1975 North American Soccer League season
Soccer league season
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Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1975. This was the 8th season of the NASL.
| Season | 1975 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 20 |
| Champions | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Premiers | Portland Timbers |
| Matches | 220 |
| Goals | 750 (3.41 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Steve David (23) |
| Highest attendance | 35,620 (NY @ Washington) |
| Lowest attendance | 1,146 (Seattle @ Hartford) |
| Average attendance | 7,642 |
← 1974 1976 → | |
Overview
The league comprised 20 teams with the Tampa Bay Rowdies winning the championship.
Pelé joined the New York Cosmos in 1975.
1975 was the first year the league used the term Soccer Bowl for their championship game.
Changes from the previous season
Rules changes
The 1975 season saw the removal of tie games. Matches that were level after 90 minutes would go to 15 minutes of sudden death overtime, and then onto penalty kicks if needed.[1][2] It would not be until 2000 that a top-tier American soccer league would again allow matches to end in a draw.
New teams
- Chicago Sting
- Hartford Bicentennials
- Portland Timbers
- San Antonio Thunder
- Tampa Bay Rowdies
Teams folding
- None
Teams moving
- None
Name changes
- Toronto Metros to Toronto Metros-Croatia*
*after merger with Toronto Croatia of National Soccer League
Map of clubs
Northern Division 
Eastern Division 
Central Division 
Western Division
Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
- -Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.
| Northern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Minutemen | 13 | 9 | 41 | 29 | 116 |
| Toronto Metros-Croatia | 13 | 9 | 39 | 28 | 114 |
| New York Cosmos | 10 | 12 | 39 | 38 | 91 |
| Rochester Lancers | 6 | 16 | 29 | 49 | 64 |
| Hartford Bicentennials | 6 | 16 | 27 | 51 | 61 |
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 16 | 6 | 46 | 27 | 135 |
| Miami Toros | 14 | 8 | 47 | 30 | 123 |
| Washington Diplomats | 12 | 10 | 42 | 47 | 112 |
| Philadelphia Atoms | 10 | 12 | 33 | 42 | 90 |
| Baltimore Comets | 9 | 13 | 34 | 52 | 87 |
| Central Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Stars | 13 | 9 | 38 | 34 | 115 |
| Chicago Sting | 12 | 10 | 39 | 33 | 106 |
| Denver Dynamos | 9 | 13 | 37 | 42 | 85 |
| Dallas Tornado | 9 | 13 | 33 | 38 | 83 |
| San Antonio Thunder | 6 | 16 | 24 | 46 | 59 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland Timbers | 16 | 6 | 43 | 27 | 138 |
| Seattle Sounders | 15 | 7 | 42 | 28 | 129 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 12 | 10 | 42 | 33 | 107 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 11 | 11 | 38 | 28 | 99 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 8 | 14 | 37 | 48 | 83 |
NASL League Leaders
Scoring
*(2 points per goal, 1 per assist)
| Player | Team | Apps | Gls | Ast | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve David | Miami | 21 | 23 | 6 | 52 |
| Derek Smethurst | Tampa Bay | 22 | 18 | 3 | 39 |
| Gordon Hill | Chicago | 21 | 16 | 7 | 39 |
| Peter Withe | Portland | 22 | 16 | 6 | 38 |
| Uri Banhoffer | Los Angeles | 20 | 14 | 9 | 37 |
| Tommy Ord | Rochester/NY | 21 | 16 | 3 | 35 |
| Ilija Mitic | Dallas/SJ | 19 | 15 | 3 | 33 |
| Ade Coker | Boston | 15 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| Ace Ntsoelengoe | Denver | 21 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
| John Coyne | Toronto | 22 | 7 | 11 | 25 |
Goalkeeping
*(1,260 minutes minimum)
| Player | Team | Min | SV | GA | SH | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shep Messing | Boston | 1639 | 140 | 17 | 6 | 0.93 |
| Barry Watling | Seattle | 2032 | 140 | 26 | 6 | 1.15 |
| Graham Brown | Portland | 1948 | 144 | 26 | 5 | 1.20 |
| Željko Bilecki | Toronto | 1949 | 123 | 27 | 8 | 1.25 |
| Greg Weber | Vancouver | 1273 | 95 | 19 | 5 | 1.34 |
| Mervyn Cawston | Chicago | 1586 | 94 | 24 | 4 | 1.36 |
| Peter Bonetti | St. Louis | 1829 | 189 | 28 | 5 | 1.38 |
| Sam Nusum | New York | 1554 | 131 | 25 | 3 | 1.45 |
| Ken Cooper | Dallas | 1856 | 130 | 32 | 4 | 1.55 |
| Bob Rigby | Philadelphia | 1802 | 144 | 32 | 4 | 1.60 |
NASL All-Stars
| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Bonetti, St. Louis | G | Ken Cooper, Dallas | Barry Watling, Seattle |
| Bob Smith, Philadelphia | D | Tony Want, Philadelphia | Tom McConville, Washington |
| Mike England, Seattle | D | Stewart Jump, Tampa Bay | Dave Gillett, Seattle |
| Werner Roth, New York | D | Ralph Wright, Miami | Graham Day, Portland |
| Farrukh Quraishi, Tampa Bay | D | Charlie Mitchell, Rochester | Brian Rowan, Toronto |
| Arfon Griffiths, Seattle | M | Barry Powell, Portland | John Sissons, Tampa Bay |
| Ronnie Sharp, Miami | M | John Boyle, Tampa Bay | Hugh Fisher, Denver |
| António Simões, Boston | M | Bobby Hope, Philadelphia | Wolfgang Sühnholz, Boston |
| Steve David, Miami | F | Peter Withe, Portland | Clyde Best, Tampa Bay |
| Pelé, New York | F | Tommy Ord, Roch & NY | Derek Smethurst, Tampa Bay |
| Gordon Hill, Chicago | F | Stewart Scullion, Tampa Bay | Uri Banhoffer, Los Angeles |
Playoffs
All playoff games in all rounds including Soccer Bowl '75 were single game elimination match ups.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Soccer Bowl '75 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Portland Timbers | 2 | ||||||||||||
| W2 | Seattle Sounders | 1 | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Portland Timbers | 1 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | St. Louis Stars | 0 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | St. Louis Stars | 1(5) | ||||||||||||
| W3 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1(4) | ||||||||||||
| W1 | Portland Timbers | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Miami Toros | 2 | ||||||||||||
| N1 | Boston Minutemen | 1 | ||||||||||||
| E2 | Miami Toros | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 | ||||||||||||
| N2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | ||||||||||||
| E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | ||||||||||||
Quarterfinals
| August 12 | Seattle Sounders | 1–2 (OT) | Portland Timbers | Civic Stadium • Att. 31,523 |
| August 13 | Miami Toros | 2–1 (OT) | Boston Minutemen | Nickerson Field • Att. 2,187 |
| August 13 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 1 – 2 (PK, 4–5) | St. Louis Stars | Francis Field • Att. 6,119 |
| August 13 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0–1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Stadium • Att. 16,111 |
Semifinals
| August 16 | Miami Toros | 0–3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa Stadium • Att. 22,710 |
| August 17 | St. Louis Stars | 0–1 | Portland Timbers | Civic Stadium • Att. 33,503 |
Soccer Bowl '75
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2–0 | Portland Timbers |
|---|---|---|
Auguste  66:00' (Smethurst) Best 87:40' |
1975 NASL Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies
Post season awards
- Most Valuable Player: Steve David, Miami
- Coach of the year: John Sewell, St. Louis
- Rookie of the year: Chris Bahr, Philadelphia[7]
Attendances
| Club | Games | Total | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose Earthquakes | 11 | 197,194 | 17,927 |
| Seattle Sounders | 11 | 185,000 | 16,818 |
| Portland Timbers | 11 | 159,536 | 14,503 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 11 | 118,005 | 10,728 |
| New York Cosmos | 11 | 114,949 | 10,450 |
| Washington Diplomats | 11 | 97,320 | 8,847 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 11 | 91,372 | 8,307 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 11 | 83,369 | 7,579 |
| Philadelphia Atoms | 11 | 80,047 | 7,277 |
| Toronto Metros | 11 | 68,985 | 6,271 |
| St. Louis Stars | 11 | 66,777 | 6,071 |
| Rochester Lancers | 11 | 58,661 | 5,333 |
| Miami Toros | 11 | 54,127 | 4,921 |
| Dallas Tornado | 11 | 50,932 | 4,630 |
| Boston Minutemen | 11 | 48,643 | 4,422 |
| San Antonio Thunder | 11 | 48,528 | 4,412 |
| Chicago Sting | 11 | 47,542 | 4,322 |
| Hartford Bicentennials | 11 | 40,920 | 3,720 |
| Denver Dynamos | 11 | 40,194 | 3,654 |
| Baltimore Comets | 11 | 29,049 | 2,641 |
Source:[8]