1971 Atlanta Chiefs season

Atlanta Chiefs
1971 season
Owner	Atlanta Braves, Inc
Manager	Vic Rouse
Stadium	Tara Stadium
NASL	Southern Division: First place; Regular Season: Second place; NASL Championship: Runners-up
Top goalscorer	Barrie Lynch (8); Nick Papadakis (8)
	Home colours
	Home colours

The 1971 season was the Atlanta Chiefs' 4th season in the North American Soccer League. This season saw the team end win the Southern Division and played in the NASL Final 1971 as runners-up through a season that lasted from April 17 to September 19, 1971.

Overview

Due to poor attendance in the previous season at Tara Stadium, the Chiefs moved back to the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium for this season. This resulted in the club achieving a similar success to the 1969 season in reaching the NASL Final 1971. However, they would again lose to their opponents, this time being the Dallas Tornado.^[1]

Squad

Source:^[2]


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	GER	Manfred Kammerer
2	GK	WAL	Vic Rouse
3	DF	ENG	John Cocking
4	DF	ENG	Barrie Lynch
5	DF	ENG	Ken Bracewell
6	DF	JAM	Henry Largie
7	FW	JAM	Art Welch
8	FW	ENG	Mick Ash
9	FW	CAN	Nick Papadakis


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
10	FW	SCO	Danny Paton
11	DF	BRA	Uriel da Veiga
12	FW	ENG	Dave Metchick
15	FW	ZAM	Freddie Mwila
16	MF	USA	Mick Hoban
19	DF	USA	Manley Carter
20	FW	USA	Alan Hamlyn
24	MF	RSA	Kaizer Motaung

Competitions

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.

Northern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Rochester Lancers	13	5	6	48	31	141
New York Cosmos	9	10	5	51	55	117
Toronto Metros	5	10	9	32	47	89
Montreal Olympique	4	15	5	29	59	65

Southern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Atlanta Chiefs	12	7	5	35	29	120
Dallas Tornado	10	6	8	38	24	119
Washington Darts	8	6	10	36	34	111
St. Louis Stars	6	13	5	37	47	86

North American Soccer League

Match reports

April 17, 1971 1	Atlanta Chiefs	2–0	Montreal Olympique	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Motaung (?) Mwila (?)	Report		Attendance: 7,672

April 25, 1971 2	Washington Darts	0–0	Atlanta Chiefs	Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
		Report		Attendance: 3,452

May 1, 1971 3	Dallas Tornado	2–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Franklin Stadium, Dallas
	Renshaw (?) McLoughlin (?)	Report	Mwila (?)	Attendance: 2,895

May 7, 1971 4	Atlanta Chiefs	2–0	Toronto Metros	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Bracewell (?) Mwila (?)	Report		Attendance: 4,119

May 15, 1971 5	Rochester Lancers	1–3	Atlanta Chiefs	Holleder Memorial, Rochester
	Metidieri (?)	Report	Motaung (?) Mwila (?) Metchick (?)	Attendance: 4,113

May 22, 1971 6	Atlanta Chiefs	4–1	St. Louis Stars	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Papadakis (?) Metchick (?) Welch (?)	Report	Gonzales (?)	Attendance: 3,422

May 29, 1971 7	Atlanta Chiefs	4–1	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Papadakis (?) Metchick (?) Motaung (?)	Report	??? (?)	Attendance: 6,129

June 4, 1971 8	St. Louis Stars	2–3	Atlanta Chiefs	Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis
	Frankiewicz (?) Hausmann (?)	Report	Lynch (?) Mwila (?) Papadakis (?)	Attendance: 3,112

June 6, 1971 9	Atlanta Chiefs	1–3	Toronto Metros	Varsity Stadium, Toronto
	Lynch (?)	Report	Talbot (?) Rioch (?)	Attendance: 7,114

June 12, 1971 10	Atlanta Chiefs	1–0	Rochester Lancers	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Lynch (?)	Report		Attendance: 4,011

June 19, 1971 11	Atlanta Chiefs	1–1	Washington Darts	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Lynch (?)	Report	Grell (?)	Attendance: 3,687

June 26, 1971 12	Dallas Tornado	4–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Franklin Stadium, Dallas
	Gavrić (?) Apostolidis (?) Youlden (?)	Report	Papadakis (?)	Attendance: 4,057

July 3, 1971 13	Atlanta Chiefs	1–3	New York Cosmos	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Lynch (?)	Report	Horton (?) Siega (?)	Attendance: 3,687

July 10, 1971 14	Atlanta Chiefs	2–0	St. Louis Stars	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Largie (?) Motaung (?)	Report		Attendance: 4,248

July 18, 1971 15	Montreal Olympique	0–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Autostade, Montreal
		Report	Papadakis (?)	Attendance: 1,635

July 23, 1971 16	Atlanta Chiefs	0–3	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	McLoughlin (?) Youlden (?)	Report		Attendance: 4,248

August 2, 1971 17	Washington Darts	0–0	Atlanta Chiefs	Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
		Report		Attendance: 2,283

August 18, 1971 18	St. Louis Stars	0–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis
		Report	Papadakis (?)	Attendance: 6,687

August 22, 1971 19	Atlanta Chiefs	1–1	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Largie (?)	Report	Kerr (?)	Attendance: 3,420

August 29, 1971 20	New York Cosmos	2–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Yankee Stadium, New York City
	Mitrović (?) Alan O'Neill	Report	Largie (?)	Attendance: 2,714

September 2, 1971 21	Atlanta Chiefs	1–0	New York Cosmos	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Motaung (?)	Report		Attendance: 3,420

September 5, 1971 22	New York Cosmos	0–2	Atlanta Chiefs	Yankee Stadium, New York City
		Report	Largie (?) Motaung (?)	Attendance: 2,714

NASL Final

September 12, 1971 First leg	Atlanta Chiefs	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	da Veiga 72' Motaung 124'	Report	Molnár 41'	Attendance: 3,218

September 15, 1971 Second leg	Dallas Tornado	4–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Franklin Stadium, Dallas
	Tinney 45' Juracy 54', 76' Tony McLoughlin	Report 1 Report 2	Largie 44'	Attendance: 6,456

September 19, 1971 Playoffs	Atlanta Chiefs	0–2	Dallas Tornado^[4]	Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta
		Report 1 Report 2	Renshaw 3' Moffat 45'	Attendance: 4,687

Friendlies

April 2, 1971	Atlanta Chiefs	4–1	Washington Darts	Arlington, Virginia
	Mwila (?) Welch (?) Motaung (?) Papadakis (?)	Report	Grell 1'	Attendance: 600

May 7, 1971	Atlanta Chiefs	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Papadakis (?)	Report		Attendance: 3,075

June 15, 1971	Atlanta Chiefs	3–2	Vicenza	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Lynch (?) Motaung (?)	Report	Ciccolo (?) Scala (?)	Attendance: 4,041

July 8, 1971	Atlanta Chiefs	1–1	Apollon Smyrnis	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
	Lynch (?)	Report	Skoufos (?)	Attendance: 4,586

August 10, 1971	Atlanta Chiefs	0–2	Bangu	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
		Report	Elmuro (?) Alves (?)	Attendance: 3,480

References

↑ "Clayton County's Forgotten Soccer History". Connecting the Dots of Sports History. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
↑ "NASL Atlanta Chiefs Rosters". NASL Jerseys. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
↑ "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". 22 Sep 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
↑ "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". 22 Sep 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-22.

[1] "Clayton County's Forgotten Soccer History". Connecting the Dots of Sports History. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2026.

[2] "NASL Atlanta Chiefs Rosters". NASL Jerseys. Retrieved 9 June 2025.

[3] "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". 22 Sep 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-22.

[4] "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". 22 Sep 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-22.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

North American Soccer League
Broadcasters USSF CSA Portal NASL (2011–2017) First overall draft picks
Seasons	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Soccer Bowls	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Predecessors	USA 1967 Final NPSL 1967 Final
Indoor seasons	1971 1975 1976 1978 (Skelly) 1978 (Schlitz) 1979 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1983 1983–84
Conferences	1968 East West 1976–1977 Atlantic Pacific 1978–1980 American National
Related	Soccer Bowl broadcasters NASL Indoor Championship
Clubs	Atlanta Apollos Atlanta Chiefs Baltimore Bays Baltimore Comets Boston Beacons Boston Minutemen Boston Shamrock Rovers¹ Calgary Boomers California Surf Chicago Mustangs Chicago Spurs² Chicago Sting Cleveland Stokers Caribous of Colorado Connecticut Bicentennials Dallas Tornado Denver Dynamos Detroit Cougars Detroit Express Edmonton Drillers Fort Lauderdale Strikers Golden Bay Earthquakes Hartford Bicentennials Houston Hurricane Houston Stars Jacksonville Tea Men Kansas City Spurs Las Vegas Quicksilvers Los Angeles Aztecs Los Angeles Wolves Memphis Rogues Miami Gatos Miami Toros Minnesota Kicks Minnesota Strikers Montreal Manic Montreal Olympique New England Tea Men New York Cosmos New York Generals New York Skyliners¹ Oakland Clippers Oakland Stompers Philadelphia Spartans² Philadelphia Atoms Philadelphia Fury Pittsburgh Phantoms² Portland Timbers Rochester Lancers San Antonio Thunder San Diego Jaws San Diego Sockers San Diego Toros San Francisco Golden Gate Gales¹ San Jose Earthquakes Seattle Sounders St. Louis Stars Tampa Bay Rowdies Team America Team Hawaii Toronto Blizzard Toronto City¹ Toronto Falcons Toronto Metros Toronto Metros-Croatia Tulsa Roughnecks Vancouver Royals Vancouver Whitecaps Washington Darts Washington Diplomats Washington Whips
¹ United Soccer Association team that did not join NASL upon merger with NPSL. ² National Professional Soccer League team that did not join NASL upon merger with USA.