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North American Soccer League (Div. 1)
A greatly reduced NASL took to the field for the 1982 season. Six teams had folded after the indoor season, leaving just 14 to compete in the spring. The league was reorganized into three divisions, but still played a 32 game schedule. Having blinked in the showdown with the USSF and FIFA, the NASL dropped its 35 yard offside line, and reduced the number of substitutions from three to two to meet FIFA standards. However, they kept the sudden death and shootout tiebreakers. The league expanded their system of encouraging American & Canadian player development. Now at least seven members of each team had to be American or Canadian and at least two must be on the field at all times. This was diluted somewhat as a number of players simply became naturalized citizens. Although this expanded playing opportunities somewhat, many of the domestic players were still primarily substitutes and bench warmers.
The exodus of international stars continued, losing the services of George Best, Clive Charles, Paul Child, Charlie Cooke, John Cruyff, Steve David, Oscar Fabbiani, Jorgen Kristiansen, Gerd Muller, Jose Velazquez, and Frank Worthington. Cruyff had actually returned to Europe early in the 1981 season, being totally disgusted with the hard artificial turf found in 2/3 of the NASL stadia. A few stars came the other way, particularly with the Toronto Blizzard, whose new coach Bob Houghton signed Swedish goalkeeper Jan Moller, and Jimmy Nichol of Northern Ireland as he embarked on a major revival of the Blizzard. Also coming to the NASL was Archie Gemmill, who signed with the Jacksonville Tea Men.
In the regular season, it was once again the New York Cosmos and Montreal Manic finishing 1-2 in the East, with Toronto surging back over .500 on the strength of the scoring feats of Neill Roberts, Ace Ntsoelengoe, and David Byrne. Giorgio Chinaglia continued his scoring feats for the Cosmos, becoming the highest scorer in NASL history, leading the league with 55 points, and placing second with 20 goals. The main success story of the year was the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers who took the Southern Division, albeit with a paltry 18-14 record, and a 64-74 Goals for-goals against record. On paper, it was Tulsa who looked strongest, but they couldn’t score when it counted and had finished an even .500 in the standings. The Western Division had the closest race in recent years, with Seattle, San Diego and Vancouver finishing within 6 points of each other. Given that a win was six points, this was close indeed. This race also showed clearly the idiosyncrasies of the shootout and bonus point scoring system: Vancouver actually had the best won-loss record at 20-12, with San Diego 19-13 and Seattle 18-14, yet Seattle won the division because of the bonus points it had earned for regulation wins and high scoring; they had beaten Vancouver in goals scored 72-48.
The odd results meant little in the playoffs, as a division title gave little more than bragging rights. In the playoffs, once again there were few surprises, although some series were fairly evenly matched. The Cosmos had to go the distance to oust Tulsa, as did the Seattle Sounders as they ended Toronto’s comeback season. Vancouver came up short against division rival San Diego, as they were defeated 5-1 and 2-1 after beating the Sockers 1-0 at home. The Cosmos took care of the Sockers in the semis, by identical 2-1 scores, although San Diego didn’t give up until forcing the cosmos into overtime. The Ft. Lauderdale-Seattle series was much closer; after taking the first game 2-1, the Strikers were forced into overtime where they succumbed to a goal from Kenny Hibbitt, and lost 4-3. The final was a beauty for purists, as they won a defensive contest 1-0. Soccer Bowl 1982 moved to San Diego for the first time, pitting the New York Cosmos against the Seattle Sounders in a rematch of Soccer Bowl ’77. Unlike the previous match, there was no Pele or Beckenbauer to excite the crowds, and no local team to root for; the combatants and the host literally came from three corners of the country. Only 22,634 fans showed up to watch the game, which was another classic defensive contest, with the net only filled by a lone goal from Giorgio Chinaglia, to give the Cosmos their fifth league title.
The exhibition friendlies continued apace in 1982, although there were fewer full tours; teams generally traveled to play a pair of games, and then return. The NASL teams generally won more, but they were playing weaker opposition than in years past, making the victories somewhat pyhrric. A notable series was the Europac Tournament, held in May, in which the Manchester United squad lost a pair of matches to Seattle (3-0) and Vancouver (3-1). Hedjuk Split came away with a victory and a draw. The Cosmos made a far east tour after the season, sweeping six games against the Victoria All-Stars and the South Korean and Japanese national teams.
The Transatlantic Challenge Cup returned for its third season. The Chicago Sting, 1981 Soccer Bowl champions, and the New York cosmos, 1981 regular season leader and 1980 & 1981 TACC titlist, represented the NASL. Napoli of Italy Serie ‘A’, and Nacional of Uruguay, the 1981 World Club champion finished the pool. The series was launched May 26, 1982 before 28,887 at giants stadium in east Rutherford, NJ, as Napoli and the Cosmos battled to a 2-2 draw. The next day, Nacional and the Sting drew 0-0. On May 29, the Cosmos defeated Nacional and Chicago defeated Napoli by identical 3-1 scores, leading to the championship doubleheader, where Napoli defeated Nacional 3-0 and the Chicago Sting defeated New York 4-3 to take their first title. Unlike the first two years, even this popular event failed to drat large crowds this season.
The league’s future continued to look bleak after this season. For the first time, attendance took a serious dive, from 14,060 to 13,156 per game, and this was doubly alarming, because these were the strongest NASL teams reflecting this loss, the weaker teams having already folded. Edmonton and Portland folded, while Jacksonville bolted the league to seek out better fortunes in the American Soccer League. The Jacksonville move must have been galling to the NASL which had considered itself the first thing in American soccer. This continued after the 1982 season, as Portland, Even the successful teams couldn’t sustain fan interest, as the novelty had worn off and fewer high-caliber players remained. It was beginning to look like a downward spiral; lack of quality players drove away fans which increased financial losses which made it impossible to keep the remaining players, let alone recruit new ones. The increasingly bitter salary war with the Major Indoor Soccer League was taking an increasing toll, and the MISL saw an opportunity to force the older league out of business and have the field for themselves. Unfortunately, it was also clear that even high attendance with star players was not enough to make the league financially viable; some other system had to be established, but for the NASL it was too late to adapt to a plan that could be financially viable in the long run.
Final NASL League Standings, 1982
Before the season, Toronto changed their nickname to the Blizzard.
G W L GF GA PTS % Att.
Eastern Division
New York Cosmos 32 23 9 73 52 203 .718 28,749
Montreal Manic 32 19 13 60 43 159 .593 21,348
Toronto Blizzard 32 17 15 64 47 151 .531 8,185
Chicago Sting 32 13 19 56 67 129 .406 9,377
Southern Division
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 32 18 14 64 74 163 .562 12,345
Tulsa Roughnecks 32 16 16 69 57 151 .500 14,469
Tampa Bay Rowdies 32 12 20 47 77 112 .375 18,507
Jacksonville Tea Men 32 11 21 41 71 105 .343 7,160
Western Division
Seattle Sounders 32 18 14 72 48 166 .562 12,539
San Diego Sockers 32 19 13 71 54 162 .593 8,532
Vancouver Whitecaps 32 20 12 58 48 160 .625 18,254
Portland Timbers 32 14 18 49 44 122 .437 8,786
San Jose Earthquakes 32 13 19 47 62 114 .406 11,012
Edmonton Drillers 32 11 21 38 65 93 .343 4,922
1st Round: New York defeated Tulsa 5-0, 0-1, 1-0
Seattle defeated Toronto 4-2, 1-2, 4-2
Ft. Lauderdale defeated Montreal 2-3, 1-0(OT), 4-1
San Diego defeated Vancouver 5-1, 0-1, 2-1.
Semi-Finals: New York defeated San Diego 2-1, 2-1(OT)
Seattle defeated Ft. Lauderdale 0-2, 4-3(OT), 1-0.
SOCCER BOWL-’82: New York defeated Seattle 1-0.
Transatlantic Cup Champion: Chicago Sting
After the season, Jacksonville, Portland and Edmonton folded.
Leading Scorers GP G A TP Min SHS F
Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 32 20 15 55 2912 174 9
Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago 32 20 9 49 2836 127 44
Peter Ward, Seattle 32 18 13 49 2908 123 45
Ricardo Alonso, Jacksonville 30 21 4 46 2510 114 57
Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa 31 17 10 44 2690 85 33
Neill Roberts, Edmonton/Toronto 28 17 8 42 2367 71 45
Ace Ntsoelengoe, Toronto 32 14 12 40 3151 79 39
Mark Peterson, Seattle 31 17 5 39 2603 64 49
David Byrne, Toronto 32 8 23 39 2901 73 108
Godfrey Ingram, San Jose 31 17 3 37 2802 109 22
Alan Willey, Montreal 29 15 7 37 2471 73 38
Branko Segota, Ft. Lauderdale 29 12 13 37 2495 150 48
Brian Kidd, Ft. Lauderdale 23 15 6 36 2019 90 33
Luis Fernando, Tampa Bay 31 16 3 35 2695 115 29
Ade Coker, San Diego 20 13 9 35 1307 47 21
Steve Moyers, New York 28 13 9 35 1898 66 20
John Bain, Portland 32 12 11 35 2491 60 27
Lorenz Hilkes, San Diego 27 11 13 35 2075 94 35
Gordon Hill, Montreal/Chicago 31 11 13 35 2781 123 17
Steve Hunt, New York 22 9 15 33 1936 42 141
Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago 28 13 6 32 2457 53 31
Franz Gerber, Tulsa 27 11 10 32 2097 61 20
Steve Daley, Seattle 27 7 18 32 2494 70 37
Vladislav Bogicevic, New York 31 4 24 32 2759 47 42
Dale Mitchell, Portland 30 10 11 31 2466 94 49
Ron Futcher, Portland 23 13 4 30 1953 86 79
Ray Hankin, Vancouver 27 11 8 30 2419 97 83
Peter Lorimer, Vancouver 28 10 10 30 2577 83 50
Thompson Usiyan, Montreal 28 10 10 30 2463 91 50
Leading Goalkeepers (1700 mins. needed to qualify)
GP Min SV GA SH GAA
Tino Lettieri, Vancouver 27 2506 418 130 34 1.23
Victor Nogueira, Montreal 19 1654 205 66 23 1.25
Paul Hammond, Seattle 32 3001 433 135 43 1.29
Bill Irwin, Portland 25 2761 361 122 34 1.32
Jan Moller, Toronto 30 2751 365 143 42 1.37
Volkmar Gross, San Diego 28 2563 509 178 40 1.40
Hubert Birkenmeier, New York 28 2552 412 180 44 1.55
Winston DuBose. Tulsa 32 2960 539 159 55 1.67
Mike Hewitt, San Jose 30 2727 509 164 55 1.82
Dieter Ferner, Chicago 28 2579 487 165 58 2.02
Most Valuable Player: Peter Ward, Seattle Sounders
Coach of the Year: John Giles, Vancouver Whitecaps
Rookie of the Year: Pedro DeBrito, Tampa Bay Rowdies
NASL All-Star Team - 1st Team
G - Hubert Birkenmeier New York Cosmos
D - Frantz Mathieu Montreal Manic
D - Young Jeung Cho Portland Timbers
D - Peter Nogly Tampa Bay Rowdies
D - Andranik Eskandarian New York Cosmos
M - Vladislav Bogicevic New York Cosmos
M - Ace Ntsoelengoe Toronto Blizzard
M - Arno Steffenhagen Chicago Sting
F - Giorgio Chinaglia New York Cosmos
F - Peter Ward Seattle Sounders
F - Ricardo Alonso Jacksonville Tea Men
The Indoor Season, 1981-82
After the dust settled from the Crash of the Franchises, 13 teams took to the field for the indoor season. The league was realigned into American and National conferences with two divisions each, although these could have just as easily been labeled Eastern and western conferences. Despite the loss of many players to the MISL for the winter, attendance was up slightly, and the season was spiced up by very close races in the American East and Central divisions. Ironically, every team in the central finished above .500, while none of the East teams did so. San Diego and Edmonton finished atop their National divisions, while Montreal took the East and the Chicago Sting continued their indoor dominance in the central. The Cosmos, so successful outdoors finished last in the east, although they drew a respectable 8,600 fans.
In the playoffs, Tampa bay, Tulsa, San Diego and Edmonton were victors in their first round series. Tampa Bay needed three games to get past the Roughnecks in the semifinals, winning 5-4, losing 3-4 and taking the final game 1-0. San Diego trounced the Drillers 8-2 and 12-3, before taking the indoor title 9-7 and 10-5 over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. This marked the beginning of the Sockers’ extraordinary run of indoor league titles that would continue right through the end of the major Indoor Soccer League in 1992.
Final NASL Indoor League Standings, 1981-82
G W L GB % GF GA Att.
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East Division
Montreal Manic 18 9 9 -- .500 93 97 9,152
Toronto Blizzard 18 8 10 1 .444 86 96 5,142
Jacksonville Tea Men 18 7 11 2 .389 86 106 6,375
Cosmos 18 6 12 3 .333 102 123 8,690
Central Division
Chicago Sting 18 12 6 -- .667 139 117 13,322
Tampa Bay Rowdies 18 11 7 1 .611 121 113 5,334
Tulsa Roughnecks 18 10 8 2 .556 128 103 5,308
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
West Division
San Diego Sockers 18 10 8 -- .556 147 110 7,047
Portland Timbers 18 7 11 3 .389 86 103 5,061
San Jose Earthquakes 18 5 13 5 .278 83 141 2,843
Northwest Division
Edmonton Drillers 18 13 5 -- .722 133 91 2,949
Vancouver Whitecaps 18 10 8 3 .556 93 94 2,943
Seattle Sounders 18 9 9 4 .500 95 97 6,456
First Round: Tulsa d.Chicago 2-1 (5-4, 6-7, 3-1)
Tampa Bay d. Montreal 2-1 (8-7 ot, 2-3, 2-1 3ot)
Edmonton d.Seattle 2-0 (8-6, 12-4)
San Diego d.Vancouver 2-0 (4-3, 8-4)
Semi-finals: Tampa Bay d.Tulsa 2-1 (5-4, 3-4, 1-0)
San Diego d.Edmonton 2-0 (8-2, 12-3)
CHAMPIONSHIP: San Diego d.Tampa Bay 2-0 in NASL Championship Series
(9-7, 10-5) March 3, 8, 1982
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Julie Veee, San Diego 17 51 38 140
Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago 17 35 36 106
Jan Goossens, Edmonton 18 42 18 102
Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 17 35 20 90
Kai Haaskivi, Edmonton 18 26 31 83
Gordon Hill, Montreal 15 29 18 76
Barry Wallace, Tulsa 17 21 25 67
Ingo Peter, Chicago 18 13 41 67
Alan Hudson, Seattle 17 12 43 67
Chris McGrath, Tulsa 18 25 13 63
Zequinha, Tampa Bay 18 19 23 61
Leading Goalkeepers (Min. 540 minutes to qualify)
G Min Svs GA GAA
Blagoje Tamindzic, Toronto 18 1045 312 90 5.17
Arnie Mausser, Jacksonville 17 1020 251 88 5.19
John Baretta, Edmonton 17 905 244 80 5.30
Dieter Femer, Chicago 14 714 204 69 5.35
Paul Hammond, Seattle 10 1024 242 93 5.41
Tino lettieri, Vancouver 11 655 189 62 5.68
Volkmer Gross, San Diego 18 880 303 88 6.00
Jurgen Stars, Tampa Bay 11 663 191 68 6.15
David Brcic, New York 14 739 228 78 6.33
Keith McRae, Portland 10 601 158 65 6.49
American Soccer League (Div. 2)
The ASL had a distinct southern flavor this season. The Cleveland Cobras moved to Atlanta, becoming the Georgia generals, and expansion teams were launched in Oklahoma City and Nashville. The Carolina Lightnin’ had completed a highly successful first season highlighted with enthusiastic fan support, highlighted by two crowds f over 8,000. The championship game, held in Charlotte drew over 20,000. With Rodney Marsh as head coach, and all-star Scott Manning and NASL veteran Paul Child on the roster, they looked well equipped for a successful second season. The Georgia Generals were founded by Walt Russell, who saw the lingering fan support after the demise of the NASL’s Chiefs. Starting with no money, no players and no stadium, Walt, a self-described “sports nut” assembled a team from scratch in five months, and compiled an impressive 12-9-4 record in his first season. The was headed by former Atlanta Chiefs head coach David Chadwick, and included three former Chiefs, goalkeeper Graham Tutt, defender Mike Balsom, and Midfielder Danny Payne, as well as Forward Jose Neto, a standout from California/San Diego. The Generals played at DeKalb Stadium in the suburbs, a venue that would be familiar to Atlanta Silverbacks fans of the late 1990’s. The Nashville Diamonds, headed by Ralph Woerheide, the majority owner of baseball’s Nashville Diamonds, hoped to capitalize in the rapidly growing interest in sports in this burgeoning city. The roster was assembled primarily of recent college graduates and semi-pro club team players.
The ASL dispensed with divisions this season, having only seven teams. The Detroit express won the regular season title in a close race with the surprising Oklahoma City Slickers. the Slickers were the most successful of the expansion clubs, primarily because of the strength of their veteran roster which includes international NASL veterans Phil Parkes and Jeff Bourne. Pennsylvania Stoners saw their successful run come to an unexpected end, falling to 6th place.
The playoffs started with the withdrawal of the Pennsylvania Stoners, giving Georgia a bye to the semifinals. Carolina meanwhile passed the Rochester Flash 3-1. The semifinals were two-game series with goal differential. Oklahoma defeated the Carolina Lightnin’ 2-1 and 3-0, bringing the Lightnin’s season to a disappointing end, and Detroit won on goal differential after defeating Georgia 2-1 and losing 0-1. The championship was won by the Detroit Express 1-3, 1-0 and 4-1. Total attendance for the championship series was 33,762. Thus, a professional league soccer trophy was brought to the Motor City for the first time.
The league had begun the season with high hopes and averaged 4,450 fans per game, but ended with yet more disappointment. Two of the new teams, Nashville, and Georgia folded after disappointing seasons, and Rochester withdrew for one season to regroup. By the time they were reorganized, the league had folded, and Rochester ended up joining the new United Soccer League in 1984. By now, even to party stalwarts, it must have been apparent that the venerable league was nearing its end. One last chance would be made to revive the ASL, but the economic signs were not good.
Final League Standings, 1982
Before the season, Oklahoma and Nashville were added. Cleveland moved to
Georgia. (GF/GA info as of 8/26/82.)
G W T L GF GA PTS
Detroit Express 28 19 4 5 37 59 144
Oklahoma City Slickers 28 19 3 6 58 42 138
Georgia Generals 28 12 4 9 55 40 115
Carolina Lightnin' 28 11 4 13 37 45 99
Rochester Flash 28 10 2 15 48 53 84
Pennsylvania Stoners 28 8 5 13 34 44 81
Nashville Diamonds 28 3 4 21 25 67 41
1st Round Carolina defeated Rochester, 3-1
Georgia defeated Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania withdrew)
Semi-Finals: Oklahoma defeated Carolina, 2-1, 3-0
Detroit defeated Georgia, 2-1, 0-1
CHAMPIONSHIP: Detroit defeated Oklahoma, 1-3, 1-0, 4-1 (attendance 33,762).
After the season, Georgia and Nashville folded. Rochester suspended
operations for one year and joined the USL in 1984. League attendance
averaged 4,450 for this season.
G A Pts
Brian Tinion, Detroit 22 15 59
Andy Chapman, Detroit 23 6 52
Jeff Bourne, Oklahoma City 20 8 48
Billy Boljevic, Detroit 13 14 40
Jose Neto, Georgia 15 4 34
Kevin Fouser, Georgia 11 6 28
Ernie Buriano, Rochester 9 6 24
Pat Fidelia, Carolina 8 3 19
Solomon Hilton, Pennsylvania 6 6 16
Franco Paonessa, Rochester 6 5 17
Clyde Watson, Detroit 6 5 17
Leading Goalkeepers (Min. 1100 minutes to qualify)
G Min Svs GA SO W-L-T GAA
Tad Delorm, Detroit 27 2480 156 36 7 18-5-4 1.24
Phil Parkes, Oklahoma City 28 2767 147 42 8 19-6-3 1.36
George Taratsides, Penn. 18 1700 96 27 5 7-7-4 1.48
Scott Manning, Carolina 28 2620 142 45 7 10-14-4 1.54
Graham-Tutt, Georgia 16 1494 53 26 1 8-3-4 1.56
Fred Armstrong, Nashville 12 1120 83 29 2 2-9-1 2.33
Brian McInerney, Nashville 13 1230 123 35 1 0-10-2 2.57
Most Valuable Player: Brian Tinnion, Detroit Express
Coach of the Year: Brian Harvey, Oklahoma City Slickers
Rookie of the Year: Franco Paonessa, Rochester Flash
General Manager of the Year: Jim Walker, Oklahoma City Slickers
Major Indoor Soccer League
The MISL completed building its franchise base for its fourth season. The league continued establishing their franchise base after the conclusion of the season. San Francisco moved to Kansas City where they became the Comets, Hartford moved to Memphis and the Pittsburgh Spirit were reinstated. A cross-town Gotham rivalry was established with the addition of the New Jersey Rockets who were based in the new Meadowlands Arena. The season expanded once again, to 44 games. Now with thirteen teams, the league was realigned into two divisions.
This was a season of superlatives; on December 4, the New York Arrows defeated Phoenix 15-10 in the highest scoring MISL game ever, and on February 14, Baltimore’s Keith Van Eron scored the first ever goal by a goalkeeper. On the field, the New York Arrows continued to dominate the East, with an amazing 36-8 record, once again on the leadership of leading scorer Steve Zungul and Omar Gomez. Zungul scored 103 goals this year, an incredible feat considering only two other players scored more than 55. The Arrows also had one of the best defenses in the league, only allowing 199 goals, bested only by the St. Louis steamers, who won the Western Division.
The Pittsburgh Spirit came back from hiatus in force, compiling a 31-13 record, good enough for second place in the East. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was the Cleveland force who barely escaped the cellar in the east, and featured a strong roster. Bringing up the rear in the West was the relocated Kansas City Comets, an inauspicious start for a team that would go on to provide some impressive performances later in the decade.
In the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Spirit were upset by Baltimore in a close series, but otherwise the spoils went to the favored teams, as New York, St. Louis and Wichita advanced. Same story in the semifinals as New York defeated the Blast 6-5 and 6-2, and St. Louis defeated Wichita 10-5, 6-7 and 4-1, leading the divisional champs into the final round. The championship series was best of . five, and they needed all five games to win this slugfest. The Arrows lost their first game 2-3 in overtime before charging back 5-3, and taking the series lead in a nailbiter which saw the teams take an 8-8 deadlock into overtime. St. Louis evened the score in the follow-up 6-4, leading to the final showdown. Even here, the result was close, and only at the end did the Arrows pull away for an 8-6 victory and their fourth consecutive title. Pundits might have been justified in calling this the New York Arrows Soccer League; 12 other teams were out in the cold as far as the final gold was concerned. Yet little did anyone know that within a year, the Arrows would be history, driven into bankruptcy by the excesses of the MISL/NASL salary war which was rapidly taking a toll on both sides.
The post-season awards illustrated one of the oddities of the indoor game, the melding of playing roles; unlike the outdoor game, players often mixed offensive and defensive roles. hence, a forward, Val Tuksa, was named defender of the Year, and scoring powerhouse Steve Zungul landed a midfielder role on the all-star team, after being named to the team as a forward in previous seasons. After the season, Denver and New Jersey suspended operations, but the league compensated by expanding to the west coast, with the Los Angeles Lazers. They also provided indoor membership to the NASL’s San Diego Sockers, who were committed to indoor soccer, but were dissatisfied with the NASL’s haphazard indoor season. As it turns out, the NASL suspended their indoor season for 1982-83, and as a result, the league also accommodated the NASL’s Chicago Sting and Golden Bay Earthquakes (formerly San Jose) into their season.
Final MISL League Standings, 1981-82
Before the season, New Jersey was added. Hartford moved to
Memphis and San Francisco moved to Kansas City. Pittsburgh
resumed operations.
G W L GF GA GB %
Eastern Division
New York Arrows 44 36 8 302 199 -- .818
Pittsburgh Spirits 44 31 13 254 208 5 .705
Baltimore Blast 44 27 17 223 207 9 .614
Buffalo Stallions 44 24 20 276 244 12 .545
New Jersey Rockets 44 17 27 195 230 19 .386
Cleveland Force 44 15 29 205 250 21 .341
Philadelphia Fever 44 11 33 175 250 25 .250
Western Division
St. Louis Steamer 44 28 16 228 182 -- .636
Wichita Wings 44 27 17 235 200 1 .614
Memphis Americans 44 20 24 250 271 8 .455
Denver Avalanche 44 19 25 182 203 9 .432
Phoenix Inferno 44 17 27 222 254 11 .386
Kansas City Comets 44 14 30 174 223 14 .318
1st round: Baltimore defeated Pittsburgh 1-3, 6-5(OT), 6-2.
New York defeated Buffalo 7-9, 5-4 (OT), 10-6.
St. Louis defeated Denver 4-2, 7-6.
Wichita defeated Memphis 3-5, 6-3, 12-3.
Semi-Finals: New York defeated Baltimore 6-5 (OT), 6-2.
St. Louis defeated Wichita 10-5, 6-7 (OT), 4-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP: New York def. St. Louis 2-3(OT), 5-3, 9-8 (OT), 4-6, 8-6.
After the season, New Jersey and Denver suspended operations.
All-Star Game: Western Division defeated Eastern Division 9-5.
(At Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, att: 13,426. MVP = Tony Glavin)
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Steve Zungul, New York 40 103 60 163
Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh 43 74 43 117
Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis 36 46 47 93
Steve David, Phoenix 44 58 23 81
Paul Child, Pittsburgh 44 52 29 81
Omar Gomez, New York 40 40 36 76
Keith Furphy, Cleveland 44 50 25 75
Joe Fink, Baltimore 43 51 22 73
Germain Iglesias, Buffalo 44 46 25 71
Don Ebert, St. Louis 44 52 19 71
Tony Carbogani, Memphis 43 39 35 65
Dave MacWilliams, Philadelphia 39 29 36 65
Jorgen Kristensen, Wichita 39 14 51 65
Mike Laschev, Buffalo 34 36 28 64
George Nanchoff, Phoe/Clev 45 34 27 61
Tony Glavin, St. Louis 35 34 21 55
Bill Nichol, Pittsburgh 44 26 29 55
Helmut Dudek, Memphis 43 34 20 54
Paul Kitson, New York 38 33 21 54
Charlie Carey, Denver 40 42 12 54
LEADING GOALKEEPERS (Min. 1200 minutes to qualify)
GP Min. Shts Svs GA W-L GAA
Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis 36 2103 1756 798 135 24-11 3.85
Keith Van Eron, Baltimore 32 1664 1212 535 110 18-12 3.97
Krys Sobieski, Pittsburgh 29 1498 1069 485 105 19-7 4.20
Van Taylor, Phoenix 29 1217 879 329 89 10-8 4.39
Mike Dowler, Wichita 37 2149 1453 695 162 22-14 4.52
Shep Messing, New York 27 1652 1012 461 125 21-6 4.54
Alan Mayer, New Jersey 27 1527 1101 471 116 8-16 4.56
Aly Anderson, Denver 32 1785 1322 526 143 13-18 4.81
Paul Coffee, Philadelphia 32 1718 1286 636 154 7-23 5.21
Enzo DiPede, Kansas City 32 1769 1266 636 154 7-21 5.22
Paul Maxi, Buffalo 32 1551 1041 456 146 14-13 5.65
John Houska, Cleveland 32 1652 1313 473 151 18-18 5.48
Bill Mishalow, Memphis 27 1402 1259 550 129 10-13 5.52
Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York Arrows, Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh Spirit
Coach of the Year: David Clements, Denver Avalanche
MISL Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York Arrows
MISL Pass Master (most Assists): Steve Zungul, New York Arrows
Defender of the Year: Val Tuksa, New York Arrows
Goalkeeper of the Year: Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis Steamers
Rookie of the Year: Germain Iglesias, Buffalo Stallions
Championship Series Player of the Year: Steve Zungul, New York Arrows
All-MISL team:
G - Slobo Iljevski, St. Louis Steamer
D - Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh Spirit
D - Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis Americans
M - Steve Zungul, New York Arrows
F - Val Tuksa, New York Arrows
F - Helmut Dudek, Memphis Americans
The US National Team
The senior national team was virtually inactive this year, only briefly assembling for a friendly at Trinidad & Tobago, a game the Americans won from goals by Ricky Davis and Julie Veee. In September, the USSF named Karl-Heinz Heddergot director of coaching, replacing Walter Chyzowych. At this point, the USSF started promoting the US as a potential site for World Cup 1986, as a replacement for Colombia which had been forced to withdraw for financial reasons. Although FIFA was skeptical, the US had in its favor a large number of potential host stadiums and extensive infrastructure that would be amenable to holding an event of this magnitude.
With the Olympics in 1984, and the possibility of the World Cup in 1986, the USSF began hashing out new proposals for building up the National Team into a world-class organization. The USSF revived an earlier idea which had been shelved in 1976, that of creating a full-time squad, known as Team America. This team would employ the best of the American players on a full-time salary, and the proposal was to have the team play a full NASL season as a league franchise, and supplement that with 10-15 international matches. This way, the players would get the full-time training they would need to perform successfully at the international level. As 1982 drew to a close, an unprecedented alliance between the USSF, NASL, MISL, ASL and sponsors have been successfully formed to see this dream to fruition. For now, the future looked promising.
On a brighter note, the US made their best international tournament showing ever in the 1982 CONCACAF U-20 championship where they made it to the championship game before losing to Honduras 1-0 (see below in “other action”.)
USA National team results (full internationals only)
1982 Totals: 1W, 0D, 0L
Mar 21 82 W 2-1 Trinidad Port of Spain, Trinidad
Davis, Veee
International Club Tours
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers March 25, 1982 – March 30, 1982. Record: 3 wins, 0 losses, 0 draws
3/25/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 3 at Violette (Haiti) 0 3/27/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 1 at Racing Club (Haiti) 0 3/30/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 2 at Violette Racing All-Stars 1
Malmo (Sweden) March 25, 1982 – March 30, 1982. Record: 1 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws
3/25/82 Malmö (Sweden) 2 at Seattle Sounders 3 3/28/82 Malmö (Sweden) 0 at Vancouver Whitecaps 1 Spring Cup Matches, Vancouver 3/30/82 Malmö (Sweden) 1 at New York Cosmos 0 Spring Cup Matches, Vancouver
Europac Tournament May 17, 1982 – May 20, 1982.
5/17/82 Hajduk Split (Yugoslavia) 0 at Seattle Sounders 3 Europac Tournament 5/18/82 Manchester United (England) 1 at Vancouver Whitecaps 3 Europac Tournament 5/20/82 Hajduk Split (Yugoslavia) 2 at Vancouver Whitecaps 2 Europac Tournament 5/20/82 Manchester United (England) 0 at Seattle Sounders 3 Europac Tournament
New York Cosmos October 17, 1982 – November 10, 1982. Record: 6 wins, 0 losses, 0 draws
10/17/82 New York Cosmos 3 at Victorian All-Stars 2 10/28/82 New York Cosmos 2 at South Korea National Team 1 in Jeung Jo, S. Korea 10/30/82 New York Cosmos 1 at South Korea National Team 0 in Masan, S. Korea 11/3/82 New York Cosmos 3 at Japanese National Team 1 in Omiya, Japan 11/7/82 New York Cosmos 3 at Japanese National Team 1 in Kobe, Japan 11/10/82 New York Cosmos 1 at Japanese National Team 0 in Tokyo, Japan
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers October 29, 1982 – November 3, 1982. Record: 3 win, 0 draws, 0 losses.
10/29/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 2 at Jamaican National Team 0 10/31/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 2 at Macaupa (Brazil) 0 11/3/82 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 2 at Montego Select All-Stars 1
The College Game
In 1982, after the merger of the NCAA and the AIAW, the NCAA instituted a national championship for its new, but rapidly growing women’s program. This tournament, with 12 teams saw the beginning of North Carolina’s Dynasty, as the 1981 AIAW champion took the inaugural NCAA national title. The NCAA also expanded the Men’s Division 1 tournament to the interesting size of 23 teams, and the Division 2 tournament was expanded from 10 to 12 teams.
In the NCAA Division 1 tournament, third round action saw Connecticut defeat LIU-Brooklyn 1-0 on penalty kicks. Duke defeated George Mason 2-0, Indiana defeated Philadelphia textile 2-0, and SIU-Edwardsville defeated San Francisco 1-0. In the semifinals, Duke defeated Connecticut 2-1 and Indiana defeated SIU-Edwardsville 1-0. The Championship match as held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, on December 11, and Indiana defeated Duke 2-1 in a record EIGHT overtimes 2-1 to take the national championship.
In the NCAA Division 2 tournament, third round action saw Missouri-St. Louis defeat Cal state Dominguez Hills 2-0. Southern Connecticut defeated Bridgeport 4-1, Oakland defeated Southern Indiana 1-0, and Florida International defeated Tampa 4-1. In the semifinals, Southern Connecticut defeated Missouri-St. Louis 2-1 and Florida International defeated Oakland 3-2 in overtime. The championship was held in Miami, FL on December 4, where Florida International defeated Southern Connecticut State 2-1 to take the national title.
In the NCAA Division 3 tournament, third round action saw UNC-Greensboro defeat Plymouth State 2-1 in double overtime. Cortland State defeated Buffalo State 1-0, Bethany (WV) defeated Wheaton (RI) 2-1 and Scranton defeated Messiah 2-0. In the semifinals, UNC-Greensboro defeated Cortland State 1-0 in overtime, and Bethany (WV) defeated Scranton 2-0. The championship was held on November 28 in Greensboro, NC, where UNC-Greensboro took the national title 2-1 over Bethany (WV).
In the NCAA Women’s tournament, second round action saw Connecticut defeat Cortland State 2-0 in overtime. Central Florida defeated Massachusetts 2-1, North Carolina defeated Princeton 4-0 and Missouri-St. Louis defeated Harvard 2-1. In the semifinals, Central Florida defeated Connecticut 3-1, and North Carolina defeated Missouri-St. Louis 2-1. The championship was held in Orlando, Florida. The Third place game was taken by Connecticut 2-1, and on November 21, North Carolina took the inaugural NCAA women’s national championship 2-0 over Central Florida.
NAIA Championship: Simon Fraser defeated Midwestern State 4-0.
NJCAA Men’s Championship: Mercer County Community College 1, Lewis & Clark C. C. 0
NJCAA Women’s Championship: Monroe Community College 2, SUNY-Morrisville 1
NCCAA Championship: Concordia College (NY)
Coaches' Final Division 1 Poll: 1. Duke 2. LIU-Brooklyn 3. San Francisco 4. Philadelphia textile 5. Indiana 6. Virginia 7. Clemson 8. SIU-Edwardsville 9. Connecticut 10. George Mason College All-Americans: G - Skip Gilbert, Vermont D - Lou Karbeiner, Penn State D - Erik Nelson, San Francisco D - Adubarie Otorobio, Clemson D - Joseph Ulrich, Duke F - Matthew English, Akron F - Tom Killeen, Philadelphia Textile F - Kevin Maher, Yale F - Steve MacLean, Philadelphia Textile F - Neil Ridgeway, Bowling Green F - Roy Wegerle, Southern Florida
Hermann Trophy: Joseph Ulrich, Duke
NSCAA Division 1 Coach of the Year: John Rennie, Duke
Other Action
1982 US Open Cup Final: On June 26, New York Pancyprian Freedoms (CSL) defeated Los Angeles Maccabee 4-3.
1982 National Amateur Cup Final: Seattle Croatia SC defeated Virginia Kicks 1-0.
James P. McGuire (National Junior Men’s) Cup: Annandale (VA) Boys Club
Athena (National Junior Women’s) Cup: Sting, Dallas
CONCACAF Champions Cup: Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Pancypriot Freedoms played, but did not advance. U.N.A.M. (Mexico) defeated Robin Hood (Suriname) 2-1 to win the title.
CONCACAF U-20 Championship: The US was quite successful this time around. After beating Puerto rico 5-0, drawing 0-0 with Jamaica and defeating Guatemala 3-1, they advanced to the second round. A 3-0 victory over Canaada and a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica gave them that group, and they defeated Guatemela 3-1 in the semifinals. In the final, Honduras beat the USA 1-0. This was the USA’s best showing yet in a CONCCACAF tournament.
National Soccer Hall of Fame: In 1982, John O. Best, Joseph Carenza, and Lamar Hunt were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Nels Dahlquist, and William Tkach were inducted into the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association Hall of Fame.