New York Nationals were a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team which played a single season in 1984 with the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

. An earlier team also called the New York Nationals played in the American Soccer League during the 1920s.

History

In 1984, four teams from the recently folded American Soccer League joined with five other teams to form the

. The league was created using the principles of fiscal austerity and regional competition in order to avoid the fate of the ASL and the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

which was in the process of collapsing. The team signed several top ASL players and nearly signed U.S. national team midfielder

Rick Davis Richard Dean Davis (born November 24, 1958) is an American former soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. National Team for much of the 1980s. He is considered by fans the best U.S.-born player of the North American Soccer League er ...

but was unable to do so because of his high salary. The Nationals finished 10-14 and failed to make the playoffs. It also suffered significant financial problems and folded at the end of the season.

Year-by-year

Former players

References

United Soccer League (1984–85) teams Nationals Defunct soccer clubs in New York (state) 1984 establishments in New York (state) 1984 disestablishments in New York (state) Association football clubs established in 1984 Association football clubs disestablished in 1984 {{NewYork-footyclub-stub