| Competition: | North American Soccer League 1972 season |
| Season: | 1972 |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Matches: | 56 |
| League Topscorer: | Randy Horton (9 goals) |
| Total Goals: | 156 |
| Highest Attendance: | 24,742 (Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,100 (Dallas @ Montreal) |
| Average Attendance: | 5,340 |
| Nextseason: | 1973 |
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.
Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship.
The league changed its offside rule during the season on June 26. They created a "Blue Line" which was an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line. This made the NASL unique in the soccer world; the league received temporary approval for the change from FIFA on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.[1]
W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win,3 points for a tie,0 points for a loss,1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.
-Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.
| Northern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | New York Cosmos | 7 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 77 | |
| align=left | Rochester Lancers | 6 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 22 | 64 | |
| align=left | Montreal Olympique | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 57 | |
| align=left | Toronto Metros | 4 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 53 |
| Southern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | St. Louis Stars | 7 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 69 | |
| align=left | Dallas Tornado | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 60 | |
| align=left | Atlanta Chiefs | 5 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 56 | |
| align=left | Miami Gatos | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 32 | 44 |
| First Team[2] [3] | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Cooper, Dallas | align=center | G | Dick Howard, Toronto | Sam Nusum, Montreal | |
| John Best, Dallas | align=center | D | Dick Hall, Dallas | Adolfo Gori, Rochester | |
| John Sewell, St. Louis | align=center | D | Clive Charles, Montreal | Charlie Mitchell, Rochester | |
| Peter Short, Rochester | align=center | D | Wilf Tranter, St. Louis | John Cocking, Atlanta | |
| Willie Evans, Miami | align=center | D | Brian Rowan, Toronto | Joe Puls, St. Louis | |
| John Kerr, New York | align=center | M | Francisco Escos, Rochester | Mick Hoban, Atlanta | |
| Graeme Souness, Montreal | align=center | M | Dave Metchick, Miami | Larry Hausmann, St. Louis | |
| Pat McBride, St. Louis | align=center | M | Siggy Stritzl, New York | Billy Fraser, Miami | |
| Randy Horton, New York | align=center | F | Carlos Metidieri, Rochester | Mike Renshaw, Dallas | |
| Paul Child, Atlanta | align=center | F | Art Welch, Atlanta | Warren Archibald, Miami | |
| Michael Dillon, Montreal | align=center | F | Jorge Siega, New York | Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis |
All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.
| style=font-size:85% align=center rowspan=3 width=15% | August 15 | width=24% align=right | Rochester Lancers | align=center width=13% | 0–2 | width=24% | St. Louis Stars | style=font-size:85% rowspan=3 valign=top | Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319 |
| align=right valign=top | valign=top | align=left valign=top |
| style=font-size:85% align=center rowspan=3 width=15% | August 19 | width=24% align=right | Dallas Tornado | align=center width=13% | 0–1 | width=24% | New York Cosmos | style=font-size:85% rowspan=3 valign=top | Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026 |
| align=right valign=top | valign=top | align=left valign=top |
See main article: NASL Final 1972.
1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos