1980 North American Soccer League season


Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.

Overview

The league comprised 24 teams. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.

Changes from the previous season

The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season.

New teams

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

American Conference

Central DivisionWLGFGAPT
Chicago Sting21118050187
Houston Hurricane14185669130
Detroit Express14185152129
Memphis Rogues14184957126

Western DivisionWLGFGAPT
Edmonton Drillers17155851149
California Surf15176167144
San Diego Sockers16165351140
San Jose Earthquakes923456895

National Conference

Central DivisionWLGFGAPT
Dallas Tornado18145758157
Minnesota Kicks16166656147
Tulsa Roughnecks15175662139
Atlanta Chiefs725348474

Western DivisionWLGFGAPT
Seattle Sounders2577431207
Los Angeles Aztecs20126152174
Vancouver Whitecaps16165247139
Portland Timbers15175053133

NASL All-Stars

First Team Position Second TeamHonorable Mention
Phil Parkes, ChicagoG Jack Brand, Seattle Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale
Carlos Alberto, New YorkD Mihalj Keri, Los Angeles David Nish, Seattle
Mike Connell, Tampa BayD Wim Rijsbergen, New York John Gorman, Tampa Bay
Rudi Krol, VancouverD Peter Nogly, Edmonton Frantz Mathieu, Chicago
Bruce Rioch, SeattleD John Ryan, Seattle Andranik Eskandarian, New York
Franz Beckenbauer, New YorkM Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago Ray Hudson, Ft. Lauderdale
Vladislav Bogićević, New YorkM Johan Neeskens, New York Ace Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota
Teófilo Cubillas, Fort LauderdaleM Alan Hudson, Seattle Jomo Sono, Toronto
Giorgio Chinaglia, New YorkF Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay Tommy Hutchison, Seattle
Johan Cruyff, WashingtonF Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago Alan Green, Washington
Roger Davies, SeattleF Luis Fernando, Los Angeles Julio César Romero, New York

Playoffs

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The last two spots would go to the next best teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were given wild-card berths. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by regular season point total, regardless of first-round seeding. The Soccer Bowl remained a single game final.
In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one win apiece, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If there was no winner after the 30 minutes ended, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner.

Bracket

First round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Championships

Soccer Bowl '80

1980 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

Post season awards