1968 North American Soccer League season

Soccer league season February 2023 February 2023 North American Soccer League 1968 season 1968 Atlanta Chiefs San Diego Toros most total points *Atlanta Chiefs best Won/Loss record 271 924 POL Janusz Kowalik (30 goals) 4,669 NPSL 1967USA 1967 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.http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1968.html The Year in American Soccer - 1968 Homepages.sover.net 2014-01-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20150726055314/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1968.html 2015-07-26 dead 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. This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership. The Oakland Clippers had an identical record to the Western Division Champion Toros and a higher goal-differential, but just as with Atlanta the Toros had more league points. Oakland had won every competition in the NPSL's 1967 season, but were denied a chance to defend their title in the merged league because of this unique points system. 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). 2 teams, Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL), had the same nickname the "Stars". Map of clubs left 10px Atlantic Division 10px Lakes Division 10px Gulf Division 10px Pacific Division 1100 500 300 425 390 North America 900 North America 33.74 -84.39 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Chiefs North America 39.33 -76.60 Red pog.svg 80 top Bays North America 42.35 -71.10 Red pog.svg 80 top Beacons North America 40.83 -73.93 Red pog.svg 80 right Generals North America 38.89 -76.97 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Whips North America 41.83 -87.63 Blue pog.svg 80 bottom Mustangs North America 41.50 -81.70 Blue pog.svg 80 bottom Stokers North America 42.33 -83.07 Blue pog.svg 80 top Cougars North America 43.67 -79.40 Blue pog.svg 80 top Falcons North America 32.78 -96.76 Black pog.svg 80 bottom Tornado North America 29.69 -95.41 Black pog.svg 80 bottom Houston Stars North America 39.09 -94.56 Black pog.svg 80 left Spurs North America 38.62 -90.19 Black pog.svg 80 bottom St. Louis Stars North America 34.01 -118.29 Green pog.svg 80 right Wolves North America 37.75 -122.20 Green pog.svg 80 bottom Clippers North America 32.72 -117.15 Green pog.svg 80 bottom Toros North America 49.28 -123.03 Green pog.svg 80 bottom Royals Regular season W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system, Avg Att= Average Attendancehttp://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=496 Attendance Project: NASL Kenn Tomasch June 13, 2012 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. #B3B7FF darkgray-Premiers (most points). #BBEBFF darkgray-Best record. #ccffcc darkgray-Other playoff teams. Eastern Conference Atlantic DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg AttAtlanta Chiefs187650321745,794Washington Whips1510750321676,586New York Generals1281262541645,606Baltimore Bays1316342431284,628Boston Beacons917651691214,004 Lakes DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg AttCleveland Stokers1471162441754,305Chicago Mustangs1310968681642,463Toronto Falcons1313655691445,284Detroit Cougars62144865884,266 Western Conference Gulf DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg AttKansas City Spurs1611561431588,510^Houston Stars1412658411503,246St. Louis Stars1214647591305,388Dallas Tornado226428109522,929 Pacific DivisionWLTGFGAPtsAvg AttSan Diego Toros188665381864,245Oakland Clippers188671381853,700Los Angeles Wolves1113855521392,441*Vancouver Royals1215551601366,197 ^League best, *League worst NASL All-Stars First Teamhttp://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm 2008-05-01 NASL Homepage 2008-05-01 2014-01-13http://www.oocities.org/colosseum/Arena/6925/nasl.html Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page Oocities.org 2014-01-13   Position   Second TeamYUG Mirko Stojanović, Oakland GWAL Vic Rouse, AtlantaENG Mel Scott, Oakland DDEN John Worbye, WashingtonYUG Momcilio Gavric, Oakland DENG John Cocking, AtlantaYUG David Davidovic, OaklandMENG Dennis Viollet, BaltimoreENG Ron Crisp, San Diego MYUG Milan Čop, OaklandARG Ruben Navarro, Cleveland MENG Tony Knapp, Los AngelesPOL Janusz Kowalik, Chicago FARG Victorio Casa, WashingtonURU Pepe Fernandez, San Diego FBRA Mario Baesso, OaklandDEN Jorgen Kristensen, Detroithttp://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/K/Kristensen.Jorgen.htm NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen Nasljerseys.com 2014-01-13 FIRL Eric Barber, Kansas CityPOL Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis FBRA Vavá, San DiegoUSA Ilija Mitic, Oakland FESP Enrique Mateos, Cleveland Playoffs Bracket Conference FinalsSan Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JAMqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3634,4064653&dq=atlanta+wins+soccer+title&hl=en Google news 17 Sep 1968July 2026 InternetArchiveBot (2-match aggregate) NASL Final 1968(2-match aggregate) E1 Atlanta Chiefs 1 2 3 E2 Cleveland Stokers 1 1 2 W1 San Diego Toros 1 1 2 W2 Kansas City Spurs 1 0 1 E1 Atlanta Chiefs 0 3 3 W1 San Diego Toros 0 0 0 Conference finals Higher seedAggregateLower seedFirst legSecond legAttendanceAtlanta Chiefs 3–2 Cleveland Stokers 1–1 2–1 (OT) September 11 • Cleveland Stadium • 3,431September 14 • Atlanta Stadium • 6,645San Diego Toros 2–1 Kansas City Spurs 1–1 1–0 (2OT) September 11 • Municipal Stadium • 5,042September 16 • Balboa Stadium • 6,271Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=u0E0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=YOsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3107,599126&dq=atlanta+wins+soccer+title&hl=en 16 Sep 1968July 2026 InternetArchiveBot NASL Final 1968 NASL Final 1968 Eastern ChampionAggregateWestern ChampionSan Diego Toros 1968 http://www.nasljerseys.com/images/TorosSD/Toros%2068%20Road%20Team.jpg www.nasljerseys.com First legSecond legAttendanceAtlanta Chiefs 3–0 San Diego Toros 0–0 3–0 September 21 • Balboa Stadium • 9,360http://soccerstats.us/teams/san-diego-toros/games/ San Diego Toros All-time Game Results | SoccerStats.usSeptember 28 • Atlanta Stadium • 14,994 First leg September 21 San Diego Toros 0–0 https://www.newspapers.com/image/398527881/?terms=Toros%2BChiefs Atlanta Chiefs Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California 9,360 Reg Clark (Canada) Second leg September 28 Atlanta Chiefs 3–0 https://www.newspapers.com/image/398596733/?terms=Chiefs%2BToros San Diego Toros Peter McParland 22:34 HughesDelroy Scott 42:53Kaizer Motaung 79:50 Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia 14,994 Jim Carr (USA) 1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs Post season awards Most Valuable Player: POL Janusz Kowalik, Chicago Coach of the year: WAL Phil Woosnam, Atlanta Rookie of the year: RSA 1928 Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta Average home attendance TeamAverageAll-Time NASL Attendance https://kenn.com/blog/soccer/all-time-nasl-attendance-2/ 2026-08-10 kenn.com blog en-USAugust 2026 y This is a blog.Kansas City Spurs 8,510Washington Whips 6,318Vancouver Royals 6,197Atlanta Chiefs 5,626New York Generals 5,606St. Louis Stars 5,388Toronto Falcons 5,284Cleveland Stokers 4,305Detroit Cougars 4,183San Diego Toros 4,137Baltimore Bays 4,112Boston Beacons 3,992Oakland Clippers 3,690Houston Stars 3,246Dallas Tornado 2,929Los Angeles Wolves 2,396Chicago Mustangs 2,379 References Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons Category:1968 in American soccer leagues Category:1968 in Canadian soccer