1976 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League 1976 season
Season1976
Teams20
ChampionsToronto Metros-Croatia
PremiersTampa Bay Rowdies
Matches240
Goals760 (3.17 per match)
Top goalscorerSouth Africa Derek Smethurst
(20 goals)
Highest attendance58,218 (NY @ Seattle)
Lowest attendance531 (Chicago @ Boston)
Average attendance10,295
← 1975
1977 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1976. This was the 9th season of the NASL.

Overview

The league's twenty teams were divided into two conferences (Atlantic or Pacific), playing a total of 240 matches. Each team's 24 matches were divided between a round-robin with other teams in the same conference and six matches against different teams in the other conference. Points were awarded for wins (six) and each goal (up to three) regardless of results; ties in regulation were decided by 15 minutes of sudden death overtime followed by a penalty shootout from 35 yards (105 ft). The playoffs were expanded from eight to twelve teams with automatic berths for the top two teams in each of the four divisions and two wild card slots per conference for the remaining best finishing teams.[1]

The Toronto Metros-Croatia defeated the Minnesota Kicks in the Soccer Bowl on August 28 to win the championship. The match was hosted at the Kingdome in Seattle, the new home of the Seattle Sounders. The Tampa Bay Rowdies finished the regular season with the best record, giving them consecutive titles in three different domestic NASL competitions. Though not in a calendar year, within 12 months they won the Soccer Bowl in August 1975, the NASL indoor cup in March 1976, and the regular season shield or premiership in August 1976. Since NASL teams at that time did not participate in the U.S. Open Cup, this would be the closest one would ever come to achieving any sort of a North American treble.

Changes from the previous season

New teams

  • None

Teams folding

  • None

Teams moving

  • Baltimore Comets to San Diego Jaws
  • Denver Dynamos to Minnesota Kicks

Name changes

  • None

Map of clubs

Northern Division Eastern Division Southern Division Western Division

Regular season

Pld = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= total points

6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

 -Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.

Atlantic Conference

Northern Division
Team Pld W L GF GA GD BP Pts
Chicago Sting 24 15 9 52 32 +20 42 132
Toronto Metros-Croatia 24 15 9 38 30 +8 33 123
Rochester Lancers 24 13 11 36 32 +4 36 114
Hartford Bicentennials 24 12 12 37 56 −19 35 107
Boston Minutemen 24 7 17 35 64 −29 32 74
Source:
Eastern Division
Team Pld W L GF GA GD BP Pts
Tampa Bay Rowdies 24 18 6 58 30 +28 46 154
New York Cosmos 24 16 8 65 34 +31 52 148
Washington Diplomats 24 14 10 46 38 +8 42 126
Philadelphia Atoms 24 8 16 32 49 −17 32 80
Miami Toros 24 6 18 29 58 −29 27 63
Source:

Pacific Conference

Western Division
Team Pld W L GF GA GD BP Pts
Minnesota Kicks 24 15 9 54 33 +21 48 138
Seattle Sounders 24 14 10 40 31 +9 39 123
Vancouver Whitecaps 24 14 10 38 30 +8 36 120
Portland Timbers 24 8 16 23 41 −18 23 71
St. Louis Stars 24 5 19 29 57 −28 28 58
Source:
Southern Division
Team Pld W L GF GA GD BP Pts
San Jose Earthquakes 24 14 10 47 30 +17 39 123
Dallas Tornado 24 13 11 44 45 −1 39 117
Los Angeles Aztecs 24 12 12 43 44 −1 36 108
San Antonio Thunder 24 12 12 38 32 +6 35 107
San Diego Jaws 24 9 15 29 47 −18 28 82
Source:

NASL All-Stars

First Team[2]  Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention[3]
United States Arnie Mausser, Tampa Bay G Scotland Eric Martin, Washington Italy Paolo Cimpiel, Toronto
England Keith Eddy, New York D England Stewart Jump, Tampa Bay Scotland Dave Gillett, Seattle
England Bobby Moore, San Antonio D England George Ley, Dallas England Frank Spraggon, Minnesota
England Tommy Smith, Tampa Bay D England Ron Webster, Minnesota Scotland Jim Holton, Miami
Wales Mike England, Seattle D United States Bob Smith, Philadelphia Canada Bruce Wilson, Vancouver
England Rodney Marsh, Tampa Bay M England Alan West, Minnesota Northern Ireland Dave Clements, New York
Peru Ramón Mifflin, New York M Scotland Bobby Hope, Dallas Germany Wolfgang Sühnholz, Toronto
Portugal António Simões, San Jose M United States Al Trost, St. Louis Scotland Charlie Cooke, Los Angeles
Brazil Pelé, New York F South Africa Derek Smethurst, Tampa Bay Scotland Jimmy Robertson, Seattle
Northern Ireland George Best, Los Angeles F England Jeff Bourne, Dallas United States Mark Liveric, San Jose
Italy Giorgio Chinaglia, New York F Scotland Stewart Scullion, Tampa Bay England Tommy Ord, Vancouver

Playoffs

All playoff games in all rounds including Soccer Bowl '76 were single game elimination match ups.

Bracket

First Round Division Championships Conference Championships Soccer Bowl '76
            
E2 New York Cosmos 2
E3 Washington Diplomats 0
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 3
E2 New York Cosmos 1
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0
Atlantic Conference
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2
N3 Rochester Lancers 1
N1 Chicago Sting 2(1)
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2(3)
N2 Toronto Metros-Croatia 3
W1 Minnesota Kicks 0
S2 Dallas Tornado 2
S3 Los Angeles Aztecs 0
S1 San Jose Earthquakes 2
S2 Dallas Tornado 0
S1 San Jose Earthquakes 1
Pacific Conference
W1 Minnesota Kicks 3
W2 Seattle Sounders 1
W3 Vancouver Whitecaps 0
W1 Minnesota Kicks 3
W2 Seattle Sounders 0

First round

August 17 Washington Diplomats 0–2 New York Cosmos Shea Stadium • Att. 22,698[4]
August 18 Los Angeles Aztecs 0–2 Dallas Tornado Ownby Stadium • Att. 9,413
August 18 Vancouver Whitecaps 0–1 Seattle Sounders Kingdome • Att. 30,406
August 18 Rochester Lancers 1–2 Toronto Metros-Croatia Varsity Stadium • Att. 6,852

Conference semifinals

August 20 Toronto Metros-Croatia 3–2 (PK, 3–1) Chicago Sting Soldier Field • Att. 8,150
August 20 New York Cosmos 1–3 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Stadium • Att. 36,863
August 20 Dallas Tornado 0–2 San Jose Earthquakes Spartan Stadium • Att. 15,135
August 21 Seattle Sounders 0–3 Minnesota Kicks Metropolitan Stadium • Att. 41,405

Conference Championships

August 24 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2–0 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa Stadium • Att. 28,046
August 25 San Jose Earthquakes 1–3 Minnesota Kicks Metropolitan Stadium • Att. 49,572

Soccer Bowl '76

Toronto Metros-Croatia3–0Minnesota Kicks
Eusébio (40:28)
Lukačević (53:57)
Ferriera (82:43)
Attendance: 25,765

1976 NASL Champions: Toronto Metros-Croatia

Post season awards

Attendances

ClubGamesTotalAverage
Seattle Sounders12285,94123,828
Minnesota Kicks12277,40423,117
Portland Timbers12241,99620,166
San Jose Earthquakes12231,33819,278
New York Cosmos12218,71918,227
Tampa Bay Rowdies12197,42916,452
Dallas Tornado12169,11314,093
Vancouver Whitecaps12103,8778,656
Los Angeles Aztecs1296,6068,051
San Diego Jaws1273,8226,152
St. Louis Stars1273,7956,150
Washington Diplomats1271,5545,963
Philadelphia Atoms1267,4135,618
Chicago Sting1266,9335,578
Toronto Metros1266,6635,555
Rochester Lancers1261,9065,159
San Antonio Thunder1257,5244,794
Hartford Bicentennials1241,0373,420
Miami Toros1236,8433,070
Boston Minutemen1230,9712,581

Source:[9]

References

  1. ↑ Holt, Gordy (April 25, 1976). "There's a New Look in the NASL". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. p. F4.
  2. ↑ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Mid Cities Daily News - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ "History of Shea Stadium". Newyork.mets.mlb.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  6. ↑ "1976 Soccer Bowl Toronto Metro Croatia vs Minnesota Kicks highlights (Film) NASL". YouTube.
  7. ↑ "The Palm Beach Post - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "All-Time NASL Attendance – kenn.com blog". Retrieved July 9, 2026.
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