National Soccer Conference
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National Soccer Conference
The National Soccer Conference was one of two conferences of the original North American Soccer League between 1978 and 1980. It along with the American Conference were formed for the 1978 season as part of a realignment to accommodate an expanding league, and bolster more competitive play which had been lacking under the previous Atlantic and Pacific conferences. It is speculated, that the league decided to realign the league to be more similar to the National Football League (American football) format, with one league official stating that the league hoped that new expansions and initiatives would cause "enough demand for soccer that they ouldsell the TV rights to two networks like the NFL did." During their three-season tenure, National Conference teams dominated the league, and won all three available premierships, and all three league championships. Of these honors, five of them were won by the New York Cosmos, whose only playoff defeat in the National Conference came in ...
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North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 North American Soccer League season, 1968 to 1984 North American Soccer League season, 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United States. The league final was called the Soccer Bowl from 1975 North American Soccer League season, 1975 to 1983 North American Soccer League season, 1983 and the Soccer Bowl Series in its final year, 1984 North American Soccer League season, 1984. The league was headed by Commissioner Phil Woosnam from 1969 to 1983. The NASL laid the foundations for soccer in the United States that helped lead to the country hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup and setting up Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996. The United States did not have a truly national top-flight league until the FIFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association (USA) and the National Pr ...
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Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984)
The Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) were a North American Soccer League (NASL) team from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It played its home games at Skelly Stadium on the campus of the University of Tulsa. The team, previously Team Hawaii, moved to Tulsa after the 1977 season. In 1983, Alex Skotarek became general manager and led one of the lowest-budgeted teams in the NASL to a championship, defeating Toronto, 2–0, at Soccer Bowl '83. Shortly after the Tulsa Roughnecks victory of the 1983 Soccer Bowl, President Ronald Reagan sent congratulatory remarks to the team as they carried the trophy in a celebration parade through downtown Tulsa. The Roughnecks still stands (as of 2024) as the only major professional team from Oklahoma to win a championship. Highlights The Roughnecks first match was a 6–5 indoor loss on February 11, 1978, at the Bayfront Center versus the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Three nights later in their home debut, the same two teams faced off in front of the first 3,250 Roug ...
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National League (baseball)
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP) of 1871–1875 (often called simply the "National Association"), the NL is sometimes called the Senior Circuit, in contrast to MLB's other league, the American League, which was founded 25 years later and is called the "Junior Circuit". Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The National League survived competition from various other professional baseball leagues during the late 19th century. Most did not last for more than a few seasons, with a handful of teams joining the NL once their leagues folded. The American League declared itself a second major league in 1901, and the AL and NL engaged in a "baseball war" durin ...
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National Football Conference
The National Football Conference (NFC) is a conference of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference (AFC), each have 16 teams organized into four divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 NFL merger with the rival American Football League (AFL). All ten of the former AFL teams and three NFL teams formed the AFC while the remaining thirteen NFL clubs formed the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making a total of 16 clubs in each conference. The defending champions of the NFC are the Philadelphia Eagles, who defeated the Washington Commanders in the 2024 season's NFC Championship Game for their fifth conference championship in the team's history. Teams Since 2002, like the AFC, the NFC has 16 teams that organized into four divisions each with four teams: East, North, ...
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1978 North American Soccer League Season
The 1978 North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada. Changes from the previous season New teams *Colorado Caribous *Detroit Express *Houston Hurricane *Memphis Rogues *New England Tea Men *Philadelphia Fury Teams folding *None Teams moving *Connecticut Bicentennials to Oakland Stompers *Las Vegas Quicksilver to San Diego Sockers *St. Louis Stars to California Surf *Team Hawaii to Tulsa Roughnecks Name changes *None Map of clubs Season recap Bolstered by the success of the 1977 North American Soccer League season, previous season, the league added six teams to reach 24 in total. The Colorado Caribous launched in Denver, the Detroit Express and Houston Hurricane became the second and third teams to play in fully enclosed indoor stadiums, the Philadelphia Fury (1978–80), Philadelphia Fury brought soccer back t ...
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1980 North American Soccer League Season
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL. Overview The league comprised 24 teams; for the only time in NASL history, the lineup of teams was identical to the year before, with no clubs joining or dropping out, franchise shifts or even name changes. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (Seattle) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored. Changes from the previous season The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season. New teams *None Teams folding *None Teams moving *None Name changes *None Map of clubs Regular season ''W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goal ...
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Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984)
The original Vancouver Whitecaps are a professional soccer team founded on December 11, 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s they played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The Whitecaps of that era included international players such as Alan Ball, Ruud Krol and Bruce Grobbelaar, but also British Columbian stars like Bobby and Sam Lenarduzzi, Buzz Parsons, and Bruce Wilson. In 1979, the team from the "Village of Vancouver" (a reference to ABC TV sportscaster Jim McKay's observation that "Vancouver must be like the deserted village right now", with so many people watching the game on TV) beat the powerhouse New York Cosmos in one of the most thrilling playoff series in NASL history to advance to the 1979 Soccer Bowl. Saturday, September 8, 1979, they triumphed against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at the Giants Stadium before a crowd of 50,699 ''(66,843 tickets had been sold for the game)''. It was during this short period that soccer interest peaked in Vancouver. The Whitecap ...
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1979 North American Soccer League Season
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 Map of clubs 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, n ...
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1978 North American Soccer League Playoffs
The 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs began on August 8 and ended on August 27 with Soccer Bowl '78 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 16 out of 24 teams qualified after a 30-match regular season, eight from each conference. Playoff format The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards', a nod to the NFL's playoff format. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by point total. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if nec ...
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Vancouver Whitecaps (1974-84)
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, 2009, and began play in 2011 as the 17th team to enter Major League Soccer while replacing the USSF Division 2 team of the same name in the city, making them a phoenix club and the third to carry the Whitecaps name. The club has been owned and managed by the same group since their USSF days. In the 2012 season, the team became the first Canadian team to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs. The Whitecaps have won four Canadian Championships, in 2015, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Vancouver also competes against longtime Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle and Portland in the Cascadia Cup, a fan-created trophy awarded based on MLS regular season results. Notable former Whitecaps players include former American international Jay DeMerit, the club's f ...
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Seattle Sounders (1974–1983)
The Seattle Sounders were an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season but the name was revived in 1994 for a lower-division team and Seattle Sounders FC of the top-flight Major League Soccer, founded in 2007. History A Seattle expansion team for the North American Soccer League was proposed in early 1973 as part of a new Western Division that would include Los Angeles, San Jose, and Vancouver. On December 11, 1973, the league awarded an expansion team to Seattle that would be owned by a group of local businessmen led by Walter Daggatt of the Alpac Corporation; the team would play at Memorial Stadium in the Western Division alongside new teams in Los Angeles, San Francisco (later moved to San Jose), and Vancouver. A naming contest was held in January 1974, with a shortlist of six ...
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Portland Timbers (1975–1982)
The Portland Timbers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1982. The team was based in Portland, Oregon and played their home games at Civic Stadium for outdoor matches and the Memorial Coliseum for indoor games. The nickname "Soccer City, USA" to refer to Portland was coined during the team's first season. The team folded at the conclusion of the 1982 North American Soccer League season. History Origins and Early Success On January 23, 1975, North American Soccer League (NASL) Commissioner Phil Woosnam announced Portland, Oregon as the location of the league's 20th franchise for the upcoming season with an ownership group including former Cleveland Browns player Don Paul. On March 7, 1975, it was announced that former Aston Villa F.C. player and coach Vic Crowe had been hired as the team's head coach. A few days later, the name Timbers was chosen from approximately 3,000 entered suggestions. Crowe assem ...
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