1981 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League -1981 Season-
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.

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

Teams Folding

Teams Moving

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 DivisionWLGFGAPT
New York Cosmos23 98049200
Montreal Manic15176357141
Washington Diplomats15175958135
Toronto Blizzard 725398277
Southern DivisionWLGFGAPT
Atlanta Chiefs17156260151
Fort Lauderdale Strikers18145446144
Jacksonville Tea Men18145146141
Tampa Bay Rowdies15176364139
Central DivisionWLGFGAPT
Chicago Sting23 98450195
Minnesota Kicks19136357163
Tulsa Roughnecks17156049154
Dallas Tornado 5272771 54
Western DivisionWLGFGAPT
San Diego Sockers21116749173
Los Angeles Aztecs19135355160
California Surf11216077117
San Jose Earthquakes11214478108
Northwest DivisionWLGFGAPT
Vancouver Whitecaps21117443186
Calgary Boomers17155954151
Portland Timbers17155249141
Seattle Sounders15176062137
Edmonton Drillers12206079123

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 16–31,172[4]
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

Main article: Soccer Bowl '81

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.[7][8]

Post season awards

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7Z4oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OnsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6650,2220626&dq=nasl+record+shootout&hl=en
  2. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=PZE8UkGerEcC&dat=19810911&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
  3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm
  4. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19810917&id=0mhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o1kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3234,584703&hl=en
  5. ↑ http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788
  6. ↑ http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788
  7. ↑ "This Day In 1981 : Soccer Bowl Edition | Chicago Fire Confidential". Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  8. ↑ "The Year in American Soccer - 1977". Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  9. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1nNkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZX4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3054,3197264&dq=north+american+player+of+the+year+soccer&hl=en

External links

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