American Conference (NASL)


The American Soccer Conference was one of two conferences of the original North American Soccer League between 1978 and 1980. It along with the National Conference were formed for the 1978 season as part of a realignment to accommodate an expanding league, and bolster more competitive play which had been lacking under the previous Atlantic and Pacific conferences. It is speculated, that the league decided to realign the league to be more similar to the National Football League format, with one league official stating that the league hoped that new expansions and initiatives would cause "enough demand for soccer that they sell the TV rights to two networks like the NFL did." During the three seasons using the American/National alignment, American Conference teams struggled to compete against their National Conference counterparts, with the American Conference champion failing to win the Soccer Bowl in every season.

Teams

Following the realignment, the conference was initially made up of five teams from the Atlantic Conference, two teams from the Pacific Conference, and five teams making their NASL debut. After playing just one season, the Oakland Stompers were sold and relocated to Edmonton.
TeamDivisionFirst seasonLast seasonPrevious conference
Fort Lauderdale StrikersEast19781980Atlantic
New England Tea MenEast197819801978 debut
Philadelphia FuryEast197819801978 debut
Tampa Bay RowdiesEast19781980Atlantic
Chicago StingCentral19781980Atlantic
Detroit ExpressCentral197819801978 debut
Houston HurricaneCentral197819801978 debut
Memphis RoguesCentral197819801978 debut
California SurfWest19781980Atlantic
Oakland StompersWest19781978Atlantic
San Diego SockersWest19781980Pacific
San Jose EarthquakesWest19781980Pacific
Edmonton DrillersWest19791980American

Conference honors

Regular season titles

YearTeamDivisionPoints Playoffs result
1978Detroit ExpressCentral176
1978Tampa Bay RowdiesEast165
1978San Diego SockersWest164
1979Houston HurricaneCentral187
1979Tampa Bay RowdiesEast169
1979San Diego SockersWest140
1980Chicago StingCentral187
1980Tampa Bay RowdiesEast168
1980Edmonton DrillersWest149