1972 North American Soccer League season

Soccer league season February 2023 February 2023 North American Soccer League 1972 season 1972 8 New York Cosmos New York Cosmos 56 BER Randy Horton (9 goals) 156 5, St. Louis Stars 24,742 (Mosc. Dynamo @ Dallas) 1,100 (Dallas @ Montreal) 5,340 1971 1973 Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1972. This was the 5th season of the NASL. Overview Eight teams took part in the league with the New York Cosmos winning the championship. Changes from previous season Rules changes The league changed its offside rule during the season on June 26. They created a "Blue Line" which was an offside line across the field, 35 yards from the goal line. Thereafter, no player could be offside unless he had crossed the 35-yard line. This made the NASL unique in the soccer world; the league received temporary approval for the change from FIFA on an experimental basis only. The league also switched the playoff format to single-match elimination contests rather than series.http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1972.html The Year in American Soccer - 1972 homepages.sover.net 16 January 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20150325130709/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1972.html 25 March 2015 dead New teams None Teams folding None Teams moving Washington Darts to Miami Gatos Name changes None Map of clubs left 10px Northern Division 10px Southern Division 1100 500 300 425 390 North America 900 North America 45.49 -73.54 Blue pog.svg 80 top Olympique North America 40.72 -73.60 Blue pog.svg 80 bottom Cosmos North America 43.19 -77.66 Blue pog.svg 80 right Lancers North America 43.67 -79.40 Blue pog.svg 80 top Metros North America 33.74 -84.39 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Chiefs North America 32.84 -96.91 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Tornado North America 25.78 -80.19 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Gatos North America 38.62 -90.19 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Stars Regular season W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= 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. #B3B7FF darkgray-Premiers (most points). #ccffcc darkgray-Other playoff teams. Northern DivisionWLTGFGAPTNew York Cosmos 7 3 4 28 16 77Rochester Lancers 6 5 3 20 22 64Montreal Olympique 4 5 5 19 20 57Toronto Metros 4 6 4 18 22 53 Southern DivisionWLTGFGAPTSt. Louis Stars 7 4 3 20 14 69Dallas Tornado 6 5 3 15 12 60Atlanta Chiefs 5 6 3 19 18 56Miami Gatos 3 8 3 17 32 44 NASL All-Stars First Teamhttp://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm NASL Homepage Christopher S. Page 16 January 2014 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104955/http://home.att.net/~nasl/nasl.htm May 1, 2008 http://www.oocities.org/colosseum/Arena/6925/nasl.html Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page oocities.org 16 January 2014   Position   Second Team Honorable MentionENG Ken Cooper, Dallas GCAN Dick Howard, TorontoBER Sam Nusum, MontrealUSA John Best, Dallas DUSA Dick Hall, DallasITA Adolfo Gori, RochesterENG John Sewell, St. Louis DENG Clive Charles, MontrealSCO Charlie Mitchell, RochesterENG Peter Short, RochesterDENG Wilf Tranter, St. LouisENG John Cocking, AtlantaGHA Willie Evans, Miami DSCO Brian Rowan, TorontoPOL Joe Puls, St. LouisCAN John Kerr, New York MARG Francisco Escos, RochesterUSA Mick Hoban, AtlantaSCO Graeme Souness, Montreal MENG Dave Metchick, MiamiUSA Larry Hausmann, St. LouisUSA Pat McBride, St. Louis MUSA Siggy Stritzl, New YorkSCO Billy Fraser, MiamiBER Randy Horton, New York FUSA Carlos Metidieri, RochesterUSA Mike Renshaw, DallasUSA Paul Child, Atlanta FJAM Art Welch, AtlantaTRI Warren Archibald, MiamiENG Michael Dillon, Montreal FUSA Jorge Siega, New YorkPOL Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis Playoffs All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups. Bracket Semifinals NASL Final 1972 25 150px N1 New York Cosmos 1 S2 Dallas Tornado 0 S1 St. Louis Stars 2 N2 Rochester Lancers 0 N1 New York Cosmos 2 S1 St. Louis Stars 1 Semifinals August 15Rochester Lancers0–2St. Louis StarsBusch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319 August 19Dallas Tornado0–1New York CosmosHofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026 NASL Final 1972 NASL Final 1972 August 26 8 pm EDT New York Cosmos 2–1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/140691440/?terms=Stars St. Louis Stars Horton 5 Young Jelinek 86 pen. Frankiewicz 52 Sewell Hofstra Stadium, Hempstead, New York 6,102Flachsbart Harold Stars Lose Title Match August 27, 1972 St. Louis Post-Dispatch https://www.newspapers.com/image/140691410/?terms=Stars%2BLose 1C 2019-11-26 Roger Schott (USA)https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19720828&id=GgsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=w6EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4539,6816798 The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search 16 January 2014 1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos Post season awards Most Valuable Player: BER Randy Horton, New York Coach of the year: POL Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis Rookie of the year: USA Mike Winter, St. Louis 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.St. Louis Stars 7,773Toronto Metros 7,173Rochester Lancers 5,505Atlanta Chiefs 5,034New York Cosmos 4,282Dallas Tornado 4,093Montreal Olympique 2,308Miami Gatos 2,112 References External links Complete Results and Standings Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons 1972 Category:1972 in Canadian soccer