1981 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1981. This was the 14th season of the NASL.

North American Soccer League 1981 season
Season1981
ChampionsChicago Sting
PremiersNew York Cosmos
(5th title)
Matches played336
Goals scored1,234 (3.67 per match)
Top goalscorerGiorgio Chinaglia
(29 goals)
Highest attendance50,755
Washington at Montreal
(August 18)
Lowest attendance1,861
Dallas at Chicago
(May 10)
Average attendance14,084
← 1980
1982 →

Overview

There were a total of 21 teams participating. Three teams (Houston, Rochester and Washington) folded, while four others (Memphis, Detroit, New England and Philadelphia) moved to new cities. Playoff series were switched from the two matches plus a mini-game tiebreaker used since 1977, to a best-of-three full matches played on three separate dates. The Chicago Sting defeated the New York Cosmos in Soccer Bowl '81 on September 26 to win the championship.

When Major League Baseball players went on strike on June 12, there was speculation that other sports, especially soccer, would see larger crowds. However, the 157 NASL matches played during the baseball work stoppage (which ended August 9) drew an average attendance of only 13,419, less than the full-season average of 14,084.

Changes from the previous season

New teams
  • None

Teams folding

Teams moving
  • Memphis Rogues to Calgary Boomers
  • Detroit Express to Washington Diplomats
  • New England Tea Men to Jacksonville Tea Men
  • Philadelphia Fury to Montreal Manic

Name changes
  • None

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system

6 points for a win in regulation and overtime, 4 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each regulation goal scored, up to three per game.[1]

 -Premiers (most points).  -Other playoff teams.
Eastern DivisionWLGFGAPT
New York Cosmos2398049200
Montreal Manic15176357141
Washington Diplomats15175958135
Toronto Blizzard725398277
Southern DivisionWLGFGAPT
Atlanta Chiefs17156260151
Fort Lauderdale Strikers18145446144
Jacksonville Tea Men18145146141
Tampa Bay Rowdies15176364139
Central DivisionWLGFGAPT
Chicago Sting2398450195
Minnesota Kicks19136357163
Tulsa Roughnecks17156049154
Dallas Tornado527277154
Western DivisionWLGFGAPT
San Diego Sockers21116749173
Los Angeles Aztecs19135355160
California Surf11216077117
San Jose Earthquakes11214478108
Northwest DivisionWLGFGAPT
Vancouver Whitecaps21117443186
Calgary Boomers17155954151
Portland Timbers17155249141
Seattle Sounders15176062137
Edmonton Drillers12206079123

NASL All-Stars
First Team[2]PositionSecond Team[3]Honorable Mention[4]
Netherlands Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale G Germany Hubert Birkenmeier, New York Germany Volkmar Gross, San Diego
Haiti Frantz Mathieu, Chicago D England Barry Wallace, Tulsa Luxembourg Nick Rohmann, San Diego
Netherlands Wim Rijsbergen, New York D England Kevin Bond, Seattle Canada Robert Iarusci, New York
Germany Peter Nogly, Edmonton D Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mihalj Keri, Los Angeles Jersey Dave Huson, Chicago
Scotland John Gorman, Tampa Bay D Republic of Ireland Pierce O'Leary, Vancouver Brazil Carlos Alberto, California
Germany Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago M England Alan Hudson, Seattle United States Juli Veee, San Diego
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladislav Bogićević, New York M Northern Ireland George Best, San Jose South Africa Jomo Sono, Toronto
Peru Teófilo Cubillas, Fort Lauderdale M Scotland Peter Lorimer, Vancouver England Duncan McKenzie, Tulsa
England Brian Kidd, Atlanta F Germany Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago Canada Mike Stojanović, San Diego
England Gordon Hill, Montreal F Paraguay Roberto Cabañas, New York Argentina Pato Margetic, Chicago
Italy Giorgio Chinaglia, New York F Germany Franz Gerber, Calgary England Alan Green, Jacksonville • South Africa Steve Wegerle, New York

Playoffs

15 teams qualified for the playoffs – each first and second-place team across the divisions plus the five next best teams. Division winners were seeded 1 through 5, the second-place teams were seeded 6 through 10, and the last five teams were seeded 11 through 15 regardless of division placing.[5] The top seed received a bye, and the remaining 14 teams paired off to play the first round. Series winners would be reseeded by season point total after each round.

The 'best of two' format used from 1978 to 1980 was discarded for a more straightforward best of three games format in the first three rounds.

Bracket
First Round
(Best-of-3) 		Quarterfinals
(Best-of-3) 		Semifinals
(Best-of-3) 		Soccer Bowl '81
(Single match)
            
1 New York 2
14 Tampa Bay 1
3 Vancouver 0
14 Tampa Bay 2
1 New York 2
9 Fort Lauderdale 0
6 Minnesota 2
11 Tulsa 0
6 Minnesota 0
9 Fort Lauderdale 2
8 Calgary 0
9 Fort Lauderdale 2
1 New York 0
2 Chicago 1
2 Chicago 2
15 Seattle 1
2 Chicago 2
10 Montreal 1
7 Los Angeles 1
10 Montreal 2
2 Chicago 2
4 San Diego 1
4 San Diego 2
13 Portland 1
4 San Diego 2
12 Jacksonville 1
5 Atlanta 0
12 Jacksonville 2

First round
Lower seed Higher seed Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 (higher seed hosts Games 2 and 3)
Tulsa Roughnecks-Minnesota Kicks1–30–1 (SO, 4–5)xAugust 22 • Skelly Stadium • 16,205
August 26 • Metropolitan Stadium • 10,722
Portland Timbers-San Diego Sockers2–11–50–2August 22 • Civic Stadium • 16,003
August 26 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 12,039
August 30 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 15,244
Jacksonville Tea Men-Atlanta Chiefs3–2 (OT)2–1xAugust 23 • Gator Bowl • 9,287
August 25 • Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium • 6,572
Fort Lauderdale Strikers-Calgary Boomers3–1#2–0xAugust 23 • Lockhart Stadium • 12,196
#August 26 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,494
Tampa Bay Rowdies-Vancouver Whitecaps4–11–0xAugust 23 • Tampa Stadium • 21,192
August 26 • Empire Stadium • 28,896
Seattle Sounders-Chicago Sting2–3*2–02–3August 23 • Comiskey Park • 14,643
*August 26 • Kingdome • 15,176
August 30 • Wrigley Field • 24,080
Montreal Manic-Los Angeles Aztecs5–32–32–1 (OT)August 24 • Olympic Stadium • 46,682
August 27 • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • 7,529
August 30 • Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • 8,812
(first round bye)New York Cosmos••••

#Due to a scheduling conflict between the Calgary Boomers and the Billy Graham Crusade, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers hosted both Games 1 and 2 (instead of Game 1 only), there-by gaining home field advantage even though they were the lower seed.[6]

*Seattle Sounders hosted Game 2 (instead of Game 1) due to a scheduling conflict with the Mariners baseball club.[7]

Quarterfinals
Lower seed Higher seed Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 (higher seed hosts Games 2 and 3)
Tampa Bay Rowdies-New York Cosmos3–63–2 (SO, 4–2)0–2September 2 • Tampa Stadium • 29,224
September 5 • Giants Stadium • 38,691
September 9 • Giants Stadium • 33,754
Montreal Manic-Chicago Sting3–22–42–4September 2 • Olympic Stadium • 58,542
September 5 • Wrigley Field • 24,648
September 10 • Comiskey Park • 27,489
Fort Lauderdale Strikers-Minnesota Kicks3–13–0xSeptember 2 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,918
September 6 • Memorial Stadium • 10,278
Jacksonville Tea Men-San Diego Sockers2–1 (OT)1–21–3September 2 • Gator Bowl • 12,252
September 6 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 14,428
September 9 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 14,015

Semifinals
Lower seed Higher seed Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 (higher seed hosts Games 2 and 3)
Fort Lauderdale Strikers-New York Cosmos3–41–4xSeptember 12 • Lockhart Stadium • 18,814
September 16 • Giants Stadium • 31,172[8]
San Diego Sockers-Chicago Sting2–11–20–1 (SO, 2–3)September 12 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 18,192
September 16 • Comiskey Park • 21,760
September 21 • Comiskey Park • 39,623

Soccer Bowl '81
Main article: Soccer Bowl '81
Chicago Sting1–0 (SO)New York Cosmos
Report
Penalties
Margetic soccer ball with red X
Spalding soccer ball with red X
Peter soccer ball with red X
Granitza soccer ball with check mark
Glenn soccer ball with check mark		 2–1 soccer ball with red X Seninho
soccer ball with red X Chinaglia
soccer ball with check mark Bogićević
soccer ball with red X Buljan
soccer ball with red X Iarusci
Attendance: 36,971
Referee: Dante Maglio (Canada)

1981 NASL Champions: Chicago Sting

*From 1977 through 1984 the NASL had a variation of the penalty shoot-out procedure for tied matches. The shoot-out 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. Even though this particular match was a scoreless tie after overtime, NASL procedure also called for the box score to show an additional "goal" given to the winning team.[9][10]

Post season awards

References
  1. "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search".
  2. Cote, Greg (September 11, 1981). "Strikers open at home against Cosmos Saturday". Miami Herald. p. 4F. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  3. "NASL All-Stars". The Evening Independent. September 11, 1981. p. 2-C. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  4. "NASL All-Star Team". The Tampa Times. September 11, 1981. p. 2C. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  5. Scheiber, Dave (August 3, 1981). "NASL's playoff system hurts its credibility". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3C. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  6. Scheiber, Dave (September 1, 1981). "Rowdies cashing in on their new underdog label". St. Petersburg Times. p. 3, sec. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  7. Conklin, Mike (September 27, 1981). "Sting hopes for even more success in playoffs". Chicago Tribune. p. 3, sec. 4. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  8. Bonapace, Ruth (September 17, 1981). "Chinaglia Pulls It Out Of The Hat For Cosmos". Evening Independent. p. 4, sec. C. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  9. "This Day In 1981 : Soccer Bowl Edition | Chicago Fire Confidential". Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  10. "The Year in American Soccer - 1977". Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  11. "The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search".
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