1977 North American Soccer League season
Soccer league season
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Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1977. This was the 10th season of the NASL.
| Season | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 18 |
| Champions | Cosmos (2nd Title) |
| Premiers | Ft. Lauderdale Strikers |
| Matches | 234 |
| Goals | 752 (3.21 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |  Steve David (26) |
| Highest attendance | 77,691 (Ft Lauderdale @ Cosmos) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,100 (Washington @ Connecticut) |
| Average attendance | 13,558 |
← 1976 1978 → | |
Overview
The league was made up of 18 teams. The schedule was expanded to 26 games and the playoffs to 12 teams. Team rosters consisted of 17 players, 6 of which had to be U.S. or Canadian citizens.[1] The NASL began using its own variation of the penalty shoot-out procedure for tied matches. Matches tied at the end of regulation would now go to a golden goal overtime period and, if still tied, on to a shoot-out. Instead of penalty kicks however, the shoot-out attempt 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. NASL procedure also called for the box score or score-line to show an additional "goal" given to the winning side of a shoot-out. This "victory goal" however was not credited in the "Goals For" column of the league table.[2][3] The Cosmos defeated the Seattle Sounders in the final on August 28 to win the championship.
Changes from the previous season
New teams
- None
Teams folding
- Boston Minutemen
- Philadelphia Atoms
Teams moving
- Miami Toros - Fort Lauderdale Strikers
- San Antonio Thunder - Team Hawaii
- San Diego Jaws - Las Vegas Quicksilvers
Name changes
- Hartford Bicentennials to Connecticut Bicentennials
- Cosmos drop "New York" from name
Map of clubs
Northern Division 
Eastern Division 
Southern Division 
Western Division
Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts= point system
6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
- -Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.
Atlantic Conference
|
Pacific Conference
|
NASL All-Stars
| First Team | Position | Second Team[4] | Honorable Mention[5] |
|---|---|---|---|
 Gordon Banks, Ft. Lauderdale |
G |  Alan Mayer, Las Vegas |
 Tony Chursky, Seattle |
 Franz Beckenbauer, Cosmos |
D | Ray Evans, St. Louis |
Steve Litt, Minnesota |
 Mike England, Seattle |
D | Steve Pecher, Dallas |
Jim McAlister, Seattle |
| Bruce Wilson, Vancouver |
D |  Humberto Coelho, Las Vegas |
Alan Merrick, Minnesota |
| Mel Machin, Seattle |
D | George Ley, Dallas •  Arsène Auguste Tampa Bay[6] |
Graham Day, Portland |
 George Best, Los Angeles |
M |  Charlie Cooke, Los Angeles |
Tony Simões, San Jose |
| Wolfgang Sühnholz, Las Vegas |
M |  Vito Dimitrijević, Cosmos |
 Ace Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota |
| Alan West, Minnesota |
M | Rodney Marsh, Tampa Bay |
Al Trost, St. Louis |
| Steve David, Los Angeles |
F | Mike Stojanović, Rochester |
Willie Morgan, Chicago |
 Pelé, Cosmos |
F | Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay |
 Giorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos |
| Derek Smethurst, Tampa Bay |
F | Buzz Parsons, Vancouver |
Jimmy Robertson, Seattle |
Playoffs
The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single game match ups, while the conference semifinals and championships were all two-game series.[7]
Bracket
| First Round | Division Championships | Conference Championships | Soccer Bowl '77 | ||||||||||||||
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | 2(0) | |||||||||||||||
| Cosmos | 3 | Cosmos | 8 | 3(3) | |||||||||||||
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0 | Cosmos | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Rochester Lancers | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0(2) | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| St. Louis Stars | 0(2) | Rochester Lancers | 1(3) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Rochester Lancers | 1(4) | Cosmos | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Seattle Sounders | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Dallas Tornado | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 2 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 3 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Seattle Sounders | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Minnesota Kicks | 1 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Seattle Sounders | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
First round
| August 10 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1–2 (OT) | Los Angeles Aztecs | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Att. 4,038 |
| August 10 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 0–3 | Cosmos | Giants Stadium • Att. 57,828 |
| August 10 | Rochester Lancers | 1–0 (SO, 4–2) | St. Louis Stars | Francis Field • Att. 7,137 |
| August 10 | Seattle Sounders | 2–0 | Vancouver Whitecaps | Empire Stadium • Att. 21,915 |
Division Championships
| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | - | Cosmos | 3–8 | 2–3 (SO, 0–3) | August 14 • Giants Stadium • 77,691 August 17 • Lockhart Stadium 14,152 |
| Dallas Tornado | - | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1–3 | 1–5 | August 14 • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • 5,201 August 17 • Ownby Stadium • 18,489 |
| Minnesota Kicks | - | Seattle Sounders | *1–2 (OT) | 0–1 | *August 14 • Metropolitan Stadium • 35,889 August 17 • Kingdome • 42,091 |
| Toronto Metros-Croatia | - | Rochester Lancers | 0–1 (SO, 2–3) | 0–1 | August 13 • Holleder Memorial Stadium • 10,556 August 16 • Varsity Stadium • 8,062 |
*Minnesota Kicks hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2) due to a scheduling conflict with the Twins baseball club.
Conference Championships
| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | (lower seed hosts Game 1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Aztecs | - | Seattle Sounders | 1–3 | #0–1 | August 21 • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • 9,115 #August 25 • Kingdome • 56,256 |
| Cosmos | - | Rochester Lancers | 2–1 | 4–1 | August 21 • Holleder Memorial Stadium • 20,005 August 24 • Giants Stadium • 73,669 |
#Seattle Sounders hosted Game 2 (instead of Game 1) due to a scheduling conflict with the Mariners baseball club.
Soccer Bowl '77
| Cosmos | 2–1 | Seattle Sounders |
|---|---|---|
Hunt  (19:05) Chinaglia (77:19) |
Ord (23:13) |
1977 NASL Champions: Cosmos
Post season awards
- Most Valuable Player:
Franz Beckenbauer, Cosmos - Coach of the year:
Ron Newman, Fort Lauderdale - Rookie of the year:
Jim McAlister, Seattle
Average home attendance
| Team | Average[8] |
|---|---|
| New York Cosmos | 34,150 |
| Minnesota Kicks | 32,771 |
| Seattle Sounders | 24,226 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 19,491 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 17,739 |
| Dallas Tornado | 16,510 |
| Portland Timbers | 13,208 |
| Washington Diplomats | 13,037 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 11,897 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 9,638 |
| St. Louis Stars | 9,126 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 8,140 |
| Toronto Metros | 7,321 |
| Las Vegas Quicksilvers | 7,079 |
| Rochester Lancers | 6,065 |
| Chicago Sting | 5,204 |
| Team Hawaii | 4,543 |
| Connecticut Bicentennials | 3,902 |