1977 North American Soccer League season


Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1977. This was the 10th season of the NASL.

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. 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. The [New York New York Cosmos (1971–85)|Cosmos (1971–85)|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

Name changes

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.

Atlantic Conference

Northern DivisionWLGFGABPPtsHomeRoad
Toronto Metros-Croatia13134238371158-55-8
St. Louis Stars12143335321047-65-8
Rochester Lancers11153441339910-31-12
Chicago Sting1016314328884-96-7
Connecticut Bicentennials719346530724-93-10

Pacific Conference

Western DivisionWLGFGABPPtsHomeRoad
Minnesota Kicks161044364113711-25-8
Vancouver Whitecaps141243364012410-34-9
Seattle Sounders14124334391239-45-8
Portland Timbers1016394238987-63-10

NASL All-Stars

First Team Position Second TeamHonorable Mention
Gordon Banks, Ft. LauderdaleGAlan Mayer, Las VegasTony Chursky, Seattle
Franz Beckenbauer, CosmosDRay Evans, St. LouisSteve Litt, Minnesota
Mike England, SeattleDSteve Pecher, DallasJim McAlister, Seattle
Bruce Wilson, VancouverDHumberto Coelho, Las VegasAlan Merrick, Minnesota
Mel Machin, SeattleDGeorge Ley, Dallas • Arsène Auguste Tampa BayGraham Day, Portland
George Best, Los AngelesMCharlie Cooke, Los AngelesTony Simões, San Jose
Wolfgang Sühnholz, Las VegasMVito Dimitrijević, CosmosAce Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota
Alan West, MinnesotaMRodney Marsh, Tampa BayAl Trost, St. Louis
Steve David, Los AngelesFMike Stojanović, RochesterWillie Morgan, Chicago
Pelé, CosmosFSteve Wegerle, Tampa BayGiorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos
Derek Smethurst, Tampa BayFBuzz Parsons, VancouverJimmy 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.

First round

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Division Championships

''*Minnesota Kicks hosted Game 1 due to a scheduling conflict with the Twins baseball club.''

Conference Championships

''#Seattle Sounders hosted Game 2 due to a scheduling conflict with the Mariners baseball club.''

Soccer Bowl '77

1977 NASL Champions: Cosmos

Post season awards

Average home attendance

TeamAverage
New York Cosmos34,150
Minnesota Kicks32,771
Seattle Sounders24,226
Tampa Bay Rowdies19,491
San Jose Earthquakes17,739
Dallas Tornado16,510
Portland Timbers13,208
Washington Diplomats13,037
Vancouver Whitecaps11,897
Los Angeles Aztecs9,638
St. Louis Stars9,126
Fort Lauderdale Strikers8,140
Toronto Metros7,321
Las Vegas Quicksilvers7,079
Rochester Lancers6,065
Chicago Sting5,204
Team Hawaii4,543
Connecticut Bicentennials3,902

General references

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