1974 North American Soccer League season explained

Competition:North American Soccer League 1974 season
Season:1974
Num Teams:15
Matches:150
League Topscorer:Paul Child
(15 goals)
Total Goals:488
Highest Attendance:24,093 (Denver @ Phil)
Lowest Attendance:1,153 (NY @ Boston)
Average Attendance:7,825
Nextseason:1975

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1974. This was the 7th season of the NASL.[1]

Overview

Fifteen teams comprised the league with the Los Angeles Aztecs winning the championship in a penalty kick shootout over the Miami Toros.

Changes from the previous season

Rules changes

The league decided to do away with tie games. If a match was tied after 90 minutes, the teams would go directly to a standard penalty shootout with no extra time played. The outcome would appear in the standings as a 'tie-win'. The tie-winner would gain three points, plus goals in regulation, while the loser of the tie-breaker received no points, except for regulation goals.[1] Including the 1974 NASL Final, 33 matches were decided using this method.

New teams

Teams folding

Teams moving

Name changes

Map of clubs

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= PK Shootout Wins, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system

6 points for a win,3 points for a PK shootout win,0 points for a loss,1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

-Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.

Northern DivisionWLTGFGAPT
align=left Boston Minutemen10 9 1 36 23 94
align=left Toronto Metros9 10 1 30 31 87
align=left Rochester Lancers8 10 2 23 30 77
align=left New York Cosmos4 14 2 28 40 58
Eastern DivisionWLTGFGAPT
align=left Miami Toros9 5 6 38 24 107
align=left Baltimore Comets10 8 2 42 46 105
align=left Philadelphia Atoms8 11 1 2525 74
align=left Washington Diplomats7 12 1 29 36 70
Central DivisionWLTGFGAPT
align=left Dallas Tornado9 8 3 39 27 100
align=left St. Louis Stars4 15 1 27 42 54
align=left Denver Dynamos5 15 0 21 42 49
Western DivisionWLTGFGAPT
align=left Los Angeles Aztecs11 7 2 41 36 110
align=left San Jose Earthquakes9 8 3 43 38 103
align=left Seattle Sounders10 7 3 37 17 101
align=left Vancouver Whitecaps5 11 4 29 31 70

NASL All-Stars

First Team[2] [3]   Position   Second Team Honorable Mention
Barry Watling, Seattlealign=center GBob Rigby, PhiladelphiaIan McKechnie, Boston
Dick Hall, Dallasalign=center DRalph Wright, MiamiBobby Smith, Philadelphia
Albert Jackson, Dallasalign=center DDerek Trevis, PhiladelphiaPatrick Greenwood, Boston
Chris Dunleavy, Philadelphiaalign=center DJim Gabriel, SeattleLaurie Calloway, San Jose
Geoff Butler, Baltimorealign=center DBrian Rowan, TorontoCharlie Mitchell, Rochester
Ronnie Sharp, Miamialign=center MHank Liotart, SeattleAlan Spavin, Washington
Ilija Mitic, Dallasalign=center MLuis Marotte, Los AngelesRoy Sinclair, Seattle
Roberto Aguirre, Miamialign=center MFernando Pinto, TorontoDieter Zajdel, San Jose
Paul Child, San Josealign=center FAde Coker, BostonSteve David, Miami
John Rowlands, Seattlealign=center FDoug McMillan, Los AngelesJim Fryatt, Philadelphia
Peter Silvester, Baltimorealign=center FWarren Archibald, MiamiRandy Horton, New York

Playoffs

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

Quarterfinals

August 14San Jose Earthquakes0–3width=24%Dallas TornadoTexas Stadium • Att. 8,652
align=right valign=topvalign=topalign=left valign=top
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August 15Baltimore Comets0–1width=24%Boston MinutemenAlumni Stadium • Att. 9,713
align=right valign=topvalign=topalign=left valign=top

Semifinals

August 17Boston Minutemen0–2width=24%Los Angeles AztecsELAC Stadium • Att. 5,485
align=right valign=topvalign=topalign=left valign=top
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August 17Dallas Tornado1–3width=24%Miami TorosTamiami Stadium[4] [5] • Att. 5,045
align=right valign=topvalign=topalign=left valign=top

NASL Final 1974

See main article: NASL Final 1974.

1974 NASL Champions: Los Angeles Aztecs

Post season awards

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Year in American Soccer - 1974 . Homepages.sover.net . 2003-10-04 . 2014-01-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151105121101/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1974.html . 2015-11-05 . dead .
  2. Web site: NASL Homepage . 2008-05-01 . 2014-01-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm . May 1, 2008 .
  3. Web site: Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page . Oocities.org . 2014-01-13.
  4. Web site: Football in Miami and Beyond: Ft Lauderdale Strikers History: Part II: PRO SOCCER COMES TO MIAMI . 13 October 2010 .
  5. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19740814&id=UDw0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=yesFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4217,1489454&hl=en