NASL Final 1971 was the championship series of the 1971 season. It was contested as a

best-of-three series There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

between the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

and 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 ...

. The matches were held on September 9, 15, and 19, 1971. Games one and three were played 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 ...

, in

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 ...

. Game two was played at Franklin Stadium of Hillcrest High School in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. A combined 14,361 people attended the three game series. The Chiefs won game one, while the Tornado won games two and three to claim their first NASL championship.

Background

The Dallas Tornado qualified for the playoffs by virtue of having the highest non-division-winning point total in the league (119 points). They defeated the defending league champion Rochester Lancers 2–1 in a marathon best-of-three semifinal series. The series featured two of the longest matches in the sport's history due to the NASL's adoption of a sudden death rule to replace the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. The first leg ended shortly before midnight on September 1 with a victory for Rochester after 176 minutes and required six overtime periods; the third leg lasted 148 minutes with four overtime periods and sent the Tornado to the final with a 2–1 win. The Atlanta Chiefs qualified for the playoffs by winning the Southern Division with 120 points. The Chiefs then defeated the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

in the semifinals with two wins and no goals conceded.

Series summary

;Notes

Match details

First leg

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Second leg

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Playoff

1971 NASL Champions:

References

External links

* {{1971 in American soccer

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

September 1971 sports events in the United States 1971 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state) 1971 in sports in Texas 1970s in Atlanta 1970s in Dallas Atlanta Chiefs matches Sports competitions in Atlanta Sports competitions in Dallas Soccer competitions in Georgia (U.S. state) Soccer competitions in Texas