1968 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League -1968 Season-
Season 1968
Champions Atlanta Chiefs
Premiers San Diego Toros
most total points
*Atlanta Chiefs
best Won/Loss record
Matches played 271
Goals scored 924 (3.41 per match)
Top goalscorer Janusz Kowalik
(30 goals)
Average attendance 4,669
1969 →

The 1968 North American Soccer League season was the 56th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 1st with a national first-division league with the inaugural season of the NASL.

The NASL was formed this year as a merger between the former top division soccer leagues, the United Soccer Association along with the National Professional Soccer League. In the inaugural year, the Atlanta Chiefs were the champions, by winning the NASL Final 3–0, in a two-game aggregate over the San Diego Toros. While the Chiefs were the champions for the season, the premiers for this season were the Toros, who obtained the highest point total.[1]

Overview

17 teams competed in this inaugural season, and the Atlanta Chiefs won the championship. While San Diego won the premiership, Atlanta's winning percentage was higher because a match had been canceled.[1] This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership.

8 came from the NPSL: Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City (from Chicago), New York, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego ( from Los Angeles) and Toronto.

9 came from the USA: Boston (nickname changed), Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver (nickname shortened) and Washington.

2 teams from the NPSL folded (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).

3 teams from the USA folded (New York, San Francisco and Toronto).

Two teams: Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL) had the same nickname the "Stars".

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system, Avg Att= Average Attendance[2]

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).     -Best record.     -Other playoff teams.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg Att
Atlanta Chiefs187650321745,794
Washington Whips1510750321676,586
New York Generals1281262541645,606
Baltimore Bays1316342431284,628
Boston Beacons917651691214,004
Lakes DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg Att
Cleveland Stokers1471162441754,305
Chicago Mustangs1310968681642,463
Toronto Falcons1313655691445,284
Detroit Cougars62144865884,266

Western Conference

Gulf DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg Att
Kansas City Spurs1611561431588,510^
Houston Stars1412658411503,246
St. Louis Stars1214647591305,388
Dallas Tornado226428109522,929
Pacific DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg Att
San Diego Toros188665381864,245
Oakland Clippers188671381853,700
Los Angeles Wolves1113855521392,441*
Vancouver Royals1215551601366,197

^League best, *League worst

NASL All-Stars

First Team[3][4]  Position  Second Team
Mirko Stojanović, Oakland G Vic Rouse, Atlanta
Mel Scott, Oakland D John Worbye, Washington
Momcilio Gavric, Oakland D John Cocking, Atlanta
David Davidovic, Oakland M Dennis Viollet, Baltimore
Ron Crisp, San Diego M Milan Čop, Oakland
Ruben Navarro, Cleveland M Tony Knapp, Los Angeles
Janusz Kowalik, Chicago F Victorio Casa, Washington
Pepe Fernandez, San Diego F Mario Baesso, Oakland
Jorgen Kristensen, Detroit[5] F Eric Barber, Kansas City
Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis F Vavá, San Diego
Ilija Mitic, Oakland F Enrique Mateos, Cleveland

Playoffs

Bracket

  Conference Finals[6] NASL Final 1968
                         
E1 Atlanta Chiefs 1 2 3  
E2 Cleveland Stokers 1 1 2  
    E1 Atlanta Chiefs 3 0 3
  W1 San Diego Toros 0 0 0
W1 San Diego Toros 1 1 2
W2 Kansas City Spurs 1 0 1  

Conference finals

Higher seed Aggregate Lower seed First leg Second leg Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs3–2Cleveland Stokers1–12–1 (OT) September 11 • Cleveland Stadium • 3,431
September 14 • Atlanta Stadium • 6,645
San Diego Toros2–1Kansas City Spurs1–11–0 (2OT) September 11 • Municipal Stadium • 5,042
September 16 • Balboa Stadium • 6,271[1][7][6]

NASL Final 1968

Eastern Champion Aggregate Western Champion[8] First leg Second leg Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs3–0San Diego Toros0–03–0September 21 • Balboa Stadium • 9,360[9]
September 28 • Atlanta Stadium • 14,994

First leg

San Diego Toros 0–0 Atlanta Chiefs
Attendance: 9,360
Referee: Reg Clark (Canada)

Second leg

Atlanta Chiefs 3–0 San Diego Toros
Peter McParland  22:34' (Hughes)
Delroy Scott  42:53'
Kaizer Motaung  79:50'		 report
Attendance: 14,994
Referee: Jim Carr (USA)


1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs

Post season awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Year in American Soccer - 1968". Homepages.sover.net. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  2. ↑ "Attendance Project: NASL". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. ↑ "NASL Homepage". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-01. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  4. ↑ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  5. ↑ "NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  6. 1 2 "San Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal". Google news. 17 Sep 1968.
  7. ↑ "Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News". Google news. 16 Sep 1968.
  8. ↑ "San Diego Toros 1968". www.nasljerseys.com.
  9. ↑ http://soccerstats.us/teams/san-diego-toros/games/
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