1972 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL.

North American Soccer League -1972 Season-
Season1972
ChampionsNew York Cosmos
PremiersNew York Cosmos
Matches played56
Goals scored156 (2.79 per match)
Top goalscorerRandy Horton
(9 goals)
Longest winning run5, St. Louis Stars
Highest attendance24,742
(Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas)
Lowest attendance1,100 (Dallas @ Montreal)
Average attendance5,340
← 1971
1973 →

Overview

Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship.

Changes from previous season

Rules changes

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]

New teams
  • None

Teams folding
  • None

Teams moving
  • Washington Darts to Miami Gatos

Name changes
  • None

Regular season

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 DivisionWLTGFGAPT
New York Cosmos734281677
Rochester Lancers653202264
Montreal Olympique455192057
Toronto Metros464182253
Southern DivisionWLTGFGAPT
St. Louis Stars743201469
Dallas Tornado653151260
Atlanta Chiefs563191856
Miami Gatos383173244

NASL All-Stars
First Team[2][3]  Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention
Ken Cooper, Dallas G Dick Howard, Toronto Sam Nusum, Montreal
John Best, Dallas D Dick Hall, Dallas Adolfo Gori, Rochester
John Sewell, St. Louis D Clive Charles, Montreal Charlie Mitchell, Rochester
Peter Short, Rochester D Wilf Tranter, St. Louis John Cocking, Atlanta
Willie Evans, Miami D Brian Rowan, Toronto Joe Puls, St. Louis
John Kerr, New York M Francisco Escos, Rochester Mick Hoban, Atlanta
Graeme Souness, Montreal M Dave Metchick, Miami Larry Hausmann, St. Louis
Pat McBride, St. Louis M Siggy Stritzl, New York Billy Fraser, Miami
Randy Horton, New York F Carlos Metidieri, Rochester Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Paul Child, Atlanta F Art Welch, Atlanta Warren Archibald, Miami
Michael Dillon, Montreal F Jorge Siega, New York Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis

Playoffs

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

Bracket
Semifinals NASL Final 1972
      
N1 New York Cosmos 1
S2 Dallas Tornado 0
N1 New York Cosmos 2
S1 St. Louis Stars 1
S1 St. Louis Stars 2
N2 Rochester Lancers 0

Semifinals
August 15 Rochester Lancers 0–2 St. Louis Stars Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319
August 19 Dallas Tornado 0–1 New York Cosmos Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026

NASL Final 1972
Main article: NASL Final 1972
New York Cosmos2–1St. Louis Stars
Horton  5' (Young)
Jelinek  86' (pen.)		 Report Frankiewicz  52' (Sewell)
Attendance: 6,102[4]
Referee: Roger Schott (USA)[5]

1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

Post season awards

References
  1. "The Year in American Soccer - 1972". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  2. Christopher S. Page. "NASL Homepage". eb.archive.org. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  3. "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". oocities.org. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
  4. Flachsbart, Harold (August 27, 1972). "Stars Lose Title Match". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1C. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  5. "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
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