Soccer Bowl '84, also known as Soccer Bowl Series '84, was the championship of the 1984 NASL season. In a departure from previous years, it was a best-of-three series between the Chicago Sting and the Toronto Blizzard. The first game of the series was held on Monday, October 1 at Comiskey Park, in Chicago, Illinois; the Sting won it 2–1. The second game was played at Varsity Stadium, in Toronto, Ontario on October 3. Chicago won again, this time by a score of 3–2, to sweep the series and claim its second North American championship.[1][2]
Background
The Sting finished the regular season with a 13-11 record, while the Blizzard went 14-10. However, due to the NASL's point system, the Sting were crowned the Eastern Division champions. They defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps in their semi-finals series, two games to one. Meanwhile, in the other semi-final series, the Blizzard earned a return trip to the finals with a two–game sweep of the Western Division champion San Diego Sockers. The Sting's higher regular season point total also earned them the home field advantage for the finals. Games 1 and 3 were scheduled to be played at Comiskey Park, while game 2 was set for Toronto's Varsity Stadium.
Sportsvision televised the series in the Chicago area; this coverage was simulcast on TSN in Canada.
Series summary
Championship results
Game One
Game Two
1984 NASL Champions: Chicago Sting
Post-match controversy
Earlier in the year Sting ownership had requested a one-year leave of absence from the NASL, and were denied. With only a few games remaining in the season, Sting chairman Lee Stern announced that 1984 would be the Chicago Sting's last in the NASL. They, along with three other teams had been granted full admittance to the MISL.[10] The Blizzard, who were run by former Sting president Clive Toye, were one of the franchises fighting to keep the NASL going.
In the immediate aftermath of Chicago's title clinching victory, Toye's actions and subsequent words were unsporting in nature. He refused to honor the long-standing tradition of entering the winning side's locker room to congratulate the victors. He then followed that up by taking verbal jabs at both Willy Roy and Karl-Heinz Granitza to reporters, by referring to them as "cheats" and the Sting as "unworthy champions"[11] among other things. While in the midst of Chicago's post match celebration, not surprisingly, Granitza responded likewise. In the end the lack of sportsmanship by both mattered little, as Chicago left with the league's final trophy. The next spring, with Toye as the NASL's interim president, the league would cease operations.[12][13][14][15]
See also
References
External links
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