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1979–80 NASL indoor season

(Redirected from 1979–80 NASL Indoor season)

The 1979–80 season was the North American Soccer League's first ever full indoor soccer season with playoffs. It began in November 1979, and the championship occurred in March 1980.

North American Soccer League
1979–80 indoor season
Season1979–80
ChampionsTampa Bay Rowdies
(2nd title)
PremiersAtlanta Chiefs
Matches played60
Goals scored665 (11.08 per match)
Top goalscorerSouth Africa David Byrne
(23 goals)
Average attendance4,869
← 1979

Overview

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Only 10 of the 24 NASL member-teams chose to field a squad for the 12 game regular season and 6 team, 3 round playoffs. The league decided to make several rule modifications from the NASL indoor tournaments and indoor friendlies of previous years. The most obvious change was the goal. No longer 4 by 16 feet (h x w), the goals now measured a more proportionate 6.5 by 12,[1] with a board or plexiglass panel above the cross bar instead of netting. Rather than being divided into three 20-minute periods (like hockey) as was done previously, or the more recent three 15-minute periods, the game now featured four 15-minute quarters with an extended halftime (similar to American football) and short breaks and the end of the first and third quarters. These modifications were consistent with the rules of the competing Major Indoor Soccer League,[2] which had begun operation in December 1978.[3][4] Other changes included an extra referee at the bench to keep track of time penalties. Like most American sports, the clock would count down to 00:00 rather than up to "full time" as was done in association football. As before, (like ice hockey) there would be free substitutions, but players now had to touch the wall by their bench before a substitute player could come onto the playing floor. The floor dimensions remained, more or less 200 by 85 feet.[5] Golden goal/sudden death overtime was used to settle games tied at the end of regulation. In the playoffs, 15-minute mini-games were used to decide series that were tied at one victory apiece. Indeed, two playoff series, including the Championship Final between Tampa Bay and Memphis, would need to be settled by means of a mini-game.[6]

Map of clubs

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  Eastern Division   Western Division

Regular season

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W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, % = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Avg Att = Average Home Attendance

Eastern Division W L GB % GF GA Avg Att
Atlanta Chiefs 10 2 – .833 70 46 5,069
Tampa Bay Rowdies 8 4 2 .667 75 64 5,910
Detroit Express 7 5 3 .583 70 69 3,937
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 3 9 7 .250 58 65 1,724
New England Tea Men 2 10 8 .167 52 81 3,249
Western Division W L GB % GF GA Avg Att
Memphis Rogues 9 3 – .750 65 44 8,249
Minnesota Kicks 8 4 1 .667 75 52 9,562
Tulsa Roughnecks 7 5 2 .583 63 64 4,657
California Surf 4 8 5 .333 71 83 3,181
Los Angeles Aztecs 2 10 8 .167 56 87 2,768

Regular season statistics

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Scoring leaders

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GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points[7]

Player Team GP G A Pts
David Byrne Atlanta 12 23 11 57
Keith Furphy Detroit 12 21 13 55
Laurie Abrahams California 12 18 17 53
Peter Baralić Tampa Bay 12 21 10 52
Iraj Danaifard Tulsa 12 19 10 48
Chris Dangerfield Los Angeles 12 15 9 39
Mark Lindsay California 12 13 12 38
Wes McLeod Tampa Bay 12 13 12 38
Steve Earle Tulsa 12 10 18 38
Alan Willey Minnesota 12 15 6 36

Leading goalkeepers

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Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins

Player Team Min Svs GA GAA W
John Houska Memphis 721 172 43 3.58 9
Victor Nogueira Atlanta 637 164 39 3.67 10
Tino Lettieri Minnesota 658 165 41 3.74 8
Nick Owcharuk Tulsa 441 134 33 4.49 7
Željko Bilecki Tampa Bay 684 173 54 4.74 8

Playoffs

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Bracket

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First round
Single game 		Division finals
Best-of-3 		Championship series
Best-of-3
E1 Atlanta Chiefs 3 5 –
E2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 12 x x E2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 7 6(OT) –
E3 Detroit Express 1 x x E2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 4 10 1
W1 Memphis Rogues 5 4 0
W1 Memphis Rogues 3 4(OT) 1
W2 Minnesota Kicks 3 x x W2 Minnesota Kicks 6 3 0
W3 Tulsa Roughnecks 2 x x

1st round

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February 19 Tampa Bay Rowdies 12–1 Detroit Express Bayfront Center • 4,880
February 20 Minnesota Kicks 3–2 Tulsa Roughnecks Met Center • 3,170

Division finals

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If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played.

Higher seed Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs – Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–7 5–6 (OT) x February 23 • Bayfront Center • 5,545
February 25 • The Omni • 6,141
Memphis Rogues – Minnesota Kicks 3–6 4–3 (OT) 1–0 February 23 • Met Center • 3,701
February 26 • Mid-South Coliseum • 7,130

Championship finals

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Higher seed Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Memphis Rogues – Tampa Bay Rowdies *5–4 4–10 0–1 *February 29 • Mid-South Coliseum • 9,081
March 2 • Bayfront Center • 5,545

*Memphis Rogues hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2 and Mini-game) due to scheduling conflicts at the Mid-South Coliseum.[8]

Championship match reports

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February 29, 1980 Game 1 Memphis Rogues 5–4 Tampa Bay Rowdies Memphis, Tennessee
7:30 P.M. (CST) Cooke   5:16' (Berrio, Houska)
Vazquez   18:19' (Hasanbegović)
Vazquez   44:26' (Carbognani)
Vazquez   49:27' (Berrio, Husband)
Field   52:21' (Rosul, Husband)		 Report Fabbiani   34:02'
Wegerle   34:54' (Gorman)
Fabbiani   54:44' (Anderson)
Van der Beck   56:06' (Fabbiani)		 Stadium: Mid-South Coliseum
Attendance: 9,081
March 2, 1980 Game 2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 10–4 Memphis Rogues St. Petersburg, Florida
2:00 P.M. (EST) Van der Beck   8:05' (Fabbiani)
Wegerle   9:20' (Van der Beck)
Connell   12:36' (Baralić)
Van der Beck   13:16' (Wegerle)
Fabbiani   14:54' (Gorman)
McLeod   38:00' (Baralić)
Fabbiani   41:07' (Gorman)
Anderson   41:38' (Fabbiani, McLeod)
Connell   50:54' (McLeod)
Anderson   56:04' (McLeod)		 Report Carbognani   27:10' (pen)
Field   45:53' (Husband)
Rosul   48:38'
Rosul   49:50' (Carbognani)		 Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,545
Referee: John Davies (USA)
March 2, 1980 Mini-game Tampa Bay Rowdies 1–0 Memphis Rogues St. Petersburg, Florida
Anderson   4:48' (McLeod) Report Stadium: Bayfront Center
Attendance: 5,545
Referee: John Davies (USA)


1979–80 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies

References

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  1. ^ "Indoor Returning, Officially This Time". Evening Independent. September 28, 1979. p. 4-C. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  2. ^ "Kids hurt playing with Arrows indoors". The Ottawa Journal. December 23, 1978. p. 28. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  3. ^ Tierney, Mike (January 25, 1979). "Rowdies hope to hold onto goalie". St. Petersburg Times. p. 4C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "Rowdies roll 6-4". St. Petersburg Times. January 26, 1979. p. 1C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  5. ^ Scheiber, Dave (December 7, 1979). "Indoor soccer: just like hockey without a stick". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2C. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  6. ^ Scheiber, Dave (March 3, 1979). "Rowdies slam to No. 1". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  7. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1980". Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  8. ^ Scheiber, Dave (February 29, 1980). "Rogues lose star for title go with Rowdies". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1, sec. C. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
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