# 1972 North American Soccer League season

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.

### New teams

* None

### Teams folding

* None

### Teams moving

* Washington Darts to Miami Gatos

### Name changes

* None

## 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.
    -Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.
| Northern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT |
| New York Cosmos | 7 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 77 |
| Rochester Lancers | 6 | 5 | 3 | 20 | 22 | 64 |
| Montreal Olympique | 4 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 20 | 57 |
| Toronto Metros | 4 | 6 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 53 |
| Southern Division | W | L | T | GF | GA | PT |
| St. Louis Stars | 7 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 69 |
| Dallas Tornado | 6 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 60 |
| Atlanta Chiefs | 5 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 18 | 56 |
| Miami Gatos | 3 | 8 | 3 | 17 | 32 | 44 |

## NASL All-Stars

| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| Ken Cooper, Dallas | G | Dick Howard, Toronto | Sam Nusum, Montreal |
| John Best, Dallas | D | Dick Hall, Dallas | Adolfo Gori, Rochester |
| John Sewell, St. Louis | D | Clive Charles, Montreal | Charlie Mitchell, Rochester |
| Peter Short, Rochester | D | Wilf Tranter, St. Louis | John Cocking, Atlanta |
| Willie Evans, Miami | D | Brian Rowan, Toronto | Joe Puls, St. Louis |
| John Kerr, New York | M | Francisco Escos, Rochester | Mick Hoban, Atlanta |
| Graeme Souness, Montreal | M | Dave Metchick, Miami | Larry Hausmann, St. Louis |
| Pat McBride, St. Louis | M | Siggy Stritzl, New York | Billy Fraser, Miami |
| Randy Horton, New York | F | Carlos Metidieri, Rochester | Mike Renshaw, Dallas |
| Paul Child, Atlanta | F | Art Welch, Atlanta | Warren Archibald, Miami |
| Michael Dillon, Montreal | F | Jorge Siega, New York | Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis |

## Playoffs

All playoff games in all rounds including the NASL Final were single game elimination match ups.

### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | NASL Final 1972 | NASL Final 1972 | NASL Final 1972 |
| N1 | New York Cosmos | 1 | | | |
| S2 | Dallas Tornado | 0 | | | |
| S2 | Dallas Tornado | 0 | N1 | New York Cosmos | 2 |
| | | | S1 | St. Louis Stars | 1 |
| S1 | St. Louis Stars | 2 | S1 | St. Louis Stars | 1 |
| N2 | Rochester Lancers | 0 | | | |

### Semifinals

| August 15 | Rochester Lancers | 0–2 | St. Louis Stars | Busch Memorial Stadium • Att. 5,319 |
| August 19 | Dallas Tornado | 0–1 | New York Cosmos | Hofstra Stadium • Att. 5,026 |

### NASL Final 1972

1972 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

## Post season awards

* Most Valuable Player: Randy Horton, New York
* Coach of the year: Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis
* Rookie of the year: Mike Winter, St. Louis
| Team | Average |
| St. Louis Stars | 7,773 |
| Toronto Metros | 7,173 |
| Rochester Lancers | 5,505 |
| Atlanta Chiefs | 5,034 |
| New York Cosmos | 4,282 |
| Dallas Tornado | 4,093 |
| Montreal Olympique | 2,308 |
| Miami Gatos | 2,112 |