The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding in 1968 through 1974, the championship game (or series, as it was played through 1971) was known as the NASL Championship Final, and in 1984 the single game was replaced by a best-of-three series known as the Soccer Bowl Series.

History

The NASL championships began as a two-game aggregate goal series in 1968 and switched to a best-of-three series in 1971. In 1972, the league adopted a single-game championship hosted by the higher-seeded club.

thumb|left|150px|[[CEFCU Stadium|Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, hosted the first Soccer Bowl in 1975.]]

Then-NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam wanted to build excitement for the championship game. He envisioned a week-long, neutral-site championship event in the mold of the NFL's Super Bowl. On August 24, 1975, the first Soccer Bowl was played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, as the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeated the Portland Timbers. The biggest attendance was for Soccer Bowl '78, when 74,091 filled Giants Stadium in the New York metropolitan area, still the highest attendance to date for any club soccer championship in the United States.

Legacy

A new minor league North American Soccer League began play in 2011, borrowing much of the iconography of the original. This second league used the name "Soccer Bowl" for their championship match in 2013, and then only for the championship trophy itself from 2014 through the end of the league in 2017. NASL, Steve Dimitry, Soccer Times

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

!! colspan=8 style="background:#999999"|

|-

! width=20px| Final

! width=150px| Champions

! width=150px| Runners-up

! Score

! width=130px| Venue

! City

! Attend.

! Agg.

|-

| rowspan=2|1968 || rowspan=2| Atlanta Chiefs || rowspan=2|San Diego Toros || || Balboa Stadium || San Diego || 9,360 || rowspan=2 style="background-color:#D0F0C0"|

|-

| || Atlanta Stadium || Atlanta || 14,994

|-

| 1969 || colspan=7 style="background:#efefef"|

|-

| rowspan=2| 1970 || rowspan=2| Rochester Lancers || rowspan=2| Washington Darts || || Aquinas Memorial || Rochester || 9,321 || rowspan=2 style="background-color:#d0f0c0"|

|-

| || Brookland Stadium || Washington, D.C. || 5,543

|-

| rowspan=3| 1971 || rowspan=3| Dallas Tornado || rowspan=3| Atlanta Chiefs || || Atlanta Stadium || Atlanta || 3,218 || rowspan=3 style="background-color:#d0f0c0"|

|-

| || Franklin Stadium || Dallas || 6,456

|-

| || Atlanta Stadium || Atlanta || 4,687

|-

| 1972 || New York Cosmos || St. Louis Stars || || Hofstra Stadium || Hempstead || 6,102 ||

|-

| 1973 || Philadelphia Atoms || Dallas Tornado || || Texas Stadium ||Irving || 18,824 ||

|-

| 1974 || Los Angeles Aztecs || Miami Toros || || Orange Bowl || Miami || 15,507 ||

|-

!! colspan=8 style="background:#999999"|

|-

| 1975 || Tampa Bay Rowdies || Portland Timbers || || Spartan Stadium || San Jose || 17,483 ||

|-

| 1976 || Toronto Metros-Croatia || Minnesota Kicks || || Kingdome || Seattle || 25,765 ||

|-

| 1977 ||New York Cosmos || Seattle Sounders || || Civic Stadium || Portland || 35,548 ||

|-

| 1978 || New York Cosmos || Tampa Bay Rowdies || || Giants Stadium || East Rutherford || 74,901 ||

|-

| 1979 || Vancouver Whitecaps || Tampa Bay Rowdies || || Giants Stadium || East Rutherford || 50,699 ||

|-

| 1980 || New York Cosmos || Fort Lauderdale Strikers || || RFK Stadium || Washington, D.C. || 50,768 ||

|-

| 1981 || Chicago Sting || New York Cosmos|| || Exhibition Stadium || Toronto || 36,971 ||

|-

| 1982 || New York Cosmos || Seattle Sounders || || Jack Murphy Stadium || San Diego || 22,634 ||

|-

| 1983 || Tulsa Roughnecks || Toronto Blizzard || || BC Place || Vancouver || 53,326 ||

|-

!! colspan=8 style="background:#999999"|

|-

| rowspan=2| 1984 || rowspan=2| Chicago Sting || rowspan=2| Toronto Blizzard || || Comiskey Park || Chicago || 8,352 || rowspan=2 style="background-color:#D0F0C0"|

|-

| || Varsity Stadium || Toronto || 16,842

|}

;Notes

See also

  • North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
  • United States soccer league system
  • Canadian soccer league system
  • North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
  • National Professional Soccer League (1967)
  • United Soccer Association (1967)
  • North American Soccer League (1968–1984) on television
  • Record attendances in United States club soccer
  • Soccer Bowl (2011–2017)
  • MLS Cup

References

  • Soccer Bowl on NASL (archived, September 30, 2013)