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 ...

'84, also known as Soccer Bowl Series '84, was the championship of the

1984 NASL season The 1984 North American Soccer League season was the 72nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 17th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada. It would be the 17th and final season of the NASL. Changes from the previ ...

, and the last championship of the original NASL. In a departure from previous years, it was a best-of-three series between the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again fro ...

and the Toronto Blizzard as opposed to a single-game championship. The first game of the series was held on Monday, October 1 at

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a baseball park in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-southwest side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Bui ...

, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

; the Sting won it, 2–1. The second game was played at

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate football stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Toronto Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto. Athletic events have been hosted on the site since 1898; ...

, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anc ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on October 3. Chicago won again, this time by a score of 3–2, to sweep the series and claim its second North American championship.

Background

Chicago Sting

The Chicago Sting finished the regular season with a 13-11 record, while the Blizzard went 14-10. However, due to the NASL's point system, the Sting were crowned the Eastern Division champions, and also won the league's regular season title with 120 points. This ensured that they would retain home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Since all series were best-of-three ties, that meant a Game 3 if necessary, would be in Chicago. The Sting defeated 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 Mar ...

in their semi-finals series, two games to one.

Toronto Blizzard

The Toronto Blizzard qualified for the playoffs as runners-up in the Eastern Division and faced the San Diego Sockers in the other semi-final series. The Blizzard earned a return trip to the finals with a two–game sweep of the Western Division champion Sockers. Games 1 and 3 of the Soccer Bowl Series were scheduled to be played at Comiskey Park, while game 2 was set for Toronto's Varsity Stadium. Sportsvision televised the series in the

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

; this coverage was simulcast on the then-new TSN (which had started up a month earlier) cable channel in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...

Series summary

;Notes

Match details

Game 1

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Game 2

1984 NASL Champions:

Championship Statistics

Post-match controversy

Earlier in the year Sting ownership had requested a one-year leave of absence from the NASL, and were denied. With only a few games remaining in the season, Sting chairman Lee Stern, believing that

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soc ...

represented the future of the sport, announced that 1984 would be the Chicago Sting's last in the NASL. They, along with three other teams had been granted full admittance to the

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and is cit ...

. The Blizzard, who were run by former Sting president

Clive Toye Clive Roy Toye (born Devonport, Plymouth, 23 November 1932) was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the United States in 2003. Toye was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom, to Thomas Roy Toye (1906–65) and Irene Turner. He was a sport ...

, were one of the franchises fighting to keep the NASL going. In the immediate aftermath of Chicago's title clinching victory, Toye's actions and subsequent words were unsporting in nature. He refused to honor the long-standing tradition of entering the winning side's locker room to congratulate the victors. He then followed that up by taking verbal jabs at both Willy Roy and

Karl-Heinz Granitza Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1 November 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. In the United States, he is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Granitza was born in Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He ...

to reporters, by referring to them as "cheats" and the Sting as "unworthy champions" among other things. While in the midst of Chicago's post match celebration, not surprisingly, Granitza responded in kind. In the end the pettiness and lack of sportsmanship by both men mattered little, as Chicago left with the league's final trophy. The following spring, with Toye as the NASL's interim president, the league would cease operations.

References

External links

* Video of the games (p
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{{1984 in American soccer

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1984 in Canadian soccer

Toronto Blizzard matches 1984 in sports in Illinois 1984 in Toronto 1980s in Chicago Soccer in Chicago Soccer in Toronto Sports competitions in Chicago Sports competitions in Toronto October 1984 sports events in Canada October 1984 sports events in the United States