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North American Soccer League (Div. 1)
The Year of the American-for the first time since major professional soccer came to the United States, Americans had made a substantial impact. By the time the season was over, there would be an American leading scorer, three Americans among the top 10 scoring leaders, an American as the league leading goalkeeper, an American Coach of the Year, an American Rookie of the Year, four Americans on post-season all-star teams and a champion that started six Americans in the league final.
The whole thing started innocently enough. According to Tom McCloskey, he was in Los Angeles for the Super Bowl in 1973 with eight friends and no tickets when Lamar Hunt learned of his dilemma. Hunt found 9 tickets for him and said, ‘How would you like to have a soccer franchise in Philadelphia’s McCloskey, needing the tickets and doing beautifully in the construction business at the time, agreed. The result was a franchise that was a prototype of the kind of team the NASL had been hoping to produce since 1969, and which was nothing less than a shot of adrenaline to the league: Philadelphia Atoms.
Once back in Philadelphia, McCloskey had to build a team in time for its May 1 start date. With hardly a thought, McCloskey appointed Bob Ehlinger, a marketing vice-president with his firm, as general manager of the club (after first considering Beau Rogers, who would go on to make a substantial impact on the NASL with another team two years later). Ehlinger had no soccer experience whatsoever; his sports experience consisted of his 20 years as a college football official.
Next, Ehlinger and McCloskey reasoned, they had to hire a coach. Not knowing any better, they targeted an American-Al Miller from Hartwick College in upstate New York. Twice Miller had been an All-America soccer player at East Stroudsberg State in Pennsylvania, and his record at Hartwick had been outstanding. Miller-all too familiar with the NASL’s history-was dubious about his professional chances at first, but became convinced that McCloskey meant business after the owner broke a window in his house while trying to kick a ball past his son. Convinced of McCloskey’s sincerity, Miller joined the organization.
Initially, Miller was sent to England to find players but also was asked to recruit all the Americans he could, which he was more than happy to do. Philadelphia used the first pick in the 1973 College Draft to tab Bob Rigby, an electrically fast goalkeeper from Miller’s alma mater. The next round saw Miller draft Rider forward Bobby Smith. From Montreal he acquired Barry Barto, and Penn All-American Stan Startzell was grabbed from New York.
Eventually, the Atoms went to England to train and borrowed several players from Southport in the English Third Division: Chris Dunleavy (a member of Washington Darts in 1970), Jim Fryatt, and Andy ‘The Flea’ Provan.
The side immediately captured the imagination of the Philadelphia fans, drawing a league record 21,700 to its home opener. In fact, in other cities around the league there was reason for hope in the future: Miami, now owned by Joe Robbie, owner of the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins, drew 12,766 to its opener, and Dallas drew 19,342 for its home debut. By the end of the season, Philadelphia would set a league record by averaging 11,382 per game. Dallas was up 86 percent to 7,465, and Miami averaged better than 6,000 per game. League attendance overall was up 18 percent, to 6,290 per match. The NASL played a 19 game schedule in 1973, which included one game against the visiting Vera Cruz of Mexico team.
Perhaps one reason for Americans’ increased interest in the league was Americans’ increased participation in it: a record 42 Americans were on NASL rosters, including 30 native born Yanks. Philadelphia and St. Louis alone carried a total of 23 U.S. citizens. More importantly, these Americans were not simply ornaments, but contributors. Dallas rookie Kyle Rote, Jr. became the only American-born player to ever win the NASL scoring championship, using his ferocious ability in the air to notch 10 goals and 10 assists for 30 points; right behind him at number five on the scoring leaders list was St. Louis’ Gene Geimer (10-5-25), a product of that city’s youth program, and New York Cosmos? first-round pick Joey Fink, who netted 11 goals to finish seventh in scoring. Another member of the Class of ’73 would not make his presence felt that year, but would have a lasting impact on the game in the U.S.: New York used its fifth round pick to grab Cornell goalkeeper Bruce Arena, who, while not making a team that had acquired Shep Messing in the off-season to be its backup keeper-would go on to coach a dominating Virginia college team in the 1990s, as well as make a substantial impact in the professional ranks.
But the real story of the season was Philadelphia: the squad of seasoned Brits and eager Americans went unbeaten for 13 consecutive games. Bobby Smith–converted to defender–was a member of the ‘No Goal Patrol’ defense with Derek Trevis, Chris Dunleavy, and Roy Evans. The ‘Patrol’ was anchored by the acrobatic Rigby, who set an NASL record with a 0.62 goals against average. Philadelphia lost only two games all season, and allowed only 14 goals in 19 matches. They then flattened Toronto Metros, 3-0, in the playoff semifinals, before 18,766 fans in Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium.
In the other semifinal, Dallas Tornado–who compiled a league-best 11-4-4 record behind the scoring of Rote and Ilija Mitic–squeaked by New York Cosmos (who made the playoffs as a ‘wild card’ under the NASL’s new three division format), 1-0, on a header goal by Rote before a crowd of 9,009 at Texas Stadium. With the win and superior record, Dallas had the pleasure of playing host for the final. More importantly, Dallas got to pick the date of the game.
Dallas General Manager Joe Echelle picked August 25, which just happened to be the day that the Atoms’ two scoring stars-Provan and Fryatt-were due back to start their season in England with Southport; Philadelphia’s third Southport player on loan-Chris Dunleavy-had been suspended in England, so he could stay for the final. However, as a result of the choice, Dallas also lost two starting forwards, Ritchie Reynolds and Nick Jennings, and fullback John Collins, who had to return to their club, Portsmouth. Relationships with the English League being what they were at the time (the ?loan? system was under heavy fire in England), there was no chance of the players being able to stay for the final.
With Provan and Fryatt gone, Miller had to fiddle with his lineup. He put six native-born Americans in as starters, including Bill Straub, who had been acquired from Montreal during the season and had not played a minute for the Atoms; although primarily a defender, Straub started on the front line.
Philadelphia proved it was the readier team; from the start, it showed the 18,824 fans in attendance who was in charge. Most of the first half was played in Dallas’ end of the field; the rest of it was in midfield. The shots Dallas got at Rigby were few and far between, and, for all his leaping ability and advantage in size, Rote found Dunleavy wrapped around him like an overcoat.
Philadelphia got its break 20 minutes into the second half, when Dallas center back John Best accidentally cleared a dangerous Philadelphia pass into his own team’s net for an ‘own goal’. In the last five minutes, Straub netted a header to clinch the victory.
Philadelphia became the first expansion team to win a championship in its first year in any professional league. Bob Rigby graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first soccer player to be so honored. Al Miller was named Coach of the Year. Rote was named Rookie of the Year; incredibly, he was not named to an NASL all-star team. Rigby, Smith, Fink, and St. Louis’ Pat McBride were second team all-stars. Trinidadian Warren Archibald of Miami prevented an American awards sweep by taking the MVP trophy.
Vera Cruz of Mexico and Torpedo Moscow of the Soviet Union toured the US, playing NASL teams (see results below). In addition, Lazio of Italy defeated Toronto 2-1, and Santos of Brazil won a pair over Miami (6-1) and Rochester (2-1).
Final NASL League Standings, 1973
G W T L GF GA PTS % Att.
Eastern Division
Philadelphia Atoms 19 9 8 2 29 14 104 .684 11,501
New York Cosmos 19 7 7 5 31 23 91 .552 5,782
Miami Toros 19 8 6 5 26 21 88 .578 5,477
Northern Division
Toronto Metros 19 6 9 4 32 18 89 .552 5,961
Montreal Olympique 19 5 4 10 25 32 64 .368 3,856
Rochester Lancers 19 4 6 9 17 27 59 .368 4,069
Southern Division
Dallas Tornado 19 11 4 4 36 25 111 .684 7,474
St.Louis Stars 19 7 5 7 27 27 82 .500 6,337
Atlanta Apollos 19 3 7 9 23 40 62 .342 3,317
Semi-finals: Philadelphia defeated Toronto 3-0
Dallas defeated New York 1-0
CHAMPIONSHIP: Philadelphia defeated Dallas 2-0
After the season, Montreal and Atlanta folded.
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Kyle Rote, Jr. (Dallas) 18 10 10 30
Warren Archibald (Miami) 17 12 5 29
Andy Provan (Philadelphia) 19 11 6 28
Ilija Mitic (Dallas) 18 12 1 25
Gene Geimer (St. Louis) 19 10 5 25
Randy Horton (New York) 14 9 5 23
Joe Fink (New York) 14 11 0 22
Miguel Perrichon (Toronto) 17 9 4 22
Richard Reynolds (Dallas) 12 8 6 22
Bruno Pilas (Toronto) 15 8 2 18
Tommy Ord (Montreal) 17 6 6 18
Paul Child (Atlanta) 16 8 1 17
Jim Fryatt (Philadelphia) 18 7 3 17
Willy Roy (St. Louis) 19 7 3 17
Terry Harkin (Toronto) 11 5 5 15
Igor Bachner (Montreal) 19 5 4 14
Ian Filby (Montreal) 19 3 8 14
Karl Minor (Philadelphia) 16 4 4 12
George O?Neill (Philadelphia) 17 1 9 11
Gary Darrell (Montreal) 19 3 5 11
Kazimierz Frankiewicz (St. Louis) 18 4 2 10
Mike Seery (Miami) 14 3 4 10
Nicky Jennings (Dallas) 18 3 4 10
Leading Goalkeepers (1100 mins. needed to qualify)
Min Svs GA SO GAA
Bob Rigby (Philadelphia) 1157 78 8 6 0.62
Dick Howard (Toronto) 1530 91 17 6 1.00
Ruben Montoya (Miami) 1695 151 21 7 1.11
Ken Cooper (Dallas) 1620 156 21 5 1.17
Jerry Sularz (New York) 1620 136 22 5 1.22
Mike Winter (St. Louis) 1710 138 27 4 1.42
Claude Campos (Rochester) 1157 89 19 3 1.63
Sam Nusum (Montreal) 1710 156 32 4 1.68
John Forrest (Atlanta) 1452 130 30 3 1.86
Most Valuable Player: Warren Archibald, Miami Toros
Coach of the Year: Al Miller, Philadelphia Atoms
Rookie of the Year: Kyle Rote, Jr., Dallas Tornado
NASL 1st All-Star team:
G - Ken Cooper, Dallas Tornado
D - John Best, Dallas Tornado
D - Chris Dunleavy, Philadelphia Atoms
D - David Sadler, Miami Toros
D - Brian Rowan, Toronto Metros
M - Ilija Mitic, Dallas Tornado
M - Fernando Pinto, Toronto Metros
M - Ian McPhee, Toronto Metros
F - Andy Provan, Philadelphia Atoms
F - Jim Fryatt, Philadelphia Atoms
F - Warren Archibald, Miami Toros
Vera Cruz, Mexico: June 22, 1973 – July 11, 1973. Results: 2 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses.
6/22/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 3 at Atlanta Chiefs 0 6/24/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 2 at New York Cosmos 2 6/27/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 0 at Philadelphia Atoms 1 6/29/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 1 at Rochester Lancers 0 7/4/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 1 at Miami Toros 1 7/7/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 1 at St. Louis Stars 3 7/11/73 Vera Cruz (Mexico) 1 at Dallas Tornado 3
Torpedo Moscow, Soviet Union: August 16, 1973 – August 28, 1973. Results: 2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss.
8/16/73 Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 4 at Miami Toros 0 8/18/73 Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 2 at New York Cosmos 2 8/22/73 Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 1 at Toronto Metros 3 8/26/73 Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 2 at New York Cosmos 2 8/28/73 Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 2 at Dallas Tornado 1
American Soccer League (Div. 2)
With all the excitement generated by the NASL, the American Soccer League’s season went almost unnoticed. Following a (long-overdue) prohibition on “ethnic” nicknames, New York Greeks named themselves New York Apollo. Curiously, Philadelphia Ukrainians retained their nickname despite the prohibition; overshadowed by the cross-town Atoms, however, this once-dominant franchise would fold by year’s end.
The ASL was not without its successes in 1973, however. Connecticut Wildcats, an expansion team, fielded a side heavy with local players and, much like the Atoms in the NASL, immediately grabbed the public’s attention. Drawing 4,000 for their opener, the ‘Cats–challenged New York for the Eastern Division title, finishing only one point behind the Apollo. Connecticut drew over 10,000 to their season finale versus Boston. The Wildcats would not duplicate the Atoms’ success on the field, however, as they did not make the playoffs despite having one more point in the standings than wildcard team Cleveland. ASL General Manager of the Year Paul Ingram deserved much of the credit for the club’s success with his savvy marketing.
The playoffs provided some of the most exciting ASL soccer in years, with Cincinnati shutting out the high-scoring Cleveland club in the first round, and New York defeating Baltimore Bays to earn a spot to the final. The championship went into double overtime before New York defeated the defending champion Comets, 1-0.
Boston’s John Bertos was named Coach of the Year, while the Astros’ Helio Barbosa took MVP honors. The ASL also named a Rookie of the Year for the first time: Cleveland Stars’ Doug McMillan was the initial awardee.
Final ASL League Standings, 1973
Before the season, Syracuse, and Gary were added. New York became the Apollo.
Detroit became the Mustangs. New Jersey became the Brewers. Northeast moved to
Connecticut. Baltimore changed its nickname to Bays.
G W T L GF GA PTS
Northeast Conference
New York Apollo 14 10 0 4 46 15 20
Connecticut Wildcats 14 8 3 3 28 21 19
Boston Astros 14 8 1 5 26 20 17
Syracuse Suns 14 1 0 13 18 55 2
Mid-Atlantic Conference
Baltimore Bays 14 7 2 5 31 25 16
New Jersey Brewers 14 5 5 4 31 23 15
Delaware Wings 14 5 2 7 22 25 12
Philadelphia Spartans 14 4 3 7 22 29 11
Midwest Conference
Cincinnati Comets 12 10 0 2 46 15 20
Cleveland Stars 12 8 2 2 56 22 18
Gary Tigers 12 3 2 7 24 48 8
Detroit Mustangs 12 0 2 10 16 57 2
Playoffs: New York defeated Baltimore 2-1, Cincinnati defeated Cleveland 4-1.
CHAMPIONSHIP: New York defeated Cincinnati 1-0 (OT).
After the season, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Detroit folded.
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Eddy Roberts (Cincinnati) 12 12 10 34
Doug McMillan (Cleveland) 7 11 7 29
Steve Devic (Cleveland) 10 9 8 26
James McMillan (Cleveland) 12 10 6 26
Itamar Ives (Boston) 14 11 4 26
Tony Francillo (New York) 13 11 3 25
Benny Brewster (Connecticut) 14 10 4 24
B. B. Barbosa (Boston) 13 10 0 20
Luis Sebastian (Syracuse) 14 10 0 20
Chuta Piedra (Gary) 9 7 5 19
Leading Goalkeepers (500 mins. needed to qualify)
Min GA Svs GAA
Antion Cruz (Cincinnati) 580 4 33 0.61
G. Carias (Boston) 990 14 31 0.93
M. Cohen (Connecticut) 810 10 59 1.11
Jamar Canal (New York) 900 14 106 1.40
P. Lisewycz (New Jersey) 900 15 93 1.50
Bill Nuttall (Delaware) 1170 22 101 1.69
P. Chajmovic (Cleveland) 675 17 51 2.26
J. Amente (Syracuse) 810 30 84 3.33
Most Valuable Player: Helio "Boom-Boom" Barbosa, Boston Astros
Coach of the Year: John Bartos, Boston Astros
Rookie of the Year: Doug MacMillan, Cleveland Stars
Amateur Leagues & Cups
German-American League (New York): S. C. Elizabeth; Indoor Classic: German-Hungarian SC
Rochester Soccer League: Rangers (14-12-1-1-56-19-25)
Governor’s Cup (Illinois State): Croatian
National Soccer League of Chicago: Croatian
National Soccer League of Chicago Croatians; Indoor Season: Lions
ADASL (Georgia): A.S.C. (14-9-2-3-43-15-21)
Maryland Major Soccer League: Tower Ford-Casa Bianca (14-12-0-2-48-5-26)
Massachusetts Soccer Association: Boston International (10-7-1-2-24-14-16)
Ohio-Indiana Soccer Association: Col. Macedonia (15-11-2-2-45-25-24)
Portland (Ore.) Soccer League: S.C. Germania defeated St. Patricks in playoff.
Arizona Soccer Association: Thunderbirds (15-0-1-31)
California Soccer League: Occidente (21-12-1-8-56-26-32)
San Diego County League: S.K. Kickers (21-15-4-2-94-37-32)
San Diego National league: Olimpico (14-9-3-2-44-16-20)
San Francisco S.F. League: (partial season) S.F. Greek-American (13-9-1-3-25-8-21)
The US National Team
A complete bust, this year with a very disappointing 3-0-9 record, and 8 shutouts, many against fairly weak competition. Fortunately, all these games were friendlies. This was the most extensive touring schedule the US had ever played in a single year. Mch of the roster was new players, again coming primarily from the NASL: John Best and Mike Renshaw from the Dallas Tornado, Jorge Siega from the Cosmos, Carlos Metidieri and Manfred Siegler from the Rochester Lancers, and Walter Zajda from Atlanta. The team was led by Max Wozniak, a former Polish goalkeeper who had recently led Los Angeles Maccabi to success in the US Open Cup. Walt Czychowycz was his assistant.
They got off to a start reminiscent of the USSF’s previous efforts with regards to giving adequate training, practice and scrimmage time: On May 17, the day of their first game against Bermuda, coach Vozniak gathered the players at the Hotel and they introduced themselves to him and stated the positions that they played. For the most part, the players did not know each other and most were in poor shape since the outdoor seasons had not yet begun.
Not surprisingly, they lost their first match to Bermuda 4-0. Three days later they played against the powerhouse Polish national team in lodz in the driving mud and rain. Surprisingly, they only lost 4-0, but Poland cut them some slack, sending in their reserves for most of the second half.The US then lost 2-1 to the Polish “B” team, and then lost 5-1 to the German “B” team in Duisburg. Two days later, with four injured players on the field, they lost 6-0 to Belgium, and were then shut out 7-0 by Lazio in Italy. They finally manaed a 1-1 draw against Massese, but that was a third division squad.In 20 days they had scored three goals to their opponents’ 29.
For the second phase of friendlies, the US promoted Walt Czychowycz to head coach, with John Best, USSFA vice president, as manager. Czychowycz only had a few days to assemble a team, and the NASL teams, locked in late season divisional struggles, refused to loan players. The team consisted of Dallas Tornado Roy Turner, and some quick call-ups from the American Soccer League and local amateur leagues. The team assembled in Chicago shortly before the game, where Czychowycz met many of them for the first time. this time, he complained publicly to the press, that this was no way to prepare for international matches.
Despite the hasty preparations, the US held Poland to a scoreless draw until the 87th minute, when kaspercak beat Invaow on a free kick. By the time of the game against Canada on August 4, he had snagged Paul Child and Mick Hogan from Atlanta. The US won 2-1, from goals by Fred Grgurev and Mark Liveric, giving them their first victory on Canadian soil. But Canada protested, pointing out that the US had two non-Americans on their roster. Czychowycz was asked to only bring half of the team to California so that California players could fill the roster. The newcomers included Ilja Mitic and Archie Roboostoff, and once again, Czychowycz found himself with players he had never met before a day before the gane. Poland won 4-0.
In the third game against Poland, in New britain, CT, Czychowycz fielded a completely new team, represented primarily by NASL players: Bobby Smith (Philadelphia), Al Trost, Demling and Geimer (St. Louis), Kyle Rote, Jr., Ivan Grgurev, Paul Child, and others. New York amateur leagues pprovided the remainder. The narrow field worked to the US’s advantage and the US commanded the field shocking the pro-polish crowd with a goal the 37th minute. At the halftime, Czychowycz was interruted in the locker room by a USSDFA official ordeering the team onto the field to have a picture taken with the president of the USSFA. Annoyed, Czychowycz refused, and ordered the official out of the room. He was later ordered via loudspeaker to appear on the field. Thinking it was an emergency, he rushed across the field only to be reprimanded by the USSFA officials for refusing to have the picture taken. But the team held tight in the second half and took away a 1-0 victory. Later, in Hartford they defeated Bermuda 1-0.
After this game, Czychowicz proposed the idea of a full-time coach for the national team. The USSFA did not take to the idea and brought in Gordon Bradley to be part-time coach for the remainder of the year. Bradley interrupted his vacation to fly to mexico to join the team, a new set of players already chosen by committee. Many were from the new York Cosmos and the Philadelphia Atoms. Yhe US lost to mexico 2-0 in Puebla, lost twice by identical 1-0 scores to haiti, and then held the Italian U-21 team to a 0-0 draw in Florence. They finished the year losing a pair of games to the Israeli national team, 3-1 and 2-0.
USA National Team Results
Date Score Opponent Venue (event)
====================================================================================
1973 Totals: 3 wins, 0 draws, 9 losses
Nov 15 73 L 0-2 Israel Beersheba, Israel
Nov 13 73 L 1-3 Israel Tel Aviv, Israel
Roy
Nov 05 73 L 0-1 Haiti Port au Prince, Haiti
Nov 03 73 L 0-1 Haiti Port au Prince, Haiti
Oct 16 73 L 0-2 Mexico Puebla, Mexico
Sep 09 73 W 1-0 Bermuda Hartford, CT, USA
Brewster
Aug 12 73 W 1-0 Poland New Britain, CT, USA
Trost
Aug 10 73 L 0-4 Poland San Francisco, CA, USA
Aug 05 73 W 2-0 Canada Windsor, Canada
Grgurev,Liveric
Aug 03 73 L 0-1 Poland Chicago, IL, USA
Mar 20 73 L 0-4 Poland Lodz, Poland
May 17 73 L 0-4 Bermuda Hamilton, Bermuda
The College Game
The weekly Coaches’ poll was expanded to 20 teams. The Texas Intercollegiate League, Kentucky Conference, and Carolinas Conference were added. In the NCAA Division 1 tournament, Brown defeated Hartwick 1-0 (double overtime), St. Louis defeated SIU/Edwardsville 3-0, Clemson defeated Pennsylvania 1-0, and UCLA defeated San Francisco 3-2. In the semifinals, St. Louis defeated Brown 3-1, and UCLA defeated Clemson 2-1 (double overtime). In the championship, held on January 4, 1974, in Miami Florida, St. Louis defeated UCLA, in a rematch of the 1972 final, to repeat for a third consecutive time as national champion.
In the NCAA Division 2 tournament, the third round saw Adelphi defeat Springfield 1-0, Missouri-St. Louis defeated Eastern Illinois 2-1, Baltimore defeated Stroudsberg 6-3, and Cal State Fullerton defeated Westmount 1-0. In the semifinals, Missouri-St. Louis defeated Adelphi 1-0, and Cal State Fullerton defeated Baltimore 1-0. The championship was held in Springfield, MO on December 8. Adelphi defeated Baltimore 1-0 to take third place, and Missouri-St. Louis defeated Cal State Fullerton 3-0 to take the national title.
Final Coaches Poll:
1. St. Louis, 2. SIU/Edwardsville, 3. San Francisco, 4. Clemson, 5. Missouri/St. Louis, 6. UCLA, 7. Oneonta State, 8. Penn State, 9. Hartwick, 10. Springfield, 11. Pennsylvania, 12. West Virginia, 13. Southern Florida, 14. Adelphi, 15. Brown, 16. Quincy, 17. East Stroudsberg, 18. Howard, 19. Bridgeport, 20. Air Force
Conference Champions: West Coast Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: San Francisco New England Intercollegiate Soccer League: Springfield Ivy League: Brown Metropolitan Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: Adelphi Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson Mid American Conference: Bowling Green New York State Athletic Conference: Binghamton Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate League: Colorado College Southern Conference: Appalachian State Mason-Dixon Conference: Baltimore Texas Intercollegiate League: Southern Methodist Yankee Conference: Connecticut Virginia Intercollegiate Soccer Conference: Madison Far Western Conference: California/Davis, Chico State (Co-champions) Carolinas Conference: Guilford Massachusetts State Conference: North Adams State New jersey State Conference: Kean Pennsylvania Conference: East Stroudsberg Kentucky Conference: Berea Presidents Athletic Conference: Bethany Independent College Athletic Conference: St. Lawrence Tennessee Conference: Bryan Michigan Intercollegiate Conference: Calvin Minnesota Intercollegiate Conference: Augsburg West Virginia Conference: Davis & Elkins Northwest Conference: Washington Midwest Conference: Knox Southern California Soccer Association: UCLA Southern California Athletic Conference: Pomona-Pitzer Middle Atlantic States Athletic Conference: Temple College All-Americans: G - Peter Mannos, Northern Illinois B - David D'Errico, Hartwick B - Farrukh Quraishi, Oneonta State B - Kip Jordan, Cornell B - Kevin Missey, Missouri-St. Louis B - Ferdinand Treusacher, Brown F - Chris Bahr, Penn State F - Stephen Baumann, Pennsylvania F - Henry Abadi, Clemson F - Dale Russell, Philadelphia Textile F - Tom Kazembe, Wooster Hermann Trophy: Don Counce, St. Louis NSCAA Coach of the Year: Robert Guelker, SIU/Edwardsville NAIA Championship Quincy 3, Rockhurst 0 NJCAA Championship: Florissant Valley Community College 2, Meramec Comm. Coll. 1 NCCAA Championship: Northeastern Bible 1, Grace College 0
Other Action
1973 US National Challenge Open Cup Final: Los Angeles Maccabee defeated Cleveland Inter 5-3 on June 10.
1973 National Amateur Cup Final: Philadelphia Inter defeated San Jose Grenadiers 3-2 on July 1.
National Junior (James McGuire) Cup: St. Elizabeth S.C., Baltimore
CONCACAF Nations Cup:The U.S. did not qualify. Haiti won the Cup and qualified for World Cup ’74
CONCACAF Champions Cup: The U.S. did not participate in 1973. Transvaal (winners caribbean section) declared winners after teams from the other two sections withdrew.
CONCACAF U-20 Championship: The U.S. did not participate. Mexico defeated Guatemala 2-0 for the title.
National Soccer Hall of Fame: In 1973, Joseph Delachwas inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Raymond Kraft was inducted into the National Intercollegiate Officials’ Hall of Fame.