1971 North American Soccer League season

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North American Soccer League -1971 Season-
Season1971
ChampionsDallas Tornado
PremiersRochester Lancers
Matches played112
Goals scored306 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorerCarlos Metidieri
(19 goals)
Highest attendance19,437 Rochester @ NY
Average attendance4,154
← 1970
1972 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1971. This was the 4th season of the NASL.

Overview[]

Eight teams competed with Dallas Tornado winning the championship. However Dallas' road to that title was the stuff of legends. In Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal against the Rochester Lancers, league scoring champion Carlos Metidieri of Rochester mercifully ended the longest match in NASL history, 2–1, late in the 6th 15 minute OT period. The golden goal was scored in the 176th minute, or less than four minutes shy of playing two complete games in one day! Three days later Dallas evened the series at one game each with a 3–1 regulation win. In the rubber match four days later, the two teams ended regulation tied again at 1 goal apiece. This time the game would reach a 4th OT before Bobby Moffat sent Dallas into the Finals in the 148 minute. Incredibly, only four days after that, Dallas lost Game 1 of the NASL Championship Series, 2–1, in the 3rd OT to Atlanta after 123 minutes. All totaled, Dallas had played 537 minutes of football (3 minutes short of six games) in 13 days time. Finally the Tornado were able to get control of the finals, pulling away in Games 2 and 3, by scores of 4–1 and 2–0 respectively, to capture the title.[1]

Changes From the previous season[]

Rules changes[]

Playoffs series switched from a two-game aggregate score to a best-two-out-of-three match format. Any playoff games tied after 90 minutes would now be settled by golden goal (or sudden death) overtime periods lasting 15 minutes each.[1]

New teams[]

  • Montreal Olympique
  • New York Cosmos
  • Toronto Metros

Teams folding[]

Teams moving[]

  • None

Name changes[]

  • None

Regular season[]

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

 -Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.
Northern Division W L T GF GA PT
Rochester Lancers 13 5 6 48 31 141
New York Cosmos 9 10 5 51 55 117
Toronto Metros 5 10 9 32 47 89
Montreal Olympique 4 15 5 29 59 65
Southern Division W L T GF GA PT
Atlanta Chiefs 12 7 5 35 29 120
Dallas Tornado 10 6 8 38 24 119
Washington Darts 8 6 10 36 34 111
St. Louis Stars 6 13 5 37 47 86

1971 NASL All-Stars[]

First Team[2][3]   Position   Second Team Honorable Mention
Mirko Stojanovic, Dallas G Leonel Conde, Washington , Atlanta • Claude Campos, Rochester
Dick Hall, Dallas D Clive Charles, Montreal Frank Donlavey, Washington
Willie Evans, Washington D Uriel da Veiga, Atlanta Oreco, Dallas
Peter Short, Rochester D John Cocking, Atlanta Gabbo Gavrić, Dallas
John Best, Dallas D Charlie Mitchell, Rochester Mick Hoban, Atlanta • Roberto Lonardo, Rochester
Dragan Popovic, St. Louis M Francisco Escos, Rochester Freddie Mwila, Atlanta • Barrie Lynch, Atlanta
Siggy Stritzl, New York M Felix Correia, Toronto Billy Fraser, Washington • , Montreal • Roy Turner, Dallas
Carlos Metidieri, Rochester F Warren Archibald, Washington Tommy Youlden, Dallas
Randy Horton, New York F Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis Iris DeBrito, Rochester
Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta F Franco Gallina, Montreal Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Manfred Seissler, Rochester F Jorge Siega, New York Leroy DeLeon, Washington • , Toronto

Playoffs[]

Bracket[]

Semifinals
Best-of-3 		NASL Final 1971
Best-of-3
          
N1 Rochester Lancers 2 1 1
S2 Dallas Tornado 1 3 2
S2 Dallas Tornado 1 4 2
S1 Atlanta Chiefs 2 1 1
S1 Atlanta Chiefs 1 2 –
N2 New York Cosmos 0 0 –

Semifinals[]

Higher seed Series Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Attendance
Rochester Lancers 1 - 2 Dallas Tornado 2–1 (6ot) 1–3 1–2 (4ot) September 1 • Aquinas Memorial Stadium • 8,309
September 4 • Franklin Stadium • 6,131[4]
September 8 • Aquinas Memorial Stadium • 7,635
Atlanta Chiefs 2 - 0 New York Cosmos 1–0(3ot) 2–0 x September 2 • Atlanta Stadium • 3,160[5]
September 5 • Hofstra Stadium • 3,800[6]

NASL Final 1971[]

Main article: NASL Final 1971
Higher seed Series Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs 1 - 2 Dallas Tornado 2–1 (3ot) 1–4 0–2 September 12 • Atlanta Stadium • 3,218[7]
September 15 • Franklin Stadium • 6,456
September 19 • Atlanta Stadium • 4,687

Game one[]

September 12 Atlanta Chiefs 2–1 (a.e.t.) Dallas Tornado Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Uriel da Veiga 71:53'
Kaizer Motaung gold-colored soccer ball 123:58' 		Report Tibor Molnár 40:39' Attendance: 3,218

Game two[]

September 15 Dallas Tornado 4–1 Atlanta Chiefs Franklin Stadium, Dallas, Texas
Phil Tinney 45'
54'
76'
Tony McLoughlin 		Report 1
Report 2		 Henry Largie 44' (Paton) Attendance: 6,456

Game three[]

September 19 Atlanta Chiefs 0–2 Dallas Tornado Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Report Mike Renshaw 2:34' (Tinney)
Bobby Moffat 44:30'		 Attendance: 4,687


1971 NASL Champions: Dallas Tornado

Post season awards[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "The Year in American Soccer - 1971". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 2015-11-05. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  2. ^ "NASL Homepage". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-01. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  3. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  4. ^ "Dallas Evens Soccer Series". Atlanta Journal and Constitution. September 5, 1971. p. 6-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  5. ^ Roberts, Charles (September 3, 1971). "Chiefs Topple Cosmos In Sudden Death, 1-0". Atlanta Constitution. p. 1-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  6. ^ "Atlanta Moves into Finals". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. September 6, 1971. p. 3D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
  7. ^ "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". 22 Sep 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
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