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North American Soccer League (Div. 1)
Beleaguered, but not yet defeated, the North American Soccer League geared up for its 16th season in 1983. The continuing salary war with the major Indoor Soccer League was taking an increasing toll on both leagues. Even the stronger NASL teams began to question their future as the financial losses continued to pile up. After the loss of three teams from 1982, the league continued in a three-division format. The San Jose Earthquakes were renamed Golden Bay in an attempt to expand their audience base to the San Francisco area; the team however continued to play in San Jose.
One major innovation for the season was the establishment of Team America. The product of an unprecedented collaboration between the NASL, the United States Soccer federation, the ASL and the MISL, Team America a new team , based in Washington DC which took part in the 1983 NASL season. Basically, the USSF was entering the National team into the NASL as a regular franchise. The vision was for Team America to include the best American players who would play and practice full-time and be salaried employees of the USSF. In this way, the national team players would be finally have adequate training and playing time to develop the skills to compete respectably at the international level. This had never been possible previously, as league commitments meant that often players would be assembled only days before important Cup qualifying matches, leaving little time to practice. In addition, there was no comprehensive game schedule, and for the past several years the full national squad only played sporadically.
Attendance did not fall too much this season, but it averaged little over 13,000 per game. As in previous seasons, the New York Cosmos continued to dominate the league, again taking the Eastern Division. This despite the loss of Giorgio Chinaglia for part of the season; he only saw action in 17 games. But Roberto Cabanas stepped in for the cosmos, taking the scoring title with 25 goals and 66 points in 25 games. Vancouver had the best regular season record, going 24-6 in the brand new domed stadium, B. C. Place, easily taking the Western Division over the vastly improved Golden Bay Earthquakes. Their new discovery Slavisa Zungul, finished tied for third in league scoring. The Tulsa Roughnecks beat the Strikers for the Southern division title, although with a modest 17-13 record. The biggest slumps were suffered by the Montreal Manic and Seattle Sounders, falling to 4th and third place respectively. The Sockers could not capitalize on their successful stint in the Major Indoor Soccer League, and again took last place.
The biggest disappointment was Team America. Many of the National team players were not convinced by Team America, and chose to remain with their respective NASL clubs. These included Ricky Davis, Jim McAllister, Winston DuBose, Dave Brcic, and Julie Veee. With a thin talent base to fill the roster, the USSF resorted to stocking the team with naturalized citizens who comprised nearly half of the roster. Only Arnie Mausser, Perry van Der Beck stood out among the native born Americans, although Ringo Cantillo, Alan Green, Pedro DeBrito and Alan Merrick, all naturalized citizens did have some name recognition. This didn’t help the team, and it struggled to a 10-20 record. despite drawing nearly 11,000 fans per game at Washington, the experiment was an embarrassing failure and the team was withdrawn from the league.
In the playoffs, the Cosmos were stunned by lowly Montreal in the first round, losing 4-2 and then being shut out and then shot out in the shootout to an ignoble 1-0 demise. Tulsa put down the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers while Golden Bay defeated Chicago. The Vancouver Whitecaps were also stunned, suffering defeat at the hands of the Toronto Blizzard who had taken third place in the East. This led to a semifinal round of upstarts and underdogs. Toronto extended its run of upsets, knocking out the favored Earthquakes with two successive shutouts, and Tulsa needed three to oust the Montreal Manic. Soccer Bowl 1983 was held in Vancouver, featuring two newcomers, Tulsa and Toronto. Toronto was favored to win the match after adding Italian international star Roberto Bettega for the game, but in a stunning outcome, Tulsa upset the blizzard in a 2-0 shutout from goals by Yugoslavian Njega Pesa and Englishman Ron Futcher, the Roughnecks’ two top goalscorers.
In tandem with the League’s general decline, the exhibition games were cut back considerably in 1983. There were no more extended tours outside of a four game trip by the Cosmos which included their first trip to Africa where they visited Ivory Coast, losing to Africa Sport, and Cameroon where they defeated Tournelle de Yaunde and Canor de Yaounde. Brighton visited the States in early June, losing to San Diego twice, and Golden Bay. Other notable games included Vancouver’s 4-3 defeat of the Peoples’ Republic of China national team, Toronto’s 2-1 defeat of Nottingham Forest on May 31, Toronto’s 1-0 shutout of Benfica (Portugal) on 8/7, and Dynamo Minsk’s 2-2 draw against team America at St. Louis in May. Internacionale of Brazil paid visits to Seattle and Vancouver in early August, and took home two victories.
The Transatlantic Challenge Cup’s fourth season again featured the New York Cosmos and Seattle Sounders, along with Fiorentina of Italy and Sao Paulo of Brazil. New York and Seattle took the first games, but Sao Paulo and Fiorentina took the second. In the doubleheader on June 5, Fiorentina defeated Sao Paulo 5-3 and New York defeated Seattle 4-1, giving the Cosmos the title over Fiorentina based on goal differential. Once again, the New York fans came in droves, with 51,000 for the final, but Seattle fans stayed away, averaging only about 6,000 at the Kingdome.
With the financial situation getting worse, the NASL cancelled its 1982-83 indoor season, but three teams, San Diego, Golden Bay and Chicago accepted invitations to play in the MISL over the winter.
Final NASL League Standings, 1983
Before the season, San Jose changed its name to Golden Bay. Team America (the
U.S. National Team) joined the league as a road team.
G W L GF GA PTS % Att.
Eastern Division
New York Cosmos 30 22 8 87 49 194 .733 27,242
Chicago Sting 30 15 15 66 73 147 .500 10,937
Toronto Blizzard 30 16 14 51 48 135 .533 11,630
Montreal Manic 30 12 18 58 71 124 .400 9,910
Southern Division
Tulsa Roughnecks 30 17 13 56 49 145 .566 12,415
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 30 14 16 60 63 136 .466 10,823
Tampa Bay Rowdies 30 7 23 48 87 83 .233 11,172
Team America 30 10 20 33 54 79 .333 12,894
Western Division
Vancouver Whitecaps 30 24 6 63 34 187 .800 29,166
Golden Bay Earthquakes 30 20 10 71 54 169 .666 11,933
Seattle Sounders 30 12 18 62 61 119 .400 8,317
San Diego Sockers 30 11 19 53 65 106 .366 4,214
1st Round: Montreal defeated New York 4-2, 1-0(SO)
Toronto defeated Vancouver 0-1, 4-3, 1-0
Tulsa defeated Ft. Lauderdale 3-2, 4-2
Golden Bay defeated Chicago 6-1, 0-1, 5-2
Semi-Finals: Tulsa defeated Montreal 2-1(SO), 0-1, 3-0
Toronto defeated Golden Bay 1-0(OT), 2-0
SOCCER BOWL-’83: Tulsa defeated Toronto 2-0
Transatlantic Cup Champion: New York Cosmos
After the season, Montreal and Seattle folded, and Team America left the
league.
Leading Scorers GP G A TP
Roberto Cabanas, New York 28 25 16 66
Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago 29 15 18 48
Steve Zungul, Golden Bay 22 16 15 47
Ricardo Alonso, Chicago 27 16 15 47
Kaz Deyna, San Diego 18 15 16 46
David Byrne, Toronto 29 13 18 44
Vladislav Bogicevic, New York 30 7 29 43
David Cross, Vancouver 26 19 4 42
Godfrey Ingram, Golden Bay 27 15 11 41
Steve Moyers, New York 30 15 11 41
Julio Cesar Romero, New York 25 10 21 41
Ron Futcher, Tulsa 26 15 10 40
Brian Kidd, Ft. Lauderdale 21 18 3 39
Giorgio Chinaglia, New York 17 18 2 38
Alan Willey, Montreal 30 13 12 38
Stan Terlecki, Golden Bay 27 11 14 36
Branko Segota, Fort Lauderdale 30 13 9 35
Peter Ward, Seattle 30 13 8 34
Mark Peterson, Seattle/America 28 14 5 33
Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa 22 11 11 33
Jan Goossens, Golden Bay 26 12 8 32
Pato Margetic, Chicago 29 12 8 32
Manny Rojas, Tampa Bay 29 8 16 32
Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale 30 5 22 32
Leading Goalkeepers (1300 mins. needed to qualify)
GP Min SV GA SO GAA
Tino Lettieri, Vancouver 28 2594 159 25 11 0.86
Jan Moller, Toronto 25 2353 88 33 4 1.26
Winston DuBose, Tulsa 30 2783 136 48 5 1.55
Hubert Birkenmeier, New York 25 2192 129 38 7 1.56
Bill Irwin, Golden Bay 29 2705 170 50 4 1.66
Paul Hammond, Team America 17 1560 106 30 3 1.73
Ed Gettemeier, Montreal 15 1371 78 27 4 1.77
Joe Corrigan, Seattle 29 2728 160 55 5 1.81
Volkmar Gross, San Diego 24 2327 147 49 5 1.90
Jan van Beveren, Ft. Lauderdale 30 2760 184 61 3 1.99
Victor Nogueira, Chicago 20 1814 120 48 2 2.38
Mike Hewitt, Montreal 15 1378 73 41 1 2.68
Most Valuable Player: Roberto Cabanas, New York Cosmos
Coach of the Year: Don Popovic, Golden Bay Earthquakes
Rookie of the Year: Gregg Thompson, Tampa Bay Rowdies
NASL All-Star Team - 1st Team
G - Jan van Beveren Fort Lauderdale Strikers
D - David Watson Vancouver Whitecaps
D - Franz Beckenbauer New York Cosmos
D - Andranik Eskandarian New York Cosmos
D - Barry Wallace Tulsa Roughnecks
M - Vladislav Bogicevic New York Cosmos
M - Stan Terlecki Golden Bay Earthquakes
M - Frans Thijssen Vancouver Whitecaps
F - Roberto Cabanas New York Cosmos
F - Steve Zungul Golden Bay Earthquakes
F - Pato Margetic Chicago Sting
The Indoor Season, 1982-83
The season was cancelled due to the league’s financial troubles, but San Diego, Chicago and Golden Bay accepted invitations to play in the major Indoor Soccer League over the winter.
American Soccer League (Div. 2)
The American Soccer League barely survived into 1983. A new team, the Dallas Americans was added to bring the roster up to six teams, who were organized into two divisions. The Americans scored a minor coup by signing Jeff Bourne, one of the top scorers for the NASL in 1983, and a successful indoor player to boot. The league borrowed a tactic from the NASL, dispensing with draws and instituting a shootout to decide tied games. Five points were awarded for a win, 2 for a shootout win and 0 for a loss.
The Jacksonville Tea Men found their form, taking the Eastern Division with an 18-7 record. Dallas finished well for an expansion club, albeit just over .500, but that was enough to give them the Western Division title. This was a year for parity, as the bulk of the league finished near .500. Only Oklahoma City had a poor season.
The playoffs were basically a “final four”, with the wildcard Pennsylvania Stoners defeating the Americans 5-0, 1-3 and 1-0, the last being the mini-game. Jacksonville needed the mini-game to defeat Carolina after being shut out 0-1 and taking the record came 2-0, with an identical score in the mini-game. The Championship was a best of three series this time, with a see-saw battle between Pennsylvania Stoners, who took the first game 3-0, and the Jacksonville Tea Men, who took the other two, 4-1 and 1-0.
Initially the league was planning for an indoor season, reviving the Nashville team and adding a new team in Houston for 1984. Some teams were ready to continue, but the league administration no longer had the heart to put up the fight. As a result, the American Soccer League folded after their 51st season, bringing to a close a long and for many years, successful chapter in American soccer history. For several decades, the ASL was the top professional league in the country, winner of numerous U. S. Open Cup competitions, and hosts for many international teams who played exhibition series in major stadiums such as Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds. Given the league’s long and prominent history, it was ironic that their demise was so quiet, almost unnoticed among the much bigger death throes of the NASL, and the new attention being paid to the Major Indoor Soccer League, which many pundits felt represented the future of American soccer. However, several teams were not ready to quit just yet. Carolina (renamed Charlotte), Jacksonville, Dallas and Oklahoma City joined negotiations with a new group based in Lehigh Valley, PA, which was planning a new circuit, the United Soccer League, and those four teams became charter members of the new league.
Final League Standings, 1983
Before the season, Dallas was added. Jacksonville joined from the NASL.
G W L GF GA PTS
Eastern Division
Jacksonville Tea Men 25 18 7 62 36 144
Pennsylvania Stoners 25 12 13 46 48 106
Carolina Lightnin' 25 12 13 43 37 103
Western Division
Dallas Americans 25 13 12 48 40 112
Detroit Express 25 12 13 36 44 98
Oklahoma City Slickers 25 8 17 27 57 66
Semifinals: Pennsylvania defeated Dallas 5-0, 1-3, 1-0 (MG)
Jacksonville defeated Carolina 0-1, 2-0, 2-0 (MG).
FINAL: Jacksonville defeated Pennsylvania 0-3, 4-1, 1-0.
The league folded after the season.
Leading Scorers: G A Pts
Jeff Bourne, Dallas 17 4 38
Micky Zivaljevic, Jacksonville 16 5 37
Alex English, Jacksonville 11 8 30
Poli Garcia, Jacksonville 9 11 29
Stuart Lee, Carolina 11 2 24
Bill Boljevic, Detroit 9 6 24
Andy Chapman, Detroit 9 3 21
Solomon Hilton, Pennsylvania 8 3 19
Giulio Bernardi, Pennsylvania 9 1 19
Tony Johnson, Pennsylvania 6 6 18
John Welsch, Dallas 7 4 18
Tony Suarez, Carolina 7 4 18
Nino Zec, Jacksonville 6 4 16
Kevin Fouser, Carolina 8 0 16
Goalkeeping Leaders: (Min. 1400 minutes to qualify)
G Min Sav GA SO W-L GAA
Peter Simioni, Jacksonville 24 2320 130 33 8 17-6 1.28
Matt Kennedy, Carolina 21 1950 126 30 5 10-11 1.39
Tad Delorm, Detroit 24 2219 207 41 5 12-12 1.66
Mike Barbarick, Pennsylvania 16 1500 94 28 1 8-7 1.68
Randy Phillips, Dallas 15 1430 68 27 1 7-8 1.70
Most Valuable Player: Peter Simioni, Jacksonville Tea Men
Top Scorer: Jeff Bourne, Dallas Americans (17 goals, 38 points)
Major Indoor Soccer League
This season, the MISL welcomed three teams from the NASL, which had suspended their indoor season. The Chicago Sting, San Diego Sockers and Golden Bay Earthquakes provided some major market exposure for the league, as well as some competitive teams, with San Diego promptly taking the western division title. Having lost the Philadelphia Fever, the league added the Los Angeles Lazers in their place. The league was up to fourteen teams, and expanded their schedule to 48 games.
A major change was the trade of Steve Zungul from the New York Arrows to the Golden bay Earthquakes. This had an immediate impact on the Arrows who finished at .500 this season. Zungul, despite again leading the league in scoring could not help the Earthquakes much and they finished next to last in the west, ahead of only the hapless Los Angeles Lazers. The Eastern Division was a three way race between the veteran Cleveland Force, the up and coming Baltimore Blast and the transplanted Chicago Sting. Cleveland had the scoring firepower, headed by Craig Allen, Keith Furphy and Kai Haaskivi, but Baltimore had the defensive mettle. Led by all-star Heinz Wirtz, Baltimore only allowed 224 goals, third best in the league, and won a narrow race by a single game. In the west, San Diego took the division rather easily, but there was a hot battle for second place and coveted playoff spots between Wichita, St. Louis, Kansas City and Phoenix. All of these were teams finally reaching their stride, and the growing rivalry between Intrastate rivals Kansas City and St. Louis would provide many memorable matches in coming seasons.
Close races notwithstanding, the final standings provided a psychic-quality guide to the postseason: The top two teams from each division advanced to the next round. In the semi-finals, Baltimore defeated Cleveland in a tough five-game series to reach their first Final series, as did the interloping San Diego Sockers, who made quick work of the Wichita Wings. The Championship series was the most lopsided ever, and showed the superior depth of the NASL talent base, despite its recent losses in the salary war. The Sockers blanked Baltimore 6-0 and 7-0 in the first two games before losing a pair of close games, with the second going into overtime and a 6-7 loss. They took the final 3-1 to claim the crown, the first MISL championship awarded to a NASL team. ironically, the three NASL teams all withdrew from the MISL, anticipating that the NASL would return to the arenas the following year. But San Diego would return in the future, and become the dominating team for the rest of the MISL’s existence.
The MISL enjoyed their most successful season yet, as attendance climbed to 2,652,613, for an average of 7,895 per game. In another first, the MISL made its network television debut as CBS broadcast a Cleveland-Baltimore playoff game on May 7, seen by an estimated four million viewers. During the offseason, the league announced the awarding of new franchises in Tacoma for 1983-84 and Dallas for 1984-85.
Final MISL League Standings, 1982-83
Before the season, Los Angeles was added. Chicago,
San Diego, and Golden Bay (formerly San Jose) from the NASL
participated in the MISL this year.
G W L GF GA GB %
Eastern Division
Baltimore Blast 48 30 18 249 224 -- .625
Cleveland Force 48 29 19 285 267 1 .604
Chicago Sting 48 28 20 285 239 2 .583
New York Arrows 48 24 24 225 219 6 .500
Pittsburgh Spirit 48 24 24 250 247 6 .500
Buffalo Stallions 48 22 26 270 274 8 .458
Memphis Americans 48 19 29 239 274 11 .396
Western Division
San Diego Sockers 48 32 16 289 230 -- .667
Wichita Wings 48 27 21 273 249 5 .563
Kansas City Comets 48 26 22 219 210 6 .542
St. Louis Steamer 48 26 22 234 234 6 .542
Phoenix Inferno 48 24 24 249 255 8 .500
Golden Bay Earthquakes 48 17 31 240 290 15 .354
Los Angeles Lazers 48 8 40 191 286 24 .167
1st Round: Baltimore defeated New York 11-4, 6-7, 8-3.
Cleveland defeated Chicago 5-9, 5-4, 7-5.
San Diego defeated Kansas City 6-2, 9-4.
Wichita defeated St. Louis 6-5(OT), 2-8, 9-7.
Semi-Finals: Baltimore defeated Cleveland 6-7, 10-5, 7-3, 3-6, 8-6.
San Diego defeated Wichita 8-5, 5-2, 4-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP: San Diego def. Baltimore 6-0, 7-0, 3-4, 6-7(OT), 3-1.
After the season, Chicago, San Diego & Golden Bay returned to the NASL.
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/Golden Bay)43 75 47 122
Stan Stamenkovic (Memphis) 41 55 65 120
Juli Veee (San Diego) 37 57 53 110
Stan Terlecki (Pittsburgh) 45 65 40 105
Omar Gomez (Wichita) 44 37 49 86
Craig Allen (Cleveland) 45 53 31 84
Keith Furphy (Cleveland) 46 56 28 84
Kai Haaskivi (Cleveland) 46 38 46 84
Steve David (Phoenix) 47 61 20 81
Ruben Astigarraga (Phoenix) 43 34 46 80
Kaz Denya (San Diego) 45 45 32 77
Carlos Salguero (Buffalo) 48 44 31 75
Karl-Heinz Granitza (Chicago) 46 41 33 74
Pato Margetic (Chicago) 47 41 33 74
Chris Dangerfield (Golden Bay) 48 52 20 72
Jorgen Kristensen (Wichita) 42 15 56 71
Vidal Fernandez (San Diego) 47 34 37 71
Mike Lashchev (Buffalo) 46 40 30 70
Yilman Orhan (Kansas City) 45 43 26 69
Tony Glavin (St. Louis) 44 50 18 68
Paul Child (Pittsburgh) 45 47 21 68
Dave McWilliams (Baltimore) 45 41 27 68
LEADING GOALKEEPERS (Min. 1300 minutes to qualify)
GP Min. Sho Svs GA W-L GAA
Zoltan Toth (New York) 27 1555 635 342 104 12-14 4.01
Slobo Ilijevski (St. Louis) 44 2548 1111 697 175 23-19 4.12
Keith Van Eron (Baltimore) 38 1969 991 486 138 23-9 4.20
Alan Mayer (San Diego) 43 2407 1118 560 172 30-10 4.29
Victor Petroni (Kansas City) 26 1498 778 395 112 14-10 4.49
Victor Nogueria (Chicago) 28 1441 722 396 110 14-12 4.58
Enzo DiPede (Kansas City) 24 1362 645 285 109 12-12 4.80
Mike Dowler (Wichita) 42 2502 1130 584 203 25-17 4.868
Blaze Tamindzic (Phoenix) 39 2252 1124 601 183 19-18 4.876
Krys Sobieski (Pittsburgh) 41 2273 1032 543 185 19-20 4.881
Shep Messing (New York) 24 1361 508 296 113 12-10 4.98
Kirk Shermer (Los Angeles) 34 1797 818 321 157 8-22 5.24
Richard But (Memphis) 31 1759 870 870 156 12-16 5.324
Cris Vaccaro (Cleveland) 35 1939 1130 567 172 21-11 5.325
Ardo Perri (Buffalo) 32 1664 844 438 148 15-13 5.34
Most Valuable Player: Alan Meyer, San Diego Sockers
Coach of the Year: Pat McBride, Kansas City Comets
MISL Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York Arrows-Golden Bay Earthquakes
MISL Pass Master (most Assists): Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore Blast
Defender of the Year: Bernie James, Cleveland Force
Goalkeeper of the Year: Zoltan Toth, New York Arrows
Rookie of the Year: Kirk Shermer, Los Angeles Lazers
Championship Series Player of the Year: Juli Veee, San Diego Sockers
All-MISL team:
G - Alan Mayer, San Diego Sockers
D - Val Tuksa, New York Arrows
D - Heinz Wirtz, Baltimore Blast
M - Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis Americans
F - Alan Mayer, San Diego Sockers
F - Steve Zungul, Golden Bay Earthquakes
Canadian Professional Soccer League
The first attempt to create a truly national league in Canada, the Canadian Professional Soccer League consisted of existing teams from various provincial leagues. Although the intentions were noble, the organization was slapdash, and the results showed it, as the league folded two months into its first season.
Final CPSC League Standings, 1983
GP W T L GF GA PTS
Edmonton Eagles 10 7 3 0 24 6 17
Hamilton Steelers 12 3 5 4 20 20 11
Inter-Montreal FC 7 4 1 2 12 7 9
Missassauga Croatia SC 12 4 7 1 15 27 9
Calgary Mustangs 11 2 3 6 12 20 7
Toronto National 6 2 1 3 9 12 5
CHAMPIONSHIP: Edmonton defeated Hamilton 2-0.
Played at least two games against international competition:
June 13, 1983: Inter Montreal 2, Marseilles ( France ) 0
Both goals were scored by Gordon Hill
June 19, 1983: Inter Montreal 1, Udinese ( Italy ) 1
Inter goal scored by Gordon Hill
Inter won penalty shoot-out
The league folded after its inaugural season.
The US National Team
With the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles approaching, it was critical that something be done to prepare the National team to compete respectably against international competition. the Olympics were seen as an unprecedented opportunity to introduce soccer to a wider American audience, and possibly save the NASL to boot. A successful performance could also boost the USA’s efforts to host the 1986 World Cup. The key to greater success was having a National team that played together and trained together, not one that was assembled on the last minute, and where players were literally introduced to each other at the airport on the way to the game. With this end in mind, the United States Soccer Federation entered into an unprecedented collaboration with the NASL, MISL, and ASL to establish a full-time national team which would compete in the North American Soccer league as a franchise in its own right. It was envisioned that this team would play a full 30 game NASL season, plus about 15 exhibitions and a slate of international friendlies and tournament games. Alkis Panagoulias was named as the National team’s first full-time coach.
There was some skepticism from NASL officials and players who blamed the USSF for the recent problems of the National team, overlooking their own role in the debacles of World Cup qualifying. But Panagoulias impressed the players with his knowledge and attitude, promising that finally here the US players would not have foreign stars telling them what to do. full-time national team that would provide players with sufficient training and playing time to allow it to compete respectably on the world stage. Some 40 players were invited to the tryouts; a few were not interested, but after the sessions, Panagoulias had assembled an impressive 16 man roster, but from that point, things went downhill rapidly. Many of the better players declined to join the roster, preferring to remain with the current NASL teams. This revived nightmares of previous years, and as before, the coach was forced to scramble to fill out roster spots. some stars again declined to go for an exhibition tour of Haiti and Colombia, citing the NASL exhibition schedule. By this time, Panagoulias was having second thoughts about the entire endeavor, disillusioned by the lack of cooperation from the NASL and support from the USSF. The four game tour was highlighted by a 2-0 victory over Haiti in Port au prince, on goals by Jeff Durgan and Hernan Borja. Other players on the roster included Arnie Mausser, Perry van der Beck, and Boris Bandov.
As the NASL season approached, Panagoulias was forced to scramble to fill out the full roster. Since so many of the top US players chose to remain with their NASL clubs, ten of the 21 players that took to the field in their NASL debut were naturalized citizens, the natural-born US citizens were mostly the second string, the first string players would be their opponents throughout the entire season. This effectively defeated the entire purpose of Team America. The players would be competing against each other, and training separately as before. Rounding out the one-two-three punch were the decision by the International Olympic Committee to continue the ban on professional players, and the preliminary recommendation by FIFA to award the 1986 World Cup to Mexico rather than the United States. This was the death knell for Team America. The team limped through a lackluster season, finishing at 10-20, last in the eastern division, but doing respectably in attendance, averaging over 11,000 per game. Hardly the auspicious rebirth of the National team that the USSF had hoped for. The team folded immediately after the season’s end, and never did play its planned exhibition seasons.
The other major disappointment was the USA’s result at the Pan-American games. The hapless team lost to Guatemala 3-0 and Chile 2-1, before drawing 0-0 with Cuba. This left the US last in their Pool, and they were eliminated. In the final round, Uruguay defeated Guatemala 2-1 and Brazil 1-0 to take the gold. Brazil took the silver, but the bronze medal game was not played.
In the U-20 World Youth Championship, it was the same old story for the US. Although they did defeat Ivory Coast 1-0, they lost to Uruguay 3-2 and Poland 2-0 to finish third in their group. Brazil defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final.
On a more successful note, the USA won the first CONCACAF U-17 championship tournament, besting runner-up Trinidad & Tobago. This tournament would be a good place for success, as the US would consistently first or second through the years.
USA National team results (full internationals only)
1983 Totals: 1W, 0D, 0L
=======================================================================
Apr 08 83 W 2-0 Haiti Port au Prince, Haiti
Borja, Durgan
The College Game
In the NCAA Division 1 tournament, third round action saw Indiana defeat St. Louis 2-1, Virginia defeat San Francisco 3-2, Columbia defeat Farleigh Dickinson 1-0 and Connecticut defeat Alabama A&M 1-0. In the semifinals, Indiana defeated Virginia 3-1, and Columbia defeated Connecticut 4-0. The championship was held in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on December 10, where Indiana defeated Columbia 1-0 in overtime to claim the national title.
In the NCAA Division 2 tournament, third round action saw Seattle Pacific defeat Missouri-St. Louis 5-2. Oakland defeated Lock haven 4-1, Southern Connecticut defeated New haven 1-0 and Tampa defeated Florida International 3-2 on penalty kicks after double overtime. In the semifinals, Seattle Pacific defeated Oakland 1-0 and Tampa defeated Southern Connecticut State 2-1. The championship was held in Tampa, FL on December 2, where Seattle Pacific defeated Tampa 1-0 for the national crown.
In the NCAA Division 3 tournament, third round action saw Plymouth State defeat Union (NY) 3-1. UNC-Greensboro defeated Kean 1-0, Scranton defeated Ohio-Weslayen 4-1 and Claremont (MS) defeated Colorado College 3-2. In the semifinals, UNC-Greensboro defeated Plymouth State 1-0 on penalty kicks after overtime, and Claremont (MS) defeated Scranton 1-0. The championship was held on December 3 in Greensboro, NC, where UNC-Greensboro defeated Claremont (MS) 3-2.
In the NCAA Women’s tournament, second round action saw Connecticut defeat Boston College 1-0. George Mason defeated Cortland State 2-1, Massachusetts defeated Brown 1-0 and North Carolina defeated California 5-2. In the semifinals, George Mason defeated Connecticut 1-0 and North Carolina defeated Massachusetts 2-0. The National championship was held in Orlando Florida on November 21. In the third place game, Massachusetts defeated Connecticut. The national title was taken again by North Carolina 4-0 over George Mason.
NAIA Championship: Simon Fraser defeated Midwestern State 1-0.
NJCAA Men’s Championship: Miami-Dade South 1, Forest Park Community College 0
NJCAA Women’s Championship: Essex Community College 2, SUNY-Morrisville 1 (4 OT)
NCCAA Championship: John Brown 2, Tennessee Temple 0
Coaches' Final Division 1 Poll - Men: 1. Indiana 2. Columbia 3. Virginia 4. Connecticut 5. St. Louis 6. Farleigh Dickinson 7. Alabama A&M 8. San Francisco 9. Duke 10. Eastern Illinois Coaches' Final Division 1 Poll - Women: 1. Connecticut 2. North Carolina 3. Massachusetts 4. Cortland State 5. California 6. George Mason 7. Missouri-St. Louis 8. Boston College 9. Colorado College 10. Cincinnati College All-Americans - Men: G - James Swanner, Clemson D - Michael Jeffries, Duke D - David Masur, Rutgers D - Simon Spelling, Akron D - Jose Vidol, Boston University M - Michael Brady, American M - Aidon McClusky, Farleigh Dickinson M - Neil Ridgway, Bowling Green F - Thomas Kain, Duke F - Steve McLean, Philadelphia Textile F - Roy Wegerle, Southern Florida College All-Americans - Women: G - Joan Schokow, Cortland State D - Suzy Cobb, North Carolina D - Heidi Comeau, Vermont D - Joan Gettemeyer, Missouri-St. Louis D - Karen Gallwitzer, Cortland State D - Lori Stukes, Massachusetts F - Pam Boughman, George Mason F - Bettina Bernardi, Texas A&M F - Moira Buckley, Connecticut F - Stacey Filonis, Massachusetts F - Lisa Gmitter, George Mason
Hermann Trophy: Michael Jeffries, Duke
NSCAA Division 1 Coach of the Year: Dieter Ficken, Columbia
ISAA Goalkeeper of the Year: James Swanner, Clemson
Other Action
1983 US Open Cup Final: On July 3, New York Pancyprian Freedoms (CSL) defeated St. Louis Kutis 4-3.
1983 National Amateur Cup Final: On July 3, Denver Kickers defeated Milwaukee Bavarian/Pabst 2-1.
James P. McGuire (National Junior Men’s) Cup: Montgomery (MD) United
Athena (National Junior Women’s) Cup: Saratoga (CA) Spirits
U-20 World Youth Championship:The US finished third in thweir group in pool play (see details in National team section above). Brazil defeated Argentina 1-0 in the final
CONCACAF Champions Cup: The New York Pancyprian Freedoms played but did not advance. Atlanta (Mexico) defeated Robin Hood (Suriname) for the title.
CONCACAF U-17 Championship: The first U-17 tournament by CONCACAF was a rousing success for the USA who won the tournament, with Trinidad & Tobago coming in second, Mexico third.
National Soccer Hall of Fame: In 1983, George Barr, and Frank Kracher were inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Hal Chappel, and Robert Sumpter were inducted into the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association Hall of Fame.