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 required that each squad play two U.S. or Canadian players and that each 17-man roster carry six such players.

New teams

*None

Teams folding

*None

Teams moving

*Colorado Caribous to Atlanta Chiefs *Oakland Stompers to Edmonton Drillers

Name changes

*Cosmos to New York Cosmos *Toronto Metros-Croatia to Toronto Blizzard

Season recap

Compared to the previous season's upheaval, 1979 was a relatively tranquil year. The league format remained unchanged with 24 teams divided into six divisions within two conferences, and a 16-team playoff. A slight modification to the first round of the playoffs, from a single game to the two-game format used in later rounds, was made. Also the minigame, used to decide tied playoff series, no longer ended on a

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 ...

(sudden death). Instead, the entire 30 minutes was played. Still, there were issues to be sorted out. There was a brief players' strike on April 14, as the league refused to recognize the newly formed Players Association. However, since the majority of NASL players were foreign and unsure of American and Canadian labor laws, support was minimal. An estimated three quarters of NASL players crossed the picket line once the Justice Department implied that foreign players would be subject to deportation. 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 ...

decided to put "New York" back into their name after a two-year absence. With a change in ownership, the Toronto franchise was now called the Toronto Blizzard, while

Toronto Croatia 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 anchor ...

''(who had merged with the Metros back in 1975)'' returned to their old league, the National Soccer League. The Colorado Caribous moved to Atlanta to become the reborn Atlanta Chiefs in October 1978, while the Oakland Stompers would move to Edmonton just a month before the start of the season. Both teams struggled, finishing last in their respective divisions. The new Edmonton Drillers were particularly bad, setting a record for most consecutive losses in league history with 14. At the other end of the table, the

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 t ...

went from worst to first in the American Conference, going undefeated in their 15 home matches at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Houston ...

and earning Timo Liekoski Coach of the Year honors. However, the Hurricane were upset in the first round of the ASC playoffs, as the Philadelphia Fury, who were winless on the road during the regular season, won the deciding game in Houston. That meant the door was opened for 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 ...

to win their second straight ASC title, sweeping the Fury and outlasting 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 ( ...

in a minigame at

Tampa Stadium Tampa Stadium (nicknamed The Big Sombrero and briefly known as Houlihan's Stadium) was a large open-air stadium (maximum capacity about 74,000) located in Tampa, Florida, which opened in 1967 and was significantly expanded in 1974–75. The faci ...

. The Rowdies were led by Oscar Fabbiani's 25 goals and a defense that gave up 46 goals, the second-fewest in the league. The two-time defending champion Cosmos kept rolling, posting another 24-6 record and surpassing their league record for points with 216.

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

joined the team in the fall of 1978 for a few exhibitions, but the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tourn ...

bought out his NASL option for $600,000 to take him to the West Coast. Cruyff scored two goals against the Rochester Lancers on his debut, while leading the Aztecs to a nine-win turnaround. Despite their second-round playoff loss to 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 ...

, he earned league MVP honors for his efforts. New York proved that they did not need him to score goals, as

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 ...

led the league for the third straight year. However, he lost out on the scoring title by a point to Fabbiani. As befitting their status within the league, the Cosmos had the honor of playing in the first game of

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Televisi ...

' three-year TV contract with the league in May; a Soccer Bowl '78 rematch in which they lost 3–2 at Tampa Bay. The network would cover nine regular-season and playoff games per year. This included coverage of the next three Soccer Bowls. However, the league's dream of the Cosmos hosting another Soccer Bowl in front of a national TV audience went up in smoke when New York lost to Vancouver in a memorable playoff matchup. After the Whitecaps won the first game of the National Conference final in Vancouver, the teams played for three and a half hours at Giants Stadium three days later on ABC. The Cosmos won the regular game in a shootout, tying the series at one. The deciding minigame would also go to a shootout, where Derek Possee gave Vancouver the lead. After the Cosmos' Ricky Davis and the Whitecaps' Alan Ball missed on their chances, New York's Nelsi Morais was unable to beat the five-second clock and his goal was waved off, giving Vancouver the win. Vancouver went on to beat the Rowdies a week later in the Soccer Bowl. Trevor Whymark scored both Vancouver goals and earned game MVP honors, while Tampa Bay suffered their second straight loss in the championship game. Attendance at Giants Stadium was well below projections, as 50,699 showed up despite 66,843 tickets having been sold. The Whitecaps' Alan Ball was named playoff MVP for his seven-assist effort in Vancouver's championship run. Attendance estimates vary (they range from 60,000 to 150,000 people), but the resulting championship parade is still considered the largest public demonstration in Vancouver civic history. Another positive sign for the league was that this would be the first offseason in NASL history where no franchises folded or moved.

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

''*San Diego and California finished the season with identical records and point totals. San Diego was awarded the division title due to a better goal differential.''

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 top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The two teams with the highest point totals remaining in each conference filled out the field as wild cards and were given the lowest first round seeds. Playoff match-ups and home/away status were reset after each round, based on regular season point totals. ''In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one victory each, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If neither team held an advantage after the 30 minutes, the teams would then move on to an NASL shoot-out to determine a series winner.''

Bracket

First round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Championships

Soccer Bowl '79

1979 NASL Champions:

Post season awards

*Most Valuable Player:

, Los Angeles *Coach of the year: Timo Liekoski, Houston *Rookie of the year: Larry Hulcer, Los Angeles * North American Player of the Year:

Rick Davis Richard Dean Davis (born November 24, 1958) is an American former soccer midfielder, and former captain of the U.S. National Team for much of the 1980s. He is considered by fans the best U.S.-born player of the North American Soccer League er ...

, New York *Playoff MVP: Alan Ball, Vancouver ''

Average home attendance

References

External links

The Year in American Soccer – 1979

Complete NASL Results and Standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 North American Soccer League Season North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons 1979 in American soccer 1979 in Canadian soccer