Statistics of
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 ba ...
in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.
Overview
Eight teams took part in the league with 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 ...
winning
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 ...
.
Changes from previous season
Rules changes
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
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.
New teams
*None
Teams folding
*None
Teams moving
*Washington Darts to Miami Gatos
Name changes
*None
Regular season
''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.''
NASL All-Stars
Playoffs
All playoff games in all rounds including the
NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.
Bracket
Semifinals
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NASL Final 1972
1972 NASL Champions:
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 ...
Post season awards
*Most Valuable Player:
Randy Horton
The Honourable Kenneth Howard Randolph "Randy" Horton, JP, MP is a former soccer and cricket player from Bermuda who is currently Speaker of the House of Assembly of Bermuda. He was named North American Soccer League Most Valuable Player in ...
, New York
*Coach of the year:
Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis
*Rookie of the year:
Mike Winter, St. Louis
References
External links
Complete Results and Standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972 North American Soccer League Season
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
1972 in Canadian soccer