Rochester Lancers | 0 |
Semifinals[edit]
August 15 | Rochester Lancers | 0–2 | St. Louis Stars | Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319 |
August 19 | Dallas Tornado | 0–1 | New York Cosmos | Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026 |
NASL Final 1972[edit]
New York Cosmos | 2–1 | St. Louis Stars |
---|---|---|
Horton 5' (Young) Jelinek 86' (pen.) |
Report | Frankiewicz 52' (Sewell) |
1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos
Post season awards[edit]
- Most Valuable Player: Randy Horton, New York
- Coach of the year: Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis
- Rookie of the year: Mike Winter, St. Louis
References[edit]
- ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1972". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on March 25, 2015. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
- ^ Christopher S. Page. "NASL Homepage". Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
- ^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". oocities.org. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
- ^ Flachsbart, Harold (August 27, 1972). "Stars Lose Title Match". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1C. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 16, 2014.