1976 NASL Indoor tournament

North American Soccer League
-1976 Indoor Tournament-
NASL Indoor Tournament
Tournament details
Dates March 12, 1976 –
March 27, 1976
Teams 12
Final positions
Champions Tampa Bay Rowdies (1st title)
Runners-up Rochester Lancers
Tournament statistics
Matches played 16
Goals scored 175 (10.94 per match)
Top scorer(s) United States Juli Veee (8 goals)
Best player Bermuda Clyde Best (Tampa Bay)

Over the course of three weekends in March 1976, the North American Soccer League hosted its second league-wide indoor soccer tournament. Twelve of the twenty NASL teams participated.

Overview

In 1976, instead of playing a full indoor schedule (and despite the hopes of Tampa Bay owner George Strawbridge, Jr.),[1] the North American Soccer League opted to stage a two-tiered indoor tournament for the second consecutive year. Moreover, this time only twelve teams participated in three regions, down from 16 in four regions the previous year. The regional winners along with the "best" second-place team would advance to the final four in St. Petersburg, Florida. While the goals remained 4 × 16, the games would be shortened to three 15-minute periods, instead of the 20-minute frames played the previous year.[2][3][4][5] The tournament also saw the first-ever indoor overtime and penalty shootout, as Miami and Boston played to a 6–6 draw in the opening match. After 45 minutes of regulation time and two 5-minute golden goal extra sessions, the match was ultimately decided by spot kicks.[6]

Playing on their home ground, the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeated the Rochester Lancers 6–4 in the Championship Final. Juli Veee of San Jose scored eight goals to lead the tournament, while Clyde Best of Tampa Bay earned the MVP honors.

1976 Indoor Regional tournaments

Eastern Regional

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida[7][8][9]

March 12 Miami Toros 7–6 (PK, 4–3) Boston Minutemen Attendance: 4,762
March 12 Tampa Bay Rowdies 9–5 Washington Diplomats
March 13 Washington Diplomats 9–3 Miami Toros Attendance: 5,785
March 13 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5–3 Boston Minutemen
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 2 0 14 8 +6 4
2 Washington Diplomats 2 1 1 14 12 +2 2
3 Miami Toros 2 1 1 9 15 -6 2
4 Boston Minutemen 2 0 2 9 11 -2 0

*Tampa Bay wins region, advances to semifinals

Midwest Regional

played at International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois[10]

March 13 Toronto Metros-Croatia 8–6 St. Louis Stars Attendance: circa 1,700[11]
March 13 Rochester Lancers 5–2 Chicago Sting
March 14 Rochester Lancers 5–4 St. Louis Stars Attendance: circa 1,700[12]
March 14 Chicago Sting 6–2 Toronto Metros-Croatia
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 Rochester Lancers 2 2 0 10 6 +4 4
2 Chicago Sting 2 1 1 8 7 +1 2
3 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2 1 1 10 12 -2 2
4 St. Louis Stars 2 0 2 10 13 -3 0

*Rochester wins region, advances to semifinals

West Regional

played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California [15][16][17]

March 19 Dallas Tornado 5–2 San Diego Jaws Attendance: ?
March 19 San Jose Earthquakes 18–6 Vancouver Whitecaps
March 21 Dallas Tornado 11–2 Vancouver Whitecaps Attendance: 5,438[18]
March 21 San Jose Earthquakes 8–4 San Diego Jaws
Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1 San Jose Earthquakes 2 2 0 26 10 +16 4
2 Dallas Tornado 2 2 0 16 4 +12 4
3 San Diego Jaws 2 0 2 6 13 -7 0
4 Vancouver Whitecaps 2 0 2 8 29 -21 0

*San Jose wins region on goal differential, while Dallas is the top second-place team in any region, so both advance to semifinals

1976 Indoor Final Four

Bracket

Semifinals Championship Final
      
M1 Rochester Lancers 6
W1 San Jose Earthquakes 4
M1 Rochester Lancers 4
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6
E1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6
W2 Dallas Tornado 2

Semi-finals

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida[19]

March 26 Rochester Lancers 6–4 San Jose Earthquakes Attendance: 5,365
March 26 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6–2 Dallas Tornado

Third-place match

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida

March 27 San Jose Earthquakes 5–2 Dallas Tornado

Championship Final

Final Four awards

Final team rankings

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 4 0 26 14 +12
2 Rochester Lancers 4 3 1 20 16 +4
3 San Jose Earthquakes 4 3 1 35 18 +17
4 Dallas Tornado 4 2 2 20 15 +5
5 Washington Diplomats 2 1 1 14 12 +2

Non-tournament matches

In addition to the tournament itself, a few teams staged other indoor matches as tune-ups for both the outdoor season and the indoor tournament itself.

Match reports

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19750710&id=O15QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PlgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1486,2204462
  2. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/usindoor.html
  3. ↑ http://mytampabayrowdies.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
  4. ↑ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1976.html
  5. ↑ http://mytampabayrowdies.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=50
  6. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5fgeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JI4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6810,2733537&dq=rowdies+win+indoor&hl=en
  7. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AI5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SV0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6918,1183401&dq=nasl+eastern+regional&hl=en
  8. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19760315&id=BI5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SV0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5577,5052079
  9. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AY5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SV0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4630,2337761&dq=rowdies+back+at+bayfront&hl=en
  10. ↑ http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1976/03/13/page/205/article/opener-for-the-sting-tonight
  11. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fFlQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jlgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4763,3078494&dq=indoor+kicks+awry&hl=en
  12. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fFlQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jlgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4763,3078494&dq=indoor+kicks+awry&hl=en
  13. ↑ http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1976/03/15/page/66/article/sting-finds-top-winger-in-tourney
  14. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/136938796/
  15. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19760322&id=vqVjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UF0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6812,5049187
  16. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19760326&id=wroqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LmcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5530,4119105
  17. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19760325&id=oXNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TV0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6222,760354
  18. ↑ Chittenden, Ed (March 22, 1976). "Quakes Capture Title". The Times (San Mateo, CA). p. 15. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  19. ↑ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ARKs2HiID-o/Tm5eQIdGSfI/AAAAAAAALRM/CYWhARpyHpI/s1600/1976-3-26+Rowdies+vs+Tornado+id+Semi-Final+Report.jpg
  20. ↑ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XkD8CXfcufQ/TnMFho6qCMI/AAAAAAAALRk/BwoPC8IkDO4/s1600/1976-3-27+Rowdies+vs+Lancers+id+Final+Report.jpg
  21. ↑ http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/B/Best.Clyde.htm
  22. ↑ Savett, Bob (April 9, 1976). "Atom 'Strangers' Communicate, Trips Dips". The Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia).
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