# 1978 North American Soccer League season

The 1978 North American Soccer League season was the 66th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 11th with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada.

## Changes from the previous season
### New teams

* Colorado Caribous
* Detroit Express
* Houston Hurricane
* Memphis Rogues
* New England Tea Men
* Philadelphia Fury

### Teams folding

* None

### Teams moving

* Connecticut Bicentennials to Oakland Stompers
* Las Vegas Quicksilver to San Diego Sockers
* St. Louis Stars to California Surf
* Team Hawaii to Tulsa Roughnecks

### Name changes

* None

## Season recap

Bolstered by the success of the previous season, the league added six teams to reach 24 in total. The Colorado Caribous launched in Denver, the Detroit Express and Houston Hurricane became the second and third teams to play in fully enclosed indoor stadiums, the Philadelphia Fury brought soccer back to Philadelphia, the New England Tea Men would be the third attempt to have NASL soccer succeed in the Boston area and the Memphis Rogues would bring pro soccer to Tennessee.
There were also the usual franchise movements. Team Hawaii became the Tulsa Roughnecks, the Las Vegas Quicksilver became the San Diego Sockers, the Connecticut Bicentennials became the Oakland Stompers and the St. Louis Stars moved to Anaheim to become the California Surf.
With so many new clubs, the NASL realigned into a six-division format while expanding the playoffs to include 16 teams. The new alignment was a direct copy of the NFL's setup, as the new three-division conferences were called the 'American Soccer Conference' and the 'National Soccer Conference', respectively. Each conference had East, Central and West divisions as well.
The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards' – another nod to the NFL. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.
The Cosmos would set records for most wins and points in an NASL season, thanks to their 24-6 regular-season mark (shared with the Vancouver Whitecaps) and 212 points. The Cosmos beat the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, 7–0, on opening day and never looked back, scoring 88 times while losing just three games in regulation. Giorgio Chinaglia scored 34 goals and 79 points, setting league records in the process. He did not win regular season MVP honors, however. That award went to New England's Mike Flanagan, who scored 30 goals and 68 points while leading the Tea Men to an unlikely ASC East title. At the age of 36, Alan Hinton of Vancouver set a league record of his own with 30 assists.
Still, the Cosmos needed a major rally to beat the Minnesota Kicks in the NSC playoffs. The Kicks won the first game by an extraordinary 9–2 score behind Alan Willey's five goals, but the Cosmos won Game 2, 4–0, back at Giants Stadium. The resulting mini-game went to a shootout, and Carlos Alberto and Franz Beckenbauer scored goals to keep the Cosmos alive. The Portland Timbers were shut out over both games of the National Conference final, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies were beaten before 74,901 fans at Giants Stadium in the Soccer Bowl. The Cosmos became the first back-to-back champions in NASL history.
After the season the Colorado Caribous would move to Atlanta, while the Oakland Stompers would move to Edmonton just two months before the start of the 1979 NASL season. The Stompers had drawn over 32,000 for their opening game at the Oakland Coliseum, but were drawing crowds under 10,000 by the end of the season. The Caribous had the worst record in the league and only drew one crowd bigger than 10,000 the entire year.

## Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Point System
6 points for a win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.
    -Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.

## NASL League Leaders
### Scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Giorgio Chinaglia | Cosmos | 30 | 34 | 11 | 79 |
| Mike Flanagan | New England Tea Men | 28 | 30 | 8 | 68 |
| Trevor Francis | Detroit Express | 20 | 22 | 10 | 54 |
| Kevin Hector | Vancouver Whitecaps | 28 | 21 | 10 | 52 |
| Rodney Marsh | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 26 | 18 | 16 | 52 |
| Jeff Bourne | Dallas Tornado | 30 | 21 | 8 | 50 |
| Karl-Heinz Granitza | Chicago Sting | 22 | 19 | 9 | 47 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota Kicks | 30 | 21 | 3 | 45 |
| Ivan Lukačević | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 17 | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| David Irving | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 28 | 16 | 5 | 37 |
| Bob Lenarduzzi | Vancouver Whitecaps | 29 | 10 | 17 | 37 |
| Vladislav Bogićević | Cosmos | 30 | 10 | 17 | 37 |

### Goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
| Phil Parkes | Vancouver Whitecaps | 29 | 2650 | 28 | 0.95 | 23 | 6 | 10 |
| Erol Yasin | Cosmos | 22 | 1916 | 24 | 1.13 | 17 | 5 | 6 |
| Mick Poole | Portland Timbers | 30 | 2783 | 36 | 1.16 | 20 | 10 | 9 |
| Steve Hardwick | Detroit Express | 30 | 2734 | 36 | 1.19 | 20 | 10 | 9 |
| Kevin Keelan | New England Tea Men | 29 | 2609 | 36 | 1.24 | 18 | 11 | 7 |
| Winston DuBose | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 15 | 1352 | 19 | 1.27 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| Željko Bilecki | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 17 | 1550 | 23 | 1.34 | 10 | 7 | 6 |
| Dave Jokerst | California Surf | 17 | 1574 | 24 | 1.37 | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| Colin Boulton | Tulsa Roughnecks | 28 | 2531 | 39 | 1.39 | 17 | 11 | 10 |
| Tony Chursky | Seattle Sounders | 28 | 2617 | 41 | 1.41 | 14 | 14 | 9 |

## NASL All-Stars

| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| Kevin Keelan, New England | G | Alan Mayer, San Diego | Bill Irwin, Washington |
| Carlos Alberto, Cosmos | D | Bruce Wilson, Chicago | Maurice Whittle, Fort Lauderdale |
| Mike England, Seattle | D | Arsene Auguste, Tampa Bay | Werner Roth, Cosmos |
| Ray Evans, California | D | John Craven, Vancouver | Jim Steele, Washington |
| Chris Turner, New England | D | Alan Merrick, Minnesota | Dave D'Errico, New England |
| Franz Beckenbauer, Cosmos | M | Vladislav Bogićević, Cosmos | Ace Ntsoelengoe, Minnesota |
| Gerry Daly, New England | M | Alan Ball, Philadelphia | George Best, Fort Lauderdale |
| Rodney Marsh, Tampa Bay | M | Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale | József Horváth, Rochester |
| Mike Flanagan, New England | F | Steve Hunt, Cosmos | Dennis Tueart, Cosmos |
| Trevor Francis, Detroit | F | Steve Wegerle, Tampa Bay | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago |
| Giorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos | F | Kevin Hector, Vancouver | Clyde Best, Portland • Jorgen Kristensen, Chicago |

## Playoffs

The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single game match ups, while the conference semifinals and championships were all two-game series.

### Bracket

| Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | Conference Quarterfinals | | | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Semifinals | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | Conference Championships | | Soccer Bowl '78 | Soccer Bowl '78 | Soccer Bowl '78 |
| A1 | Detroit Express | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A8 | Philadelphia Fury | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A8 | Philadelphia Fury | 0 | | | A1 | Detroit Express | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A2 | New England Tea Men | 1 | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | | | | | | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1 | | | | |
| American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A7 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 1 | | | | |
| American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | American Conference | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| A3 | San Diego Sockers | 2 | | | | | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| A6 | California Surf | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A6 | California Surf | 1 | | | A3 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3 | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A5 | Chicago Sting | 1 | | | | | | | | | | A4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 3 |
| N1 | Cosmos | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 3 |
| N8 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N8 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | | | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 1 | | | | | | | |
| N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | | | N3 | Minnesota Kicks | 1 | | | | | | | |
| N6 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N6 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 1 | | | | | | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | |
| National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N1 | Cosmos | 2 | | | | |
| National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | National Conference | N4 | Portland Timbers | 0 | | | | |
| N2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 4 | | | | | | | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 0 | | | | |
| N7 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| N7 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 0 | | | N2 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | N4 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | |
| N5 | Washington Diplomats | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Conference Quarterfinals

| August 8 | Detroit Express | 1–0 | Philadelphia Fury | Pontiac Silverdome • 22,456 |
| August 9 | New England Tea Men | 1–3 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Schaefer Stadium • 18,672 |
| August 8 | San Diego Sockers | 2–1 | California Surf | San Diego Stadium • 6,238 |
| August 8 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–1 | Chicago Sting | Tampa Stadium • 26,596 |
| August 9 | Cosmos | 5–2 | Seattle Sounders | Giants Stadium • 47,780 |
| August 10 | Minnesota Kicks | 3–1 | Tulsa Roughnecks | Metropolitan Stadium • 36,478 |
| August 9 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 4–0 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | Empire Stadium • 30,811 |
| August 9 | Portland Timbers | 2–1 (OT) | Washington Diplomats | Civic Stadium • 14,230 |

### Conference semifinals

In 1978, if a playoff series was tied after two games, a 30 minute, golden goal, mini-game was played. If neither team scored in the mini-game, they would move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner. *Teams were re-seeded for the Conference Semifinals based on regular season point totals. This affected only one of the four series; Tampa Bay versus San Diego.
| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | (lower seed hosts Game 1) |
| Detroit Express | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3–4 (SO, 2–3) | 1–0 | 0–1 | August 13 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,517 August 16 • Pontiac Silverdome • 32,219 |
| *Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | San Diego Sockers | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | August 14 • San Diego Stadium • 8,014 August 17 • Tampa Stadium • 32,495 |
| Cosmos | - | Minnesota Kicks | 2–9 | 4–0 | 1– 0 (SO, 2–1) | August 14 • Metropolitan Stadium • 45,863 August 16 • Giants Stadium • 60,199 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | - | Portland Timbers | 0–1 | 1–2 | x | August 12 • Civic Stadium • 16,437 August 16 • Empire Stadium • 32,266 |

### Conference Championships

| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | (lower seed hosts Game 1) |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | - | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 (SO, 2–1) | August 20 • Lockhart Stadium • 16,286 August 23 • Tampa Stadium • 37,249 |
| Cosmos | - | Portland Timbers | 1–0 | 4–0 | x | August 18 • Civic Stadium • 24,515 August 23 • Giants Stadium • 65,287 |

### Soccer Bowl '78

1978 NASL Champions: Cosmos

## Playoff Statistics

Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.

### Scoring

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Dennis Tueart | Cosmos | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Giorgio Chinaglia | Cosmos | 6 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| David Irving | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| Rodney Marsh | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 |

### Goalkeeping

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO |
| Phil Parkes | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 270 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Alan Mayer | San Diego Sockers | 3 | 225 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Steve Hardwick | Detroit Express | 3 | 306 | 4 | 1.33 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Mick Poole | Portland Timbers | 5 | 457 | 8 | 1.60 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Winston DuBose | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 | 574 | 10 | 1.67 | 3 | 3 | 1 |

## Post season awards

* Most Valuable Player: Mike Flanagan, New England
* Coach of the Year: Tony Waiters, Vancouver
* Rookie of the Year: Gary Etherington, Cosmos
* North American Player of the Year: Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver

## Team attendance totals

| Team | Games | Total | Average |
| Cosmos | 15 | 717,842 | 47,856 |
| Minnesota Kicks | 15 | 462,904 | 30,860 |
| Seattle Sounders | 15 | 338,677 | 22,578 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 15 | 271,856 | 18,124 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 15 | 235,866 | 15,724 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 15 | 214,777 | 14,318 |
| Detroit Express | 15 | 182,906 | 12,194 |
| New England Tea Men | 15 | 180,954 | 12,064 |
| Oakland Stompers | 15 | 178,941 | 11,929 |
| Portland Timbers | 15 | 177,049 | 11,803 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 15 | 168,834 | 11,256 |
| California Surf | 15 | 167,569 | 11,171 |
| Washington Diplomats | 15 | 161,741 | 10,783 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 15 | 157,188 | 10,479 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 15 | 139,514 | 9,301 |
| Memphis Rogues | 15 | 135,482 | 9,032 |
| Dallas Tornado | 15 | 128,149 | 8,543 |
| Philadelphia Fury | 15 | 121,127 | 8,075 |
| Houston Hurricane | 15 | 116,247 | 7,750 |
| Colorado Caribous | 15 | 111,266 | 7,418 |
| Rochester Lancers | 15 | 101,402 | 6,760 |
| Toronto Metros-Croatia | 15 | 93,501 | 6,233 |
| San Diego Sockers | 15 | 77,185 | 5,146 |
| Chicago Sting | 15 | 69,267 | 4,618 |
| Overall | 360 | 4,710,244 | 13,084 |