| Season | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 9 |
| Champions | Chicago Sting (2nd title) |
| Premiers | Chicago Sting most total points *San Diego best Won/Loss record |
| Matches | 108 |
| Goals | 427 (3.95 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Steve Zungul (20 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 52,621 Tampa Bay atMinnesota (May 28) |
| Lowest attendance | 2,267 Tampa Bay atSan Diego (August 12) |
| Average attendance | 10,759 |
←1983 | |
The1984North American Soccer League season was the 72nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 17th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada. It was the 17th and final season of the NASL.
By 1983, the NASL had shrunk to half of the 24 teams that made up the league in 1980. The ongoing salary war with theMajor Indoor Soccer League had taken its toll, along with shrinking attendances and a lack of interest from American network TV broadcasters.[1] The league made plans to have both an outdoor and indoor presence, with a 24-game outdoor season and 40-game indoor season scheduled for 1984 and beyond.[2]
Theoff-season following the 1983 outdoor playoffs saw three more teams fall by the wayside: theMontreal Manic,[3]Seattle Sounders[4] andTeam America[5] would all fold. TheFort Lauderdale Strikers decided to move to Minnesota because of a lack of suitable indoor arenas inSoutheastern Florida.[6] Things had gotten so bad for the league that the championTulsa Roughnecks almost folded two weeks after winning theSoccer Bowl. They survived, thanks to a fundraiser that put $65,000 in the team's coffers.[7] The league would soldier on with nine teams. While there would not be huge changes on the field, the single gameSoccer Bowl would be no more. The league moved to a best-of-three championship series format, as was done back in the1971 Final.[8] The revised NASL playoff format had the two division winners and the two next best teams qualify. The four teams would be seeded 1 through 4.[9]
When the season finally got underway in May, the nine teams were bunched together for most of the year as six teams finished within five points of each other. A hoped-for renaissance in New York never materialized, as the return of former Cosmos coachEddie Firmani did not lead the team back to the playoffs. Rumors about a possible return byPelé proved to be without merit. However, not everyone struggled on the field. In Oakland,Steve Zungul andBranko Segota were able to translate their talents from theMISL to the outdoor game, finishing 1–2 in the league's scoring race. Zungul would earn league MVP honors despite theGolden Bay Earthquakes' last-place finish. For the fifth time (and second year in a row), the NASL's points system rewarded a team other than the one with the best record (Chicago instead ofSan Diego) the regular season title and number one playoff seed. Moreover,Toronto andMinnesota also had better won-loss records than Chicago. Minnesota would not even qualify for the playoffs, despite having a better record than both Chicago andVancouver.[10]
TheChicago Sting won the last NASL title with a two-game sweep over theToronto Blizzard.[11] The Sting needed a last-second victory over the Cosmos in their regular season finale to qualify for the playoffs[12] and knock New York out. In the playoffs they won a deciding game over theVancouver Whitecaps, who themselves only made the playoffs thanks to the Cosmos' loss. Vancouver'sBob Lenarduzzi scored the quickest goal in NASL playoff history 46 seconds into the match, but Chicago rallied for the win.[13]
There were still plans for a 1985 outdoor season as the year ended, but the departures ofChicago Sting,Minnesota Strikers,New York Cosmos and theSan Diego Sockers to the MISL for the indoor season made that difficult.[14] The Cosmos left both the NASL and MISL on February 22.[15] A month later, on March 28, 1985, the NASL suspended operations when only Toronto and Minnesota were interested in fielding teams for a 1985 "outdoor" season.[16][17]
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system
6 points for a win,4 points for a shootout win,0 points for a loss,1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 13 | 11 | 50 | 49 | 44 | 120 | 6-6 | 7-5 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 14 | 10 | 46 | 33 | 35 | 117 | 9-3 | 5-7 |
| New York Cosmos | 13 | 11 | 43 | 42 | 39 | 115 | 9-3 | 4-8 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9 | 15 | 43 | 61 | 35 | 87 | 9-3 | 0-12 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | BP | Pts | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Sockers | 14 | 10 | 51 | 42 | 40 | 118 | 9-3 | 5-7 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 13 | 11 | 51 | 48 | 43 | 117 | 10-2 | 3-9 |
| Minnesota Strikers | 14 | 10 | 40 | 44 | 35 | 115 | 8-4 | 6-6 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 10 | 14 | 42 | 46 | 38 | 98 | 8-4 | 2-10 |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | 8 | 16 | 61 | 62 | 49 | 95 | 4-8 | 4-8 |
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A =Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Zungul | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 24 | 20 | 10 | 50 |
| Branko Šegota | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 24 | 18 | 11 | 47 |
| Ron Futcher | Tulsa Roughnecks | 23 | 18 | 8 | 44 |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza | Chicago Sting | 24 | 16 | 12 | 44 |
| Peter Ward | Vancouver Whitecaps | 24 | 16 | 10 | 42 |
| Ade Coker | San Diego Sockers | 22 | 16 | 7 | 39 |
| David Byrne | Toronto Blizzard | 20 | 12 | 13 | 37 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota Strikers | 24 | 15 | 4 | 34 |
| Jean Willrich | San Diego Sockers | 22 | 5 | 20 | 30 |
| Roberto Bettega | Toronto Blizzard | 23 | 8 | 13 | 29 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hammond | Toronto Blizzard | 21 | 1937 | 25 | 1.16 | 14 | 7 | 7 |
| Hubert Birkenmeier | New York Cosmos | 22 | 2007 | 34 | 1.50 | 13 | 9 | 2 |
| Tino Lettieri | Minnesota Strikers | 18 | 1622 | 28 | 1.55 | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Victor Nogueira | Chicago Sting | 18 | 1663 | 30 | 1.62 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
| Winston DuBose | Tulsa Roughnecks | 22 | 1931 | 38 | 1.77 | 10 | 12 | 4 |
| Paul Bradshaw | Vancouver Whitecaps | 24 | 2161 | 46 | 1.92 | 13 | 11 | 4 |
| Jim Gorsek | San Diego Sockers | 15 | 1369 | 32 | 2.10 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Arnie Mausser | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 23 | 2100 | 57 | 2.44 | 9 | 14 | 3 |
| Bill Irwin | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 21 | 1964 | 54 | 2.48 | 7 | 14 | 2 |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hubert Birkenmeier, New York | G | Paul Hammond, Toronto | Paul Bradshaw, Vancouver |
| Andranik Eskandarian, New York | D | Dwight Lodeweges, Minnesota | Gregg Thompson, Tampa Bay |
| Johan Neeskens, New York | D | Victor Moreland, Tulsa | Fernando Clavijo, Golden Bay |
| Kevin Crow, San Diego | D | Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver | Dan Canter, New York |
| Bruce Wilson, Toronto | D | Terry Moore, Tulsa | Barry Wallace, Minnesota |
| Ray Hudson, Minnesota | M | Pato Margetic, Chicago | Kaz Deyna, San Diego |
| Frans Thijssen, Vancouver | M | Jimmy Nicholl, Toronto | Brian Quinn, San Diego |
| Vladislav Bogicevic, New York | M | Fran O'Brien, Vancouver | Ace Ntsoelengoe, Toronto |
| Steve Zungul, Golden Bay | F | Alan Willey, Minnesota | Carl Valentine, Vancouver |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | F | Branko Šegota, Golden Bay | Roberto Cabañas, New York |
| Peter Ward, Vancouver | F | David Byrne, Toronto | Ron Futcher, Tulsa |
Top team from each division qualified automatically. The next two teams with the highest point totals qualified regardless of which division they were in.[18]
| Semifinals Best-of-3 | Soccer Bowl Series '84 Best-of-3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Chicago Sting | 0 | 3 | 4 | |||||||||
| 4 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 1 | Chicago Sting | 2 | 3 | – | |||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Blizzard | 1 | 2 | – | |||||||||
| 2 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | 0 | – | |||||||||
| 3 | Toronto Blizzard | 2 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| Higher seed | Series | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | *(higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 2 - 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0–1(OT) | 3–1 | 4–3 | September 18 •Comiskey Park • 5,484 September 23 •BC Place Stadium • 14,753 September 28 •Comiskey Park • 10,139 |
| San Diego Sockers | 0 - 2 | Toronto Blizzard | 1–2 | 0–1 | x | September 18 •Jack Murphy Stadium • 4,204 September 21 •Varsity Stadium • 12,460 |
| Higher seed | Series | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | *(higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 2 - 0 | Toronto Blizzard | 2–1 | 3–2 | x | October 1 •Comiskey Park • 8,352 October 3 •Varsity Stadium • 16,842 |
| Chicago Sting | 2–1 | Toronto Blizzard |
|---|---|---|
Margetic 50:06' (Seninho, Granitza)Rojas 85:20' (Seninho) | Wilson 15:23' (Byrne, DeLucca) |
| Toronto Blizzard | 2–3 | Chicago Sting |
|---|---|---|
| Paskin 70:55' (Ntsoelengoe) Bettega 72:28' (Byrne, Ntsoelengoe) | Simanton 16:47' (Granitza) Margetic 67:58' (Gray, Rojas)Margetic 81:33' (Rojas) |
1984 NASL Champions:Chicago Sting
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A =Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pato Margetic | Chicago Sting | 5 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza | Chicago Sting | 5 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Manny Rojas | Chicago Sting | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| Ace Ntsoelengoe | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| David Byrne | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Roberto Bettega | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min - Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Hammond | Toronto Blizzard | 4 | 360 | 6 | 1.50 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Zoltan Toth | San Diego Sockers | 2 | 180 | 3 | 1.50 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Victor Nogueira | Chicago Sting | 5 | 459 | 8 | 1.60 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Paul Bradshaw | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 279 | 7 | 2.33 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Club | Games | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 12 | 182,494 | 15,208 |
| Minnesota Strikers | 12 | 171,151 | 14,263 |
| New York Cosmos | 12 | 153,807 | 12,817 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 12 | 137,420 | 11,452 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 | 131,194 | 10,933 |
| Golden Bay Earthquakes | 12 | 123,383 | 10,282 |
| Chicago Sting | 12 | 100,512 | 8,376 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 12 | 93,567 | 7,797 |
| San Diego Sockers | 12 | 68,422 | 5,702 |
| OVERALL | 108 | 1,161,950 | 10,759 |
Jose, Colin (1989).NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League. Derby, England: Breedon Books.
Jose, Colin (2003).North American Soccer League Encyclopedia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press.
