1976 NASL Indoor tournament


Over the course of three weekends in March 1976, the North American Soccer League hosted its second league-wide indoor soccer tournament. Twelve of the twenty NASL teams participated.

Overview

In 1976, instead of playing a full indoor schedule, the North American Soccer League opted to stage a two-tiered indoor tournament for the second consecutive year. Of the league's 20 teams, 12 participated in three regions, which was down from 16 in four regions in the previous year's tournament. The regional winners along with the "best" second-place team would advance to the final four in St. Petersburg, Florida. While the goals remained 4 × 16, the games would be shortened to three 15-minute periods, instead of the 20-minute frames played the previous year. The tournament also saw the first-ever indoor overtime and penalty shootout, as Miami and Boston played to a 6–6 draw in the opening match. After 45 minutes of regulation time and two 5-minute golden goal extra sessions, the match was ultimately decided by spot kicks.
Playing in their home arena, the Bayfront Center, the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeated the Rochester Lancers 6–4 in the Championship Final. Juli Veee of San Jose scored eight goals to lead the tournament, while Clyde Best of Tampa Bay earned the MVP honors.

1976 Indoor Regional tournaments

Eastern Regional

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida
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PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS
1Tampa Bay Rowdies220148+64
2Washington Diplomats2111412+22
3Miami Toros211915–62
4Boston Minutemen202911–20

*Tampa Bay wins region, advances to semifinals

Midwest Regional

played at International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois
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PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS
1Rochester Lancers220106+44
2Chicago Sting21187+12
3Toronto Metros-Croatia2111012–22
4St. Louis Stars2021013–30

*Rochester wins region, advances to semifinals

West Regional

played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California
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PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS
1San Jose Earthquakes2202610+164
2Dallas Tornado220164+124
3San Diego Jaws202613–70
4Vancouver Whitecaps202829–210

*San Jose wins region on goal differential, while Dallas is the top second-place team in any region, so both advance to semifinals

1976 Indoor Final Four

Semi-finals

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida

Third-place match

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida

Championship final

1976 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies

Final Four awards

Final team rankings

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential
PosTeamGWLGFGAGD
1Tampa Bay Rowdies4402614+12
2Rochester Lancers4312016+4
3San Jose Earthquakes4313518+17
4Dallas Tornado4222015+5
5Washington Diplomats2111412+2

Non-tournament matches

In addition to the tournament itself, a few teams staged other indoor matches as tune-ups for both the outdoor season and the indoor tournament itself.