1981 North American Soccer League season
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
| Season | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Chicago Sting |
| Premiers | New York Cosmos (5th title) |
| Matches played | 336 |
| Goals scored | 1234 (3.67 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Giorgio Chinaglia (29 goals) |
| Highest attendance | 50,755 Washington at Montreal (August 18) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,861 Dallas at Chicago (May 10) |
| Average attendance | 14,084 |
|
← 1980
1982 →
|
|
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1981. This was the 14th season of the NASL.
Contents
Overview
There were a total of 21 teams participating. The Chicago Sting defeated the New York Cosmos in Soccer Bowl '81 on September 26 to win the championship.
Changes from the Previous Season
New Teams
- None
Teams Folding
- Houston Hurricane
- Rochester Lancers
- Washington Diplomats
Teams Moving
- Memphis Rogues to Calgary Boomers
- Detroit Express to Washington Diplomats
- New England Tea Men to Jacksonville Tea Men
- Philadelphia Fury to Montreal Manic
Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win in regulation and overtime, 4 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each regulation goal scored, up to three per game.[1]
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Cosmos | 23 | 9 | 80 | 49 | 200 |
| Montreal Manic | 15 | 17 | 63 | 57 | 141 |
| Washington Diplomats | 15 | 17 | 59 | 58 | 135 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 7 | 25 | 39 | 82 | 77 |
| Southern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Chiefs | 17 | 15 | 62 | 60 | 151 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 18 | 14 | 54 | 46 | 144 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | 18 | 14 | 51 | 46 | 141 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 15 | 17 | 63 | 64 | 139 |
| Central Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Sting | 23 | 9 | 84 | 50 | 195 |
| Minnesota Kicks | 19 | 13 | 63 | 57 | 163 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 17 | 15 | 60 | 49 | 154 |
| Dallas Tornado | 5 | 27 | 27 | 71 | 54 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Sockers | 21 | 11 | 67 | 49 | 173 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 19 | 13 | 53 | 55 | 160 |
| California Surf | 11 | 21 | 60 | 77 | 117 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 11 | 21 | 44 | 78 | 108 |
| Northwest Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 21 | 11 | 74 | 43 | 186 |
| Calgary Boomers | 17 | 15 | 59 | 54 | 151 |
| Portland Timbers | 17 | 15 | 52 | 49 | 141 |
| Seattle Sounders | 15 | 17 | 60 | 62 | 137 |
| Edmonton Drillers | 12 | 20 | 60 | 79 | 123 |
NASL All-Stars
| First Team | Position | Second Team[2] | Honorable Mention[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan van Beveren, Ft. Lauderdale | G | Hubert Birkenmeier, New York | Volkmar Gross, San Diego |
| Frantz Mathieu, Chicago | D | Barry Wallace, Tulsa | Nick Rohmann, San Diego |
| Wim Rijsbergen, New York | D | Kevin Bond, Seattle | Robert Iarusci, New York |
| Peter Nogly, Edmonton | D | Mihalj Keri, Los Angeles | Dave Huson, Chicago |
| John Gorman, Tampa Bay | D | Pierce O'Leary, Vancouver | Carlos Alberto, California |
| Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago | M | Alan Hudson, Seattle | Juli Veee, San Diego |
| Vladislav Bogićević, New York | M | George Best, San Jose | Jomo Sono, Toronto |
| Teófilo Cubillas, Ft. Lauderdale | M | Peter Lorimer, Vancouver | Duncan McKenzie, Tulsa |
| Brian Kidd, Atlanta | F | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | Mike Stojanović, San Diego |
| Gordon Hill, Montreal | F | Roberto Cabañas, New York | Pato Margetic, Chicago |
| Giorgio Chinaglia, New York | F | Franz Gerber, Calgary | Alan Green, Jacksonville / Steve Wegerle, New York |
Playoffs
First round
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulsa Roughnecks | - | Minnesota Kicks | 1 - 3 | 0 - 1 (SO, 4–5) | x | August 22 -16,205 • August 26 -10,722 |
| Portland Timbers | - | San Diego Sockers | 2 - 1 | 1 - 5 | 0 - 2 | August 22 -16,003 • August 26 -12,039 • August 30 -15,244 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | - | Atlanta Chiefs | 3 - 2 (OT) | 2 - 1 | x | August 23 -9,287 • August 25 -6,572 |
| Calgary Boomers | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1 - 3 | 0 - 2 | x | August 23 -12,196 • August 26 -11,494 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | Vancouver Whitecaps | 4 - 1 | 1 - 0 | x | August 23 -21,192 • August 26–28,896 |
| Seattle Sounders | - | Chicago Sting | 2 - 3 | 2 - 0 | 2 - 3 | August 23 -14,643 • August 26 -15,176 • August 30 -24,080 |
| Montreal Manic | - | Los Angeles Aztecs | 5 - 3 | 2 - 3 | 2 - 1 (OT) | August 24 -46,682 • August 27 -7,529 • August 30 -8,812 |
Quarterfinals
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | New York Cosmos | 3 - 6 | 3 - 2 (SO, 4–2) | 0 - 2 | September 2–29,224 • September 5–38,691 • September 9–33,754 |
| Montreal Manic | - | Chicago Sting | 3 - 2 | 2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | September 2 -58,542 • September 5–24,648 • September 10–27,489 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - | Minnesota Kicks | 3 - 1 | 3 - 0 | x | September 2–11,918 • September 6–10,278 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | - | San Diego Sockers | 2 - 1 (OT) | 1 - 2 | 1 - 3 | September 2–12,252 • September 6–14,428 • September 9–14,015 |
Semifinals
| Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - | New York Cosmos | 3 - 4 | 1 - 4 | x | September 12–18,814 • September 16–31,112 |
| San Diego Sockers | - | Chicago Sting | 2 - 1 | 1 - 2 | 0 - 1 (SO, 2–3) | September 12–18,192 • September 16–21,760 • September 21–39,623 |
Soccer Bowl '81
<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>
|
September 26
|
| Chicago Sting | 1–0* | New York Cosmos |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
Margetic  Spalding Peter Granitza  Glenn |
2–1 | Seninho Chinaglia Bogićević Buljan Iarusci |
1981 NASL Champions: Chicago Sting
*From 1977 through 1984 the NASL had a variation of the penalty shoot-out procedure for tied matches. The shoot-out started 35 yards from the goal and allowed the player 5 seconds to attempt a shot. The player could make as many moves as he wanted in a breakaway situation within the time frame. Even though this particular match was a scoreless tie after overtime, NASL procedure also called for the box score to show an additional "goal" given to the winning team.[6][7]
Post season awards
- Most Valuable Player: Giorgio Chinaglia, New York
- Coach of the year: Willy Roy, Chicago
- Rookie of the year: Joe Morrone, Jr., Tulsa
- North American Player of the Year: Mike Stojanović, San Diego[8]
References
- ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7Z4oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OnsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6650,2220626&dq=nasl+record+shootout&hl=en
- ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=PZE8UkGerEcC&dat=19810911&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm
- ↑ http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788
- ↑ http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1nNkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZX4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3054,3197264&dq=north+american+player+of+the+year+soccer&hl=en
