1975 NASL Indoor tournament

In early 1975, the North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated.

North American Soccer League
-1975 Indoor Tournament-
NASL Indoor Tournament
Tournament details
Host countryUnited States
DatesJanuary 24, 1975 –
March 16, 1975
Teams16
Final positions
ChampionsSan Jose Earthquakes (1st title)
Runners-upTampa Bay Rowdies
Tournament statistics
Matches played20
Goals scored230 (11.5 per match)
Top scorer(s)United States Paul Child (14 goals)
Best player(s)United States Paul Child (San Jose)
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Gabbo Garvic (San Jose)
1971
1976

Overview

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Though the Dallas Tornado had won the NASL's 1971 Hoc-Soc Tournament[1] and the Atlanta Apollos staged two league sanctioned pilot matches at the Omni in 1973,[2][3] the birth of the modern game in North America can be traced to 1974, when three indoor exhibitions against the touring Soviet Red Army of Moscow club took place. The games were played on a field the size of a hockey rink, with goals 4 feet high by 16 feet wide. Much like hockey, matches were played in three 20 minute periods, allowed free substitution, and featured six man sides (five field players and a goalkeeper). The Soviets beat an outmatched NASL All-Star team 8–4 on February 7 at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. The second game against the reigning champion Philadelphia Atoms on February 11, is considered by many as the watershed event of North American indoor soccer. The game stayed close into the third period, though the Red Army squad eventually pulled away 6–3.[4] On February 13 the Russians closed out their tour with an 11–4 throttling of the St. Louis Stars in Missouri before an impressive crowd of 12,241.[5][6][7]

In spite of the losses, and because another 11,790 curious fans packed Philadelphia's Spectrum to watch this "new" game, the NASL began considering indoor soccer's potential to increase fan interest in the sport as a whole. A month and seven days later a Spectrum crowd of 6,314 turned out to watch the Atoms defeat the New York Cosmos 5–3. With this, franchises also recognized that they could generate more revenue from players already under contract. The league hinted at having a 10-game indoor season in early 1975,[8] but by autumn eventually scaled that plan back.[9] The following year the NASL staged an indoor tournament: sixteen of the twenty teams participated. It was divided into four regional tournaments, with the regional winners meeting in San Francisco for the overall title in a similar format to the NCAA college basketball tournament. In the regionals, two teams would play each other, and then winners would play losers in a two-game series. The team with the best record advanced to the semifinals; in the event of teams having identical records, the side with the best total goal differential advanced out of the region. That first year the goals stayed 4 x 16 and the games remained divided into three 20 minute frames like those played against the Red Army club the previous year.[10][11][12][13]

Four NASL clubs, Chicago, Denver, Portland and San Antonio did not participate in the tournament. However three of them were recently announced,[14] expansion teams that had yet to play an outdoor season either.

The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the newly formed Tampa Bay Rowdies 8–5 in the Championship Final. Paul Child of San Jose scored seven goals in the regionals,[15] and added another seven during the final four to lead all goal scorers. Child and teammate Gabbo Garvic shared the MVP honors.

Pre-1975 NASL indoor matches

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March 19, 1971 1 (Hoc-Soc) St. Louis Stars 1–2 Dallas Tornado St. Louis, Missouri
8:00 PM (CST) Leeker   8' Report Benedek   17', 21' Stadium: St. Louis Arena
Attendance: 5,060
Referee: Larry King / Ray Puricelli
March 19, 1971 2 (Hoc-Soc) Rochester Lancers 3–1 Washington Darts St. Louis, Missouri
8:45 PM (CST) Seissler   13:08'
Durante   13:45'
Metidieri   29:43'
Report Kerr   5:40' Stadium: St. Louis Arena
Attendance: 5,060
Referee: Larry King / Ray Puricelli
March 19, 1971 3 (Hoc-Soc) St. Louis Stars 2–0 Washington Darts St. Louis, Missouri
Popović   16:27', 29:31' Report Stadium: St. Louis Arena
Attendance: 5,060
Referee: Larry King / Ray Puricelli
March 19, 1971 4 (Hoc-Soc) Dallas Tornado 3–0 Rochester Lancers St. Louis, Missouri
Renshaw   12:15', 24:08'
Molnár   28:11'
Report Stadium: St. Louis Arena
Attendance: 5,060
Referee: Larry King / Ray Puricelli
July 8, 1973 6 Atlanta Apollos 7–4 Dallas Tornado Atlanta, Georgia
Child   (Metchick, Mwila)
Child  
Solem   (Child)
Child  
Child   (Kapengwe)
Twellman   (Child)
Howe   (Child)
Report 1
Report 2
Report 3
Mitić   0:10' (Attiah, Rote)
Rote  
Reynolds  
Juracy   (Reynolds)
Stadium: The Omni
Attendance: 4,090
February 7, 1974 7 Int'l friendly NASL All-Stars 4–8 Red Army Toronto, Ontario
Siega   35:40' (pen.)
Strencier  
Siega   (Child)
Smith  
Report Tellinher  ,  ,  ,   53:57'
Dorofeov   53:01'
Stadium: Maple Leaf Gardens
Attendance: 11,535
February 11, 1974 8 Int'l friendly Philadelphia Atoms 3–6 Red Army Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7:30 PM (EST) Siega   6:21' (Papadakis)
Child   26:20' (Siega)
Siega   42:51' (Child)
Report Tellinher   6:55' (Shladak)
Babenko   13:25' (Popev, Dorofeov)
Kaplichnyi   35:44' (Tellinher)
Popev   45:59' (Kodeikin)
Dudarenko   53:25' (Popev)
Dorofeov   58:06' (Morosov, Pollacarpov)
Stadium: Spectrum
Attendance: 11,790
February 13, 1974 9 Int'l friendly St. Louis Stars 4–11 Red Army St. Louis, Missouri
7:30 PM (CST) Vaninger   4:31' (Trost)
Vaninger   19:48' (Howe)
Vaninger   35:18' (Carenza)
Vaninger   42:15' (Trost)
Report Tellinher   4:42' (Kovaleski)
Fedotov   18:23' (Tellinher)
Fedotov   18:50' (Tellinher)
Morozov   25:07' (Polikarpov)
Polikarpov   33:40' (Babenko)
Fedotov   35:52' (Tellinher)
Shlapak   36:29' (Tellinher)
Kovaleski   37:10' (Dorofeov)
Fedotov   39:52' (Smirnoff)
Kaplichnyi   41:39'
Tellinher   46:21' (Utkin)
Stadium: St. Louis Arena
Attendance: 12,241
Referee: Larry King
March 18, 1974 10 Philadelphia Atoms 5–3 New York Cosmos Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7:30 PM (EST) Minor   (McPhee)
Minor   (Child)
O'Neill   (Minor)
Child   (Minor)
Child   (O'Neill)
Report 1
Report 2
Mahy  
Fink   (Rose)
Siega   (Menoki)
Stadium: Spectrum
Attendance: 6,314

Map of clubs

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  Region 1 clubs   Region 2 clubs   Region 3 clubs   Region 4 clubs

1975 Indoor Regional tournaments

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Region 1

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played at Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas, Texas

January 24 Philadelphia Atoms 5–3 St. Louis Stars 3,200[16]
Toronto Metros-Croatia 2–1 Dallas Tornado

January 26 St. Louis Stars 8–4 Toronto Metros-Croatia 3,800[17]
Dallas Tornado 6–2 Philadelphia Atoms
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Dallas Tornado 2 1 1 7 4 +3 2
2 St. Louis Stars 2 1 1 11 9 +2 2
3 Philadelphia Atoms 2 1 1 7 9 –2 2
4 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2 1 1 6 9 –3 2

*Dallas wins region on goal differential, advances to semifinals

Region 2

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played at Rochester War Memorial in Rochester, New York

February 6 New York Cosmos 6–4 Hartford Bicentennials Attendance: 2,191
Boston Minutemen 4–3 Rochester Lancers

February 8 Hartford Bicentennials 5–3 Boston Minutemen Attendance: 3,173
Rochester Lancers 8–7 New York Cosmos
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 New York Cosmos 2 1 1 13 12 +1 2
2 Hartford Bicentennials 2 1 1 9 9 0 2
3 Rochester Lancers 2 1 1 11 11 0 2
4 Boston Minutemen 2 1 1 7 8 –1 2

*New York wins region on goal differential, advances to semifinals

Region 3

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played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida[18][19][20]

February 14 Miami Toros 11–8 Baltimore Comets Attendance: 4,437
Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–2 Washington Diplomats

February 16 Miami Toros 7–4 Washington Diplomats Attendance: 4,032
Tampa Bay Rowdies 8–6 Baltimore Comets
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 2 0 15 8 +7 4
2 Miami Toros 2 2 0 18 12 +6 4
3 Baltimore Comets 2 0 2 14 19 –5 0
4 Washington Diplomats 2 0 2 6 14 –8 0

*Tampa Bay wins region on goal differential, advances to semifinals[21][22]

Region 4

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played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California

February 21 Vancouver Whitecaps 15–4# Los Angeles Aztecs Attendance: 9,223[24]
San Jose Earthquakes 14–4# Seattle Sounders

February 23 Los Angeles Aztecs 9–4 Seattle Sounders Attendance: 7,232[25]
San Jose Earthquakes 7–3 Vancouver Whitecaps

#Vancouver and San Jose won by such large margins, that the NASL and the two teams agreed to a head-to-head pairing on Feb. 28.[10]

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 San Jose Earthquakes 2 2 0 21 7 +14 4
2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 1 1 18 11 +7 2
3 Los Angeles Aztecs 2 1 1 13 19 –6 2
4 Seattle Sounders 2 0 2 8 23 –15 0

*San Jose wins region, advances to semifinals

1975 Indoor Final Four

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Bracket

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Semifinals Championship Final
      
R4 San Jose Earthquakes 8
R1 Dallas Tornado 5
R4 San Jose Earthquakes 8
R3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5
R3 Tampa Bay Rowdies 13
R2 New York Cosmos 5 Third place
R1 Dallas Tornado 2
R2 New York Cosmos 0

Semi-finals

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played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California

March 14 Tampa Bay Rowdies 13–5 New York Cosmos[27] Attendance: 9,113
San Jose Earthquakes 8–5 Dallas Tornado

Third-place match

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played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California

March 16 Dallas Tornado 2–0 New York Cosmos[28]

Championship final

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San Jose Earthquakes8–5Tampa Bay Rowdies
Roboostoff   7:10'
Child   9:25' (Gavric)
Roboostoff   14:36' (Child)
Child   16:22' (Welch)
Roboostoff   18:38' (Moore)
Welch   19:38' (Child)
Zaczynski   50:50' (Child)
Child   52:56'
Report 1 (p. 2C)
Report 2
Engerth   9:36' (Lima)
Hartze   25:14' (Quraishi)
Lezak   33:35'
Wark   50:55' (Hartze)
Quraishi   54:56' (Boyle)
Attendance: 8,618
Referee:   Henry Landuer

1975 NASL Indoor Champions: San Jose Earthquakes
Television: CBS (tape delayed)

Final Four awards

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Final Four statistics

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Leading Scorers Goals Assists Total Points
Paul Child (San Jose) 7 3 17
Doug Wark (Tampa Bay) 7 0 14
Bernard Hartze (Tampa Bay) 4 3 11
Ilija Mitić (Dallas) 4 1 9
Zygmunt Lezak (Tampa Bay) 4 0 8

Final team rankings

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G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD
1 San Jose Earthquakes 4 4 0 37 17 +20
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 3 1 33 21 +11
3 Dallas Tornado 4 2 2 14 12 +2
4 New York Cosmos 4 1 3 18 27 –9
5 Miami Toros 2 2 0 18 12 +6

Non-tournament matches

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In addition to the Region 4 and Final Four tournament games (eight contests in all), the San Jose Earthquakes also hosted two other indoor matches at the Cow Palace as tune-ups for the impending tournament. The first one was dubbed the "Calamity Cup" because it pitted the Earthquakes against the Tornado. The second was against their in-state rival, Los Angeles Aztecs. The two matches drew a combined 20,908 spectators and San Jose won both.[29][30] In another match, the Rochester Lancers hosted the Toronto Metros-Croatia on March 29 in front of 2,562 fans at the Rochester War Memorial. Toronto won the game, 10–7.[31]

Match reports

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February 7, 1975 1 San Jose Earthquakes 8–6 Dallas Tornado Daly City, California
8:00 PM (PST) Child   2:52'
Moore   23:34' (Child)
Kemp   27:47'
B. Demling   30:19'
Moore   37:25' (Child)
Child   38:04' (Hernandez)
Hernandez   45:18' (Moore)
Roboostoff   59:55' (Kemp)
Report 1
Report 2
Renshaw   5:18' (Mitić])
Renshaw   10:11' (Moffat)
DeLong   20:15' (Renshaw)
Mitić   26:04' (Moffat)
Mitić   30:26'
Newman   45:48' (Cohen)
Stadium: Cow Palace
Attendance: 11,421
February 14, 1975 2 San Jose Earthquakes 11–7 Los Angeles Aztecs Daly City, California
8:00 PM (PST) Moore   6:10' (Roboostoff)
Child   10:51' (Hernandez)
Lopez   12:13' (o.g.)
Moore   13:53' (Child)
Roboostoff   17:26' (B. Demling)
Moore   22:49' (Child)
Child   32:33' (Zaczynski)
Roboostoff   37:47' (Moore, Child)
Child   41:14' (Moore)
Moore   52:43' (Zaczynski)
Child  
Report 1
Report 2
Perrichon   5:46' (pen.)
Kazarian   25:17'
Velasquez   29:22'
Gay   34:05'
Velasquez   46:40' (Mason)
Fowzi   55:27' (Velazquez)
Velasquez   56:58'
Stadium: Cow Palace
Attendance: 9,487
Referee: John Davies
March 29, 1975 3 Rochester Lancers 7–10 Toronto Metros-Croatia Rochester, New York
8:00 PM (EST) Ord  ,  ,   18:01'
Odoi   17:13'
Janduda   18:19'
Cupello  
Mambo  
Report Šutevsk  ,  ,  
Perić  ,  ,  
Polak  ,   15:51'
Zekić  ,   33:24'
Pinto   19:33'
Stadium: Rochester War Memorial
Attendance: 2,562

References

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  1. ^ Flachsbart, Harold (March 20, 1971). "Fans Get A Kick Out Of Hoc-Soc". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 6. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  2. ^ "Indoor soccer 'pilot contest' pits Montreal against Atlanta". Rome News-Tribune. May 2, 1973. p. 8A. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  3. ^ Yannis, Alex (June 23, 1973). "Cosmos Hire an Ex‐Commuter". New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  4. ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
  5. ^ Mueller, Gary (February 15, 1974). "Gritty Winter Impressive For Outclassed Stars". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 30. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
  6. ^ "Red Army | SoccerStats.us". Archived from the original on May 18, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  7. ^ "NASL-St. Louis Stars Friendlies". nasljerseys.com. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  8. ^ "Indoor Plan For Soccer Set in '75". New York Times. April 7, 1974. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  9. ^ Chick, Bob (September 19, 1992). "Soccer: A Small Season For The Great Indoors". Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "History of Indoor Soccer in the USA". Rsssf.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  11. ^ "TAMPA BAY ROWDIES APPRECIATION BLOG: 01/04/09 - 01/05/09". Mytampabayrowdies.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  12. ^ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  13. ^ "TAMPA BAY ROWDIES APPRECIATION BLOG: 01/03/11 - 01/04/11". Mytampabayrowdies.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  14. ^ Orr, M. (2011). The 1975 Portland Timbers: The Birth of Soccer City, USA. History Press. p. 15. ISBN 9781609494667. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  15. ^ Tex Maule (March 3, 1975). "The Sport That Came In From The Cold". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  16. ^ Wheeler, Pat (January 27, 1975). "Indoor soccer here to stay?". Irving Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  17. ^ Henderson, Jim (February 12, 1975). "Rowdies Ready For Tournament". Tampa Tribune. p. 8. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  18. ^ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  19. ^ "Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  20. ^ "Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  21. ^ "-SSME_CFHsq0/TX8uQHc6DfI/AAAAAAAAKyk/QUUa9V21_-o/s1600/1975-2-16%2BRowdies%2Bvs%2BComets%2Bid%2BReport". 4.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  22. ^ "-TIEoRQXqGxw/TY2_VHqHNuI/AAAAAAAAK18/OUT162vbVio/s1600/1975-2-16%2BRowdies%2Bvs%2BComets%2Bindoor%2BReport%2B2". 3.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  23. ^ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search".
  24. ^ "Sounders first indoor venture: 'We were clueless' | the Frank MacDonald Blog".
  25. ^ "24 Feb 1975, 8 - The Berkeley Gazette at". Newspapers.com. February 24, 1975. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  26. ^ Chittenden, Ed (March 24, 1975). "SJ's Acrobatic Goalie Puts 'Quakes in Semis". The Times (San Mateo, CA). p. 22. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  27. ^ "-iFgNnJBUS14/TYpd_DtAe3I/AAAAAAAAK0k/g8u1Ko3memk/s1600/1975-3-14%2BRowdies%2Bvs%2BCosmos%2Bindoor%2BReport%2B1". 1.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  28. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1975". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  29. ^ Chittenden, Ed (February 8, 1975). "Cow Palace Hit". The Times (San Mateo, CA). p. 23. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  30. ^ "Tourney Next For 'Quakes". The Times (San Mateo, CA). February 15, 1975. p. 16. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  31. ^ Lewis, Micheal (March 30, 1975). "Lancers bow to Toronto's surge". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. p. 2D. Retrieved July 12, 2017.