Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.

Overview

The league comprised 24 teams; for the only time in NASL history, the lineup of teams was identical to the year before, with no clubs joining or dropping out, franchise shifts or even name changes. The

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

defeated the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.

Changes from the previous season

The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season.

New teams

*None

Teams folding

*None

Teams moving

*None

Name changes

*None

Regular season

''W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system'' 6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game. :''-Premiers (most points). -Best record. -Other playoff teams.''

American Conference

National Conference

NASL All-Stars

Playoffs

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The last two spots would go to the next best teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were given wild-card berths. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by regular season point total, regardless of first-round seeding. The Soccer Bowl remained a single game final. ''In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one win apiece, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If there was no winner after the 30 minutes ended, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner.''

Bracket

First round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Championships

Soccer Bowl '80

1980 NASL Champions:

Post season awards

*Most Valuable Player: Roger Davies, Seattle *Coach of the year: Alan Hinton, Seattle *Rookie of the year:

Jeff Durgan Jeffrey "Jeff" Durgan (born August 29, 1961, in Tacoma, Washington) is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally for the New York Cosmos and seven times for the U.S. national team. NASL Durgan was born and raised in Tacoma, W ...

, New York * North American Player of the Year: Jack Brand, Seattle

References

External links

Video of 1980 goals of the year

Complete Results and Standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 North American Soccer League Season North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons 1980 in American soccer leagues 1980 in Canadian soccer