NASL Final 1968 was the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

's postseason championship final of the 1968 season, and the first championship final for the NASL. The event was contested in a two-game aggregate match between the

Atlanta Chiefs The Atlanta Chiefs were an American professional soccer team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The team competed in the National Professional Soccer League (1967), National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League ...

and the

San Diego Toros The San Diego Toros were a professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. Founded in 1967 as the Los Angeles Toros, the team was one of the ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL and the ...

. The first leg was played to a, 0–0, draw on September 21, 1968, at

Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is an outdoor stadium in San Diego, California, adjacent to San Diego High School and Balboa Park. Owned by the City of San Diego, it is leased to San Diego Unified School District. The stadium is used for local athletics and hig ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The return leg was contested on September 28, 1968, at

Atlanta Stadium Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County and extends into neighboring DeKalb County. With a population of 520,070 (2024 estimate) living within the city limits, Atlan ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

with the Chiefs winning by the score of 3–0. After the two-day competition was completed, the Atlanta Chiefs held a 3–0 aggregate lead and were crowned the 1968 NASL champions.

Background

The Atlanta Chiefs qualified for the playoffs by virtue of winning the Atlantic Division with 174 points. They faced the Lakes Division champion

Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association I ...

in a two-game aggregate match for the Eastern Conference championship. The first game was played on September 11 and ended in a, 1–1, draw. The second leg, played on September 14, also finished regulation at 1–1, but the Chiefs were able to score in overtime to win the Eastern Conference title and advance to the finals.Soccer history: Atlanta Chiefs
by Clemente Lisi on US Soccer Players, 20 Aug 2018 The San Diego Toros qualified for the playoffs by virtue of winning the Pacific Division with 186 points. They faced the Gulf Division champion

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, former home of the Kansas City Chief ...

in a two-game aggregate match for the Western Conference championship. Like the other match played that day, the first leg ended in a, 1–1, draw on September 11. After 90 minutes of regulation the second leg ended with neither team able to score. The September 16 match moved into overtime, and then into a second overtime before Toros' reserve Novak Tomić scored in 118th minute to end it. The victory gave San Diego the Western Conference title and advanced them to the finals.

Series summary

Match details

First leg

Assistant referees:
Artie Wachter
John GreenhalghNorth American Soccer League Championship, Leg 1 program, published September 1968 Television:

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

Announcers: Mario Machado,

Clive Toye Clive Roy Toye (born 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 sports writer for the '' ...

----

Second leg

1968 NASL Champions:

Assistant referees: Television:

Announcers: Mario Machado,

Match statistics

References

{{1968 in American soccer

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

NASL Final NASL Final NASL Final Sports competitions in San Diego Sports competitions in Atlanta Soccer competitions in California Soccer competitions in Georgia (U.S. state) 1960s in San Diego 1960s in Atlanta