NASL Final 1971 was the championship series of the 1971 season. It was contested as a

best-of-three series There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

between the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

and the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1973 and again from 1 ...

. The matches were held on September 9, 15, and 19, 1971. Games one and three were played at

Atlanta Stadium Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

. Game two was played at Franklin Stadium of Hillcrest High School in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. A combined 14,361 people attended the three game series. The Chiefs won game one, while the Tornado won games two and three to claim their first NASL championship.

Background

The Dallas Tornado qualified for the playoffs by virtue of having the highest non-division-winning point total in the league ''(119 points)''. They defeated the defending league champion Rochester Lancers in a marathon semifinal series, two games to one, that featured two of the longest games ever played in the history of soccer. Game 1 lasted a record 176 minutes and Game 3 lasted 148 minutes. The Atlanta Chiefs road to the finals was a bit smoother than their opponents' path. They qualified for the playoffs by winning the Southern Division with 120 points. The Chiefs then defeated 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 ...

in the

semifinals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

, two games to none without conceding a goal.

Series summary

;Notes

Match details

First leg

----

Second leg

----

Playoff

1971 NASL Champions:

References

External links

* {{1971 in American soccer

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

September 1971 sports events in the United States 1971 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) 1971 in sports in Texas 1970s in Atlanta 1970s in Dallas Atlanta Chiefs matches Sports competitions in Atlanta Sports competitions in Dallas Soccer in Georgia (U.S. state) Soccer in Texas