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 NASL was formed this year as a merger between the former top division soccer leagues, the

United Soccer Association 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 S ...

along with the National Professional Soccer League. In the inaugural year, the Atlanta Chiefs were the champions, by winning the NASL Final 3–0, in a two-game aggregate over the

San Diego Toros The San Diego Toros were a professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 1967 as the Los Angeles Toros, the team was one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and th ...

. While the Chiefs were the champions for the season, the premiers for this season were the Toros, who obtained the highest point total.

Overview

17 teams competed in this inaugural season, and the Atlanta Chiefs won

the championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

. While

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

won the premiership, Atlanta's winning percentage was higher because a match had been canceled. This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership. The

Oakland Clippers 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 ...

had an identical record to the Western Division Champion Toros and a higher goal-differential, but just as with Atlanta the Toros had more league points. Oakland had won every competition in the NPSL's 1967 season, but were denied a chance to defend their title in the merged league because of this unique points system. *8 came from the NPSL: Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City (from Chicago), New York, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego ( from Los Angeles) and Toronto. *9 came from the USA: Boston (nickname changed), Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver (nickname shortened) and Washington. *2 teams from the NPSL folded (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). *3 teams from the USA folded (New York, San Francisco and Toronto). *2 teams, Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL), had the same nickname the "Stars".

Regular season

''W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system, Avg Att= Average Attendance'' 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). -Best record. -Other playoff teams.''

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

''^League best, *League worst''

NASL All-Stars

Playoffs

Bracket

Conference finals

NASL Final 1968

First leg

Second leg

1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs

Post season awards

*Most Valuable Player:

Janusz Kowalik Janusz "John" Kowalik (born 26 March 1944) is a Polish former association football striker who scored prolifically in both the European leagues and the North American Soccer League. He was the 1968 NASL MVP. Player Club career Kowalik was bo ...

, Chicago *Coach of the year:

Phil Woosnam Phillip Abraham Woosnam (22 December 1932 – 19 July 2013) was a Welsh association football inside-right and manager. A native of Caersws, Powys, Wales, Woosnam played for five clubs in England and one in the United States. He played internat ...

, Atlanta *Rookie of the year: Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta

References

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons 1968 in American soccer leagues 1968 in Canadian soccer