1968 North American Soccer League season
| Season | 1968 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Atlanta Chiefs |
| Premiers |
San Diego Toros most total points *Atlanta Chiefs best Won/Loss record |
| Matches played | 271 |
| Goals scored | 924 (3.41 per match) |
| Top goalscorer |
Janusz Kowalik (30 goals) |
| Average attendance | 4,669 |
|
1969 → | |
The 1968 North American Soccer League season was the 56th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 1st with a national first-division league with the inaugural season of the NASL.
The NASL was formed this year as a merger between the former top division soccer leagues, the United Soccer Association along with the National Professional Soccer League. In the inaugural year, the Atlanta Chiefs were the champions, by winning the NASL Final 3–0, in a two-game aggregate over the San Diego Toros. While the Chiefs were the champions for the season, the premiers for this season were the Toros, who obtained the highest point total.[1]
Overview
17 teams competed in this inaugural season, and the Atlanta Chiefs won the championship. While San Diego won the premiership, Atlanta's winning percentage was higher because a match had been canceled.[1] This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership.
8 came from the NPSL: Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City (from Chicago), New York, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego ( from Los Angeles) and Toronto.
9 came from the USA: Boston (nickname changed), Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver (nickname shortened) and Washington.
2 teams from the NPSL folded (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).
3 teams from the USA folded (New York, San Francisco and Toronto).
Two teams: Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL) had the same nickname the "Stars".
Regular season
W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= 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.
Eastern Conference
| Atlantic Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Chiefs | 18 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 32 | 174 |
| Washington Whips | 15 | 10 | 7 | 50 | 32 | 167 |
| New York Generals | 12 | 8 | 12 | 62 | 54 | 164 |
| Baltimore Bays | 13 | 16 | 3 | 42 | 43 | 128 |
| Boston Beacons | 9 | 17 | 6 | 51 | 69 | 121 |
| Lakes Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Stokers | 14 | 7 | 11 | 62 | 44 | 175 |
| Chicago Mustangs | 13 | 10 | 9 | 68 | 68 | 164 |
| Toronto Falcons | 13 | 13 | 6 | 55 | 69 | 144 |
| Detroit Cougars | 6 | 21 | 4 | 48 | 65 | 88 |
Western Conference
| Gulf Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Spurs | 16 | 11 | 5 | 61 | 43 | 158 |
| Houston Stars | 14 | 12 | 6 | 58 | 41 | 150 |
| St. Louis Stars | 12 | 14 | 6 | 47 | 59 | 130 |
| Dallas Tornado | 2 | 26 | 4 | 28 | 109 | 52 |
| Pacific Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Toros | 18 | 8 | 6 | 65 | 38 | 186 |
| Oakland Clippers | 18 | 8 | 6 | 71 | 38 | 185 |
| Los Angeles Wolves | 11 | 13 | 8 | 55 | 52 | 139 |
| Vancouver Royals | 12 | 15 | 5 | 51 | 60 | 136 |
NASL All-Stars
| First Team[2][3] | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Mirko Stojanović, Oakland | G | Vic Rouse, Atlanta |
| Mel Scott, Oakland | D | John Worbye, Washington |
| Momcilio Gavric, Oakland | D | John Cocking, Atlanta |
| David Davidovic, Oakland | M | Dennis Viollet, Baltimore |
| Ron Crisp, San Diego | M | Milan Čop, Oakland |
| Ruben Navarro, Cleveland | M | Tony Knapp, Los Angeles |
| Janusz Kowalik, Chicago | F | Victorio Casa, Washington |
| Pepe Fernandez, San Diego | F | Mario Baesso, Oakland |
| Jorgen Kristensen, Detroit[4] | F | Eric Barber, Kansas City |
| Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis | F | Vavá, San Diego |
| Ilija Mitic, Oakland | F | Enrique Mateos, Cleveland |
Playoffs
Bracket
| Conference Finals[5] | NASL Final 1968 | |||||||||||
| E1 | Atlanta Chiefs | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||
| E2 | Cleveland Stokers | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| E1 | Atlanta Chiefs | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||
| W1 | San Diego Toros | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| W1 | San Diego Toros | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| W2 | Kansas City Spurs | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
Conference finals
| Higher seed | Aggregate | Lower seed | First leg | Second leg | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Chiefs | 3–2 | Cleveland Stokers | 1–1 | 2–1 (OT) | September 11 Cleveland Stadium 3,431 September 14 Atlanta Stadium 6,645 |
| San Diego Toros | 2–1 | Kansas City Spurs | 1–1 | 1–0 (2OT) | September 11 Municipal Stadium 5,042 September 16 Balboa Stadium 6,271[1][6][5] |
NASL Final 1968
| Eastern Champion | Aggregate | Western Champion[7] | First leg | Second leg | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Chiefs | 3–0 | San Diego Toros | 0–0 | 3–0 | September 21 Balboa Stadium 9,360[8] September 28 Atlanta Stadium 14,994 |
First leg
Second leg
1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs
Post season awards
- Most Valuable Player: Janusz Kowalik, Chicago
- Coach of the year: Phil Woosnam, Atlanta
- Rookie of the year: Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta
References
- 1 2 3 "The Year in American Soccer - 1968". Homepages.sover.net. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ↑ "NASL Homepage". Web.archive.org. 2008-05-01. Archived from the original on 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ↑ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ↑ "NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- 1 2 "San Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal". Google news. 17 Sep 1968.
- ↑ "Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News". Google news. 16 Sep 1968.
- ↑ "San Diego Toros 1968". www.nasljerseys.com.
- ↑ http://soccerstats.us/teams/san-diego-toros/games/
