1972 North American Soccer League season

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North American Soccer League -1972 Season-
Season1972
ChampionsNew York Cosmos
PremiersNew York Cosmos
Matches played56
Goals scored156 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorerRandy Horton
(9 goals)
Longest winning run5, St. Louis Stars
Highest attendance24,742
(Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas)
Lowest attendance1,100 (Dallas @ Montreal)
Average attendance5,340
← 1971
1973 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.

Overview[]

Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship.

Changes from previous season[]

Rules changes[]

The league changed its offside rule during the season on June 26. They created a "Blue Line" which was an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line. This made the NASL unique in the soccer world; the league received temporary approval for the change from FIFA on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.[1]

New teams[]

  • None

Teams folding[]

  • None

Teams moving[]

  • Washington Darts to Miami Gatos

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
New York Cosmos 7 3 4 28 16 77
Rochester Lancers 6 5 3 20 22 64
Montreal Olympique 4 5 5 19 20 57
Toronto Metros 4 6 4 18 22 53
Southern Division W L T GF GA PT
St. Louis Stars 7 4 3 20 14 69
Dallas Tornado 6 5 3 15 12 60
Atlanta Chiefs 5 6 3 19 18 56
Miami Gatos 3 8 3 17 32 44

NASL All-Stars[]

First Team[2][3]   Position   Second Team Honorable Mention
Ken Cooper, Dallas G Dick Howard, Toronto Sam Nusum, Montreal
John Best, Dallas D Dick Hall, Dallas Adolfo Gori, Rochester
John Sewell, St. Louis D Clive Charles, Montreal Charlie Mitchell, Rochester
Peter Short, Rochester D Wilf Tranter, St. Louis John Cocking, Atlanta
Willie Evans, Miami D Brian Rowan, Toronto , St. Louis
John Kerr, New York M Francisco Escos, Rochester Mick Hoban, Atlanta
Graeme Souness, Montreal M Dave Metchick, Miami Larry Hausmann, St. Louis
Pat McBride, St. Louis M Siggy Stritzl, New York Billy Fraser, Miami
Randy Horton, New York F Carlos Metidieri, Rochester Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Paul Child, Atlanta F Art Welch, Atlanta Warren Archibald, Miami
Michael Dillon, Montreal F Jorge Siega, New York Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis

Playoffs[]

All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.

Bracket[]

Semifinals NASL Final 1972
      
N1 New York Cosmos 1
S2 Dallas Tornado 0
N1 New York Cosmos 2
S1 St. Louis Stars 1
S1 St. Louis Stars 2
N2 Rochester Lancers 0

Semifinals[]

August 15 Rochester Lancers 0–2 St. Louis Stars Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319
August 19 Dallas Tornado 0–1 New York Cosmos Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026

NASL Final 1972[]

Main article: NASL Final 1972
New York Cosmos2–1St. Louis Stars
Horton 5' (Young)
Jelinek 86' (pen.)		 Report Frankiewicz 52' (Sewell)
Hofstra Stadium, Hempstead, New York
Attendance: 6,102[4]
Referee: Roger Schott (USA)[5]

1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

Post season awards[]

  • Most Valuable Player: Randy Horton, New York
  • Coach of the year: Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis
  • Rookie of the year: Mike Winter, St. Louis

References[]

  1. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1972". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  2. ^ Christopher S. Page. "NASL Homepage". eb.archive.org. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". oocities.org. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. ^ Flachsbart, Harold (August 27, 1972). "Stars Lose Title Match". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1C. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  5. ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 16 January 2014.

External links[]

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