1971 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1971. This was the 4th season of the NASL.

Overview

Eight teams competed in the 1971 season. The Dallas Tornado won the league championship after playing several playoff matches under the new sudden death rule, which replaced the penalty shootout. In Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal against the Rochester Lancers, league scoring champion Carlos Metidieri of Rochester scored to end the match at 2–1 in the 176th minute after six periods of overtime—shortly before midnight. Three days later, Dallas tied the series with a 3–1 regulation win. In the deciding match, the two teams ended regulation with a 1–1 tie and played four overtime periods before Bobby Moffat scored in the 148 minute for a 2–1 victory. Four days later, Dallas lost Game 1 of the NASL Championship Series, 2–1, in the 3rd overtime to the Atlanta Chiefs after 123 minutes. All totaled, Dallas had played 537 minutes of soccer in 13 days. The Tornado won 4–1 in Game 2 and 2–0 in Game 3 to clinch the league championship.

Changes From the previous season

Rule changes

Playoffs series switched from a two-game aggregate score to a best-two-out-of-three match format. Any playoff games tied after 90 minutes would now be settled by golden goal overtime periods lasting 15 minutes each.

New teams

Montreal Olympique
New York Cosmos
Toronto Metros

Teams folding

Kansas City Spurs

Teams moving

None

Name changes

None

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

Northern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Rochester Lancers	13	5	6	48	31	141
New York Cosmos	9	10	5	51	55	117
Toronto Metros	5	10	9	32	47	89
Montreal Olympique	4	15	5	29	59	65

Southern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Atlanta Chiefs	12	7	5	35	29	120
Dallas Tornado	10	6	8	38	24	119
Washington Darts	8	6	10	36	34	111
St. Louis Stars	6	13	5	37	47	86

1971 NASL All-Stars

First Team	Position	Second Team	Honorable Mention
Mirko Stojanovic, Dallas	G	Leonel Conde, Washington	Manfred Kammerer, Atlanta • Claude Campos, Rochester
Dick Hall, Dallas	D	Clive Charles, Montreal	Frank Donlavey, Washington
Willie Evans, Washington	D	Uriel da Veiga, Atlanta	Oreco, Dallas
Peter Short, Rochester	D	John Cocking, Atlanta	Gabbo Gavrić, Dallas
John Best, Dallas	D	Charlie Mitchell, Rochester	Mick Hoban, Atlanta • Roberto Lonardo, Rochester
Dragan Popovic, St. Louis	M	Francisco Escos, Rochester	Freddie Mwila, Atlanta • Barrie Lynch, Atlanta
Siggy Stritzl, New York	M	Felix Correia, Toronto	Billy Fraser, Washington • Keith Pointer, Montreal • Roy Turner, Dallas
Carlos Metidieri, Rochester	F	Warren Archibald, Washington	Tommy Youlden, Dallas
Randy Horton, New York	F	Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis	Iris DeBrito, Rochester
Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta	F	Franco Gallina, Montreal	Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Manfred Seissler, Rochester	F	Jorge Siega, New York	Leroy DeLeon, Washington • Ian MacHattie, Toronto