The 1978

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 ...

season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada.

Changes from the previous season

New teams

*Colorado Caribous *Detroit Express *Houston Hurricane *Memphis Rogues *New England Tea Men *Philadelphia Fury

Teams folding

*None

Teams moving

*Connecticut Bicentennials to Oakland Stompers *Las Vegas Quicksilver to San Diego Sockers *St. Louis Stars to California Surf *Team Hawaii to Tulsa Roughnecks

Name changes

*None

Season recap

Bolstered by the success of the previous season, the league added six teams to reach 24 in total. The Colorado Caribous launched in Denver, the Detroit Express and

Houston Hurricane The Houston Hurricane was a soccer team based out of Houston that played in the NASL. They played from 1978 to 1980. Their home field was the Astrodome. Their colors were orange, white and red. History The team was the last of six expansion te ...

became the second and third teams to play in fully enclosed indoor stadiums, the Philadelphia Fury brought soccer back to Philadelphia, the

New England Tea Men The New England Tea Men were an American professional soccer team based in Greater Boston. They played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Their home venues for outdoor play were Schaefer Stadium (shared with the NFL's ...

would be the third attempt to have NASL soccer succeed in the Boston area and the

Memphis Rogues The Memphis Rogues were a professional soccer team in the former North American Soccer League. They operated in the 1978, 1979, and 1980 seasons and played their home games in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. They also played indoor ...

would bring pro soccer to Tennessee. There were also the usual franchise movements. Team Hawaii became the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

, the

Las Vegas Quicksilver The second Las Vegas Quicksilvers were a soccer club that competed in the USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's ...

became the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996) The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League ( ...

, the

Connecticut Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 1 ...

became the

Oakland Stompers The Oakland Stompers were a soccer team based out of Oakland, California that played the 1978 season in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Stompers played in the Western Division of the American Conference and finished the year with a ...

and the St. Louis Stars moved to Anaheim to become the

California Surf The California Surf were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

. With so many new clubs, the NASL realigned into a six-division format while expanding the playoffs to include 16 teams. The new alignment was a direct copy of the NFL's setup, as the new three-division conferences were called the 'American Soccer Conference' and the 'National Soccer Conference', respectively. Each conference had East, Central and West divisions as well. The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two 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 known as 'wild-cards' – another nod to the NFL. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference. The first round and the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary. The

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

would set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark (shared with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

) and 212 points. The Cosmos beat the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, 7–0, on opening day and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation.

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to ...

scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. He did not win regular season MVP honors, however. That award went to New England's Mike Flanagan, who scored 30 goals and 68 points while leading the Tea Men to an unlikely ASC East title. At the age of 36,

Alan Hinton Alan Thomas Hinton (born 6 October 1942) is an English former footballer who played at the top level of English football from 1961 to 1975. He famously wore white football boots. Playing career Wolverhampton Wanderers Hinton started his career ...

of Vancouver set a league record of his own with 30 assists. Still, the Cosmos needed a major rally to beat the

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks were a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL). Initiall ...

in the NSC playoffs. The Kicks won the first game by an extraordinary 9–2 score behind Alan Willey's five goals, but the Cosmos won Game 2, 4–0, back at Giants Stadium. The resulting mini-game went to a shootout, and Carlos Alberto and

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (, ; born 11 September 1945) is a German former professional footballer and manager. In his playing career he was nicknamed ''Der Kaiser'' ("The Emperor") because of his elegant style, dominance and leadership on the fi ...

scored goals to keep the Cosmos alive. The

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

were shut out over both games of the National Conference final, and the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

were beaten before 74,901 fans at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted spo ...

in the

. The Cosmos became the first back-to-back champions in NASL history. After the season the Colorado Caribous would move to Atlanta, while the Oakland Stompers would move to Edmonton just two months before the start of the

1979 NASL season The 1979 North American Soccer League season was the 67th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer and the 12th with a national first-division league in the United States and Canada. Changes from the previous season Rules changes A rule modification req ...

. The Stompers had drawn over 32,000 for their opening game at the

Oakland Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home b ...

, but were drawing crowds under 10,000 by the end of the season. The Caribous had the worst record in the league and only drew one crowd bigger than 10,000 the entire year.

Regular season

''W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = 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). -Other playoff teams.''

American Conference

National Conference

NASL League Leaders

Scoring

''GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points''

Goalkeeping

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts''

NASL All-Stars

Playoffs

The first round and the

were single game match ups, while the conference semifinals and championships were all two-game series.

Bracket

Conference Quarterfinals

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Conference Semifinals

''In 1978, if a playoff series was tied after two games, a 30 minute,

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

, mini-game was played. If neither team scored in the mini-game, they would move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. *Teams were re-seeded for the Conference Semifinals based on regular season point totals. This affected only one of the four series; Tampa Bay versus San Diego.''

Conference Championships

Soccer Bowl '78

1978 NASL Champions:

Playoff Statistics

''Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.''

Scoring

''GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points''

Goalkeeping

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts''

Post season awards

*Most Valuable Player: Mike Flanagan, New England *Coach of the Year:

Tony Waiters Anthony Keith Waiters (1 February 1937 – 5 November 2020) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is better known for his coaching career in Canada. He managed the Vancouver Whitecaps to an NASL championship, and was in char ...

, Vancouver *Rookie of the Year: Gary Etherington, Cosmos *North American Player of the Year: Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver

Team attendance totals

References

External links

The Year in American Soccer – 1978

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85) North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons 1 1978 in Canadian soccer