| Competition: | North American Soccer League 1980 season |
| Season: | 1980 |
| Num Teams: | 20 |
| Winners: | New York Cosmos (4th title) |
| Premiers: | New York Cosmos (4th title) most total points *Seattle Sounders best Won/Loss record |
| Matches: | 384 |
| League Topscorer: | Giorgio Chinaglia (32 goals) |
| Total Goals: | 1371 |
| Highest Attendance: | 70,312 (Ft. Lauderdale @ NY) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 254 (Memphis at New England) |
| Average Attendance: | 14,440 |
| Nextseason: | 1981 |
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.
The league comprised 24 teams; for the only time in NASL history, the lineup of teams was identical to the year before, with no clubs joining or dropping out, franchise shifts or even name changes. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (Seattle) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.
The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season.[1]
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win,0 points for a loss,1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
-Premiers (most points). -Best record. -Other playoff teams.
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Tampa Bay Rowdies (2) | 19 | 13 | 61 | 50 | 168 | |
| align=left | Fort Lauderdale Strikers (4) | 18 | 14 | 61 | 55 | 163 | |
| align=left | New England Tea Men (7) | 18 | 14 | 54 | 56 | 154 | |
| align=left | Philadelphia Fury | 10 | 22 | 42 | 68 | 98 |
| Central Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Chicago Sting (1) | 21 | 11 | 80 | 50 | 187 | |
| align=left | Houston Hurricane (6) | 14 | 18 | 56 | 69 | 130 | |
| align=left | Detroit Express | 14 | 18 | 51 | 52 | 129 | |
| align=left | Memphis Rogues | 14 | 18 | 49 | 57 | 126 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Edmonton Drillers (3) | 17 | 15 | 58 | 51 | 149 | |
| align=left | California Surf (5) | 15 | 17 | 61 | 67 | 144 | |
| align=left | San Diego Sockers (8) | 16 | 16 | 53 | 51 | 140 | |
| align=left | San Jose Earthquakes | 9 | 23 | 45 | 68 | 95 |
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | New York Cosmos (1) | 24 | 8 | 87 | 41 | 213 | |
| align=left | Washington Diplomats (5) | 17 | 15 | 72 | 61 | 159 | |
| align=left | Toronto Blizzard | 14 | 18 | 49 | 65 | 128 | |
| align=left | Rochester Lancers | 12 | 20 | 42 | 67 | 109 |
| Central Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Dallas Tornado (3) | 18 | 14 | 57 | 58 | 157 | |
| align=left | Minnesota Kicks (6) | 16 | 16 | 66 | 56 | 147 | |
| align=left | Tulsa Roughnecks (8) | 15 | 17 | 56 | 62 | 139 | |
| align=left | Atlanta Chiefs | 7 | 25 | 34 | 84 | 74 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Seattle Sounders (2) | 25 | 7 | 74 | 31 | 207 | |
| align=left | Los Angeles Aztecs (4) | 20 | 12 | 61 | 52 | 174 | |
| align=left | Vancouver Whitecaps (7) | 16 | 16 | 52 | 47 | 139 | |
| align=left | Portland Timbers | 15 | 17 | 50 | 53 | 133 |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention[2] [3] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Parkes, Chicago | align=center | G |  Jack Brand, Seattle | Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale | |
 Carlos Alberto, New York | align=center | D | Mihalj Keri, Los Angeles | David Nish, Seattle | |
| Mike Connell, Tampa Bay | align=center | D | Wim Rijsbergen, New York | John Gorman, Tampa Bay | |
| Rudi Krol, Vancouver | align=center | D | Peter Nogly, Edmonton | Frantz Mathieu, Chicago | |
| Bruce Rioch, Seattle | align=center | D | John Ryan, Seattle |  Andranik Eskandarian, New York | |
| Franz Beckenbauer, New York | align=center | M | Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago | Ray Hudson, Ft. Lauderdale | |
| Vladislav Bogićević, New York | align=center | M | Johan Neeskens, New York | Ace Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota | |
 Teófilo Cubillas, Fort Lauderdale | align=center | M | Alan Hudson, Seattle | Jomo Sono, Toronto | |
| Giorgio Chinaglia, New York | align=center | F | Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay | Tommy Hutchison, Seattle | |
| Johan Cruyff, Washington | align=center | F | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | Alan Green, Washington | |
| Roger Davies, Seattle | align=center | F | Luis Fernando, Los Angeles | Julio César Romero, New York |
The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The last two spots would go to the next best teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three conference seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were given wild-card berths. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by regular season point total, regardless of first-round seeding.[4] The Soccer Bowl remained a single game final.
In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one win apiece, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If there was no winner after the 30 minutes ended, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner.[5]
| width=180 | Lower seed | width=5 | width=180 | Higher seed | width=80 | Game 1 | width=80 | Game 2 | width=100 | Mini-game | width=260 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Kicks | - | Dallas Tornado | 0–1 | 0–2 | x | August 27 • Metropolitan Stadium • 17,461 August 31 • Texas Stadium • 8,674 | |||||||
| San Diego Sockers | - | Chicago Sting | 2–1 | 2 - 3 | 2–1 (SO, 3–0) | August 27 • San Diego Stadium • 12,125 August 30 • Comiskey Park • 12,267 | |||||||
| New England Tea Men | - | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–1 | 0–4 | x | August 27 • Schaefer Stadium • 17,121 August 30 • Tampa Stadium • 26,368 | |||||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | - | Seattle Sounders | 1–2 (OT) | 1 –3 | x | August 27 • Empire Stadium • 27,231 August 30 • Kingdome • 35,254 | |||||||
| Washington Diplomats | - | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1–0 | 1–2 (SO, 4–5) | 0–2 | August 27 • RFK Stadium • 20,231 August 30 • Rose Bowl • 14,163 | |||||||
| Houston Hurricane | - | Edmonton Drillers | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | August 27 • Astrodome • 3,902 August 31 • Commonwealth Stadium • 22,059 | |||||||
| California Surf | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 (SO, 2–3) | August 28 • Anaheim Stadium • 2,929 August 31 • Lockhart Stadium • 15,282 | |||||||
| Tulsa Roughnecks | - | New York Cosmos | 1–3 | 1–8 | x | August 28 • Skelly Stadium • 22,890 August 31 • Giants Stadium • 40,285 |
| width=180 | Lower seed | width=5 | width=180 | Higher seed | width=80 | Game 1 | width=80 | Game 2 | width=100 | Mini-game | width=260 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Aztecs | - | Seattle Sounders | 3–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 (SO, 2–0) | September 3 • Rose Bowl • 13,466 September 5 • Kingdome • 32,564 | |||||||
| Edmonton Drillers | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0–1 | 3–2 (SO, 2–1) | 0 - 3 | September 3 • Commonwealth Stadium • 18,029 September 6 • Lockhart Stadium • 17,380 | |||||||
| Dallas Tornado | - | New York Cosmos | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–3 | September 3 • Texas Stadium • 7,459 September 7 • Giants Stadium • 45,153 | |||||||
| San Diego Sockers | - | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6–3 | 0–6 | 2–1 (SO, 2–0) | September 4 • San Diego Stadium • 20,109 September 7 • Tampa Stadium • 25,852 |
| width=180 | Lower seed | width=5 | width=180 | Higher seed | width=80 | Game 1 | width=80 | Game 2 | width=100 | Mini-game | width=260 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Sockers | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | September 11 • San Diego Stadium • 27,635 September 13 • Lockhart Stadium • 18,420 | |||||||
| Los Angeles Aztecs | - | New York Cosmos | 1–2 | 1–3 | x | September 10 • Rose Bowl • 25,487 September 13 • Giants Stadium • 42,324 |
See main article: Soccer Bowl '80.
1980 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos
Book: 1980 Official North American Soccer League Guide . North American Soccer League . 1980 . New York, NY.