1973 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1973. This was the 6th season of the NASL.[1]

North American Soccer League -1973 Season-
Season1973
ChampionsPhiladelphia Atoms
PremiersDallas Tornado
Matches played90
Goals scored246 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorerWarren Archibald
Ilija Mitić
(12 goals)
Longest unbeaten run13, Philadelphia
Highest attendance21,700 (Dallas @ Phil)
Lowest attendance1,100 (NY @ Montreal)
Average attendance6,290
← 1972
1974 →

Overview

Nine teams took part in the league with the Philadelphia Atoms winning the championship.

During the season, Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz from Vera Cruz, Mexico, played each of the nine NASL clubs in exhibition games that counted in the league's final standings. The 1973 season would be the last season in which games from non-league clubs counted in league standings.[2]

In a unique twist, the team with home field for the NASL Championship Game determined the date and time the game was to be played. When the Dallas Tornado won their semi-final, setting up the final with Philadelphia, they chose August 25 as the date of the game. They did this because the NASL loan agreements with players from the English First Division (the precursor to today's Premier League) expired before that date.[3]

Because of this, Philadelphia's two leading scorers, Andy "The Flea" Provan and Jim Fryatt, were on their way back to England when the championship match was played on the 25th. Despite this, Philadelphia coach, Al Miller, put Bill Straub, a defender who had not played a minute for the club prior to the championship game, into the lineup at forward. The move paid off as Straub headed home the second goal in a 2–0 win with under five minutes remaining in the final.[3]

Changes from the previous season

New teams
  • Philadelphia Atoms

Teams folding
  • None

Teams moving
  • None

Name changes
  • Atlanta Chiefs to Atlanta Apollos
  • Miami Gatos to Miami Toros

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, PTS= Total Points

POINT SYSTEM
6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each goal scored up to three per game.

    -Premiers (most points).     -Other playoff teams.
Eastern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Philadelphia Atoms928291426104
New York Cosmos75731232891
Miami Toros85626212288
Northern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Toronto Metros64932182689
Montreal Olympique510425322264
Rochester Lancers49617271759
Southern DivisionWLTGFGABPPTS
Dallas Tornado1144362533111
St. Louis Stars77527272582
Atlanta Apollos39723402362

NASL All-Stars
First Team[4][5]  Position  Second TeamHonorable Mention
Ken Cooper, Dallas G Bob Rigby, Philadelphia Sam Nusum, Montreal
John Best, Dallas D Bob Smith, Philadelphia John Sewell, St. Louis
Chris Dunleavy, Philadelphia D Derek Trevis, Philadelphia Barry Barto, Philadelphia
David Sadler, Miami D Dick Hall, Dallas Werner Roth, New York
Brian Rowan, Toronto D Roy Evans, Philadelphia John Collins, Dallas
Ilija Mitic, Dallas M Pat McBride, St. Louis Al Trost, St. Louis
Fernando Pinto, Toronto M Francisco Escos, Rochester Roy Turner, Dallas
Ian McPhee, Toronto M Roberto Aguirre, Miami George O'Neill, Philadelphia
Andy Provan, Philadelphia F Joey Fink, New York Paul Child, Atlanta
Jim Fryatt, Philadelphia F Rick Reynolds, Dallas Kyle Rote Jr., Dallas
Warren Archibald, Miami F Randy Horton, New York Nick Jennings, Dallas

Playoffs

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

Bracket
Semifinals NASL Final 1973
      
1 Dallas Tornado 1
4 New York Cosmos 0
1 Dallas Tornado 0
2 Philadelphia Atoms 2
2 Philadelphia Atoms 3
3 Toronto Metros 0

Semifinals
August 15 New York Cosmos 0–1 Dallas Tornado Texas Stadium • Att. 9,009[1]
August 18 Toronto Metros 0–3 Philadelphia Atoms Veterans Stadium • Att. 18,766[1]

NASL Final 1973
Main article: NASL Final 1973
Dallas Tornado0–2Philadelphia Atoms
Best  66' (o.g.)
Straub  85' (Evans)
Attendance: 18,824[1]
Referee: Bill Gallagher (Canada)[8]

1973 NASL Champions: Philadelphia Atoms

Post season awards
  • Most Valuable Player: Warren Archibald, Miami
  • Coach of the year: Al Miller, Philadelphia
  • Rookie of the year: Kyle Rote, Jr., Dallas

References
  1. "The Year in American Soccer - 1973". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on 2013-07-13. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  2. Jose, Colin (1989). NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League. USA: Brredon Books. p. 360. ISBN 978-0907969563.
  3. "Flashback: Philly in the 1973 NASL playoffs". www.phillysoccerpage.net.
  4. "NASL Homepage". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-01. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  5. "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  6. Edwin Shrake (1973-09-03). "Armed with Americans, Philadelphia's soccer team beat - 09.03.73 - SI Vault". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
  7. "Philadelphia Atoms @ Dallas Tornado 1973 NASL Finals Highlights - YouTube". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
  8. "Past Winners | North American Soccer League". Naslsoccerbowl.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.