# 1976 NASL Indoor tournament

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.), the North American Soccer League opted to stage a two-tiered indoor tournament for the second consecutive year. Of the league's 20 teams, 12 participated in three regions, which was down from 16 in four regions in the previous year's tournament. 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. 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.
Playing in their home arena, the Bayfront Center, 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
| 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
* East Regional MVP: Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay) – 3 goals, 1 assist
* All-Regional Team: Stojan Trickovic (Washington), John Kerr (Washington), Rodney Marsh (Tampa Bay), Arsène Auguste (Tampa Bay), Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay), Shep Messing (Boston)

### Midwest Regional

played at International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois
| March 13 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 8–6 | St. Louis Stars | Attendance: 1,700 (est.) |
| March 13 | Rochester Lancers | 5–2 | Chicago Sting |
| March 14 | Rochester Lancers | 5–4 | St. Louis Stars | Attendance: 1,700 (est.) |
| 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
* Midwest Regional MVP: Mario Garcia (Rochester) – 5 goals
* All-Regional Team: Mario Garcia (Rochester), Bobby Ranogejec (Chicago), Pat McBride (St. Louis) Jim May (Rochester)

### West Regional

played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California
| March 19 | Dallas Tornado | 5–2 | San Diego Jaws | Attendance: 6,671 |
| March 19 | San Jose Earthquakes | 18–6 | Vancouver Whitecaps |
| March 21 | Dallas Tornado | 11–2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | Attendance: 5,438 |
| 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
* West Regional MVP: Juli Veee (San Jose) – 5 goals, 5 assists
* All-Regional Team: Juli Veee (San Jose), Paul Child (San Jose), Roy Turner (Dallas), David Chadwick (Dallas), Archie Roboostoff (San Diego), Mike Ivanow (San Jose)

## 1976 Indoor Final Four
### Bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship Final | Championship Final | Championship Final |
| M1 | Rochester Lancers | 6 | | | |
| W1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 4 | | | |
| W1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 4 | M1 | Rochester Lancers | 4 |
| | | | E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 |
| E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 | E1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 |
| W2 | Dallas Tornado | 2 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | W1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 5 |
| | | | W2 | Dallas Tornado | 2 |

### Semi-finals

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida
| 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

1975 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies

## Final Four awards

* Most Valuable Player: Clyde Best (Tampa Bay) – Games: 4; Goals: 7; Assists: 4 Total points: 18
* All-tournament Team: Clyde Best (Tampa Bay), Juli Veee (San Jose), Derek Smethurst (Tampa Bay), João Pedro (Rochester), Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay), Jim May (Rochester)

## Final team rankings

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential
| 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.