# 2016 North American Soccer League season

The 2016 North American Soccer League season is the 49th season of Division II soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 6th season of the modern North American Soccer League.
Three expansion clubs joined the league, with Miami FC and Rayo OKC joining in the Spring season and Puerto Rico FC beginning competition in the Fall season. In December, 2015, the San Antonio Scorpions' home stadium, Toyota Field, was bought by the city of San Antonio for use by Spurs Sports & Entertainment to host a club in the USL, forcing the Scorpions to cease operations. In January, 2016, the NASL suspended its operation of the Atlanta Silverbacks for the 2016 season and possibly beyond. As a result, the Spring season was contested by 11 clubs and the Fall season by 12. The New York Cosmos are defending Soccer Bowl champions. A split season format was used for the 2016 season.

## Teams, stadiums, and personnel
### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit producer | Shirt sponsor |
| Carolina RailHawks | Colin Clarke | Nazmi Albadawi | Adidas | Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC |
| FC Edmonton | Colin Miller | Albert Watson | Adidas | The Fath Group |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Caio Zanardi | Jean Alexandre | Inaria | Guaraviton |
| Indy Eleven | Tim Hankinson | Colin Falvey | Diadora | Honda |
| Jacksonville Armada FC | Mark Lowry | Matt Bahner | Nike | Winn-Dixie |
| Miami FC | Alessandro Nesta | Jonathan Borrajo | Macron | |
| Minnesota United FC | Carl Craig | Aaron Pitchkolan | Inaria | Atomic Data / Mall of America |
| New York Cosmos | Giovanni Savarese | Carlos Mendes | Under Armour | Emirates |
| Ottawa Fury FC | Paul Dalglish | Julian de Guzman | Adidas | Chartwells |
| Puerto Rico FC | Adrian Whitbread | Cristiano | Nike | Claro |
| Rayo OKC | Gerard Nus | Michel | Kelme | |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | Stuart Campbell | Tamika Mkandawire | Nike | Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Puerto Rico | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Adrian Whitbread | August 24, 2015 |
| Miami | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Alessandro Nesta | August 31, 2015 |
| Ottawa Fury | Marc Dos Santos | End of contract | November 20, 2015 | Pre-season | Paul Dalglish | November 20, 2015 |
| Jacksonville Armada | Eric Dade (int.) | End of interim period | November 24, 2015 | Pre-season | Tony Meola | November 24, 2015 |
| Indy Eleven | Tim Regan (int.) | End of interim period | December 2, 2015 | Pre-season | Tim Hankinson | December 2, 2015 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Günter Kronsteiner | End of contract | November 16, 2015 | Pre-season | Caio Zanardi | December 2, 2015 |
| Minnesota United | Manny Lagos | Promotion to general manager | December 3, 2015 | Pre-season | Carl Craig | December 3, 2015 |
| San Antonio Scorpions | Alen Marcina | Fired | November 1, 2015 | Pre-season | Club defunct | Club defunct |
| Rayo OKC | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Expansion team | Alen Marcina | January 7, 2016 |
| Atlanta Silverbacks | Gary Smith | Released | January 11, 2016 | Pre-season | Club on hiatus | Club on hiatus |
| Rayo OKC | Alen Marcina | Mutual termination | August 1, 2016 | 5th | Gerard Nus | August 1, 2016 |
| Jacksonville Armada | Tony Meola | Fired | August 7, 2016 | 11th | Mark Lowry (int.) | August 7, 2016 |

## Spring season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Indy Eleven (S) | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 18 | Playoffs |
| 2 | New York Cosmos | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 18 | |
| 3 | FC Edmonton | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 17 | |
| 4 | Minnesota United | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 16 | |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 16 | |
| 6 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 15 | |
| 7 | Carolina RailHawks | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 14 | |
| 8 | Rayo OKC | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 12 | |
| 9 | Ottawa Fury | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 9 | |
| 10 | Jacksonville Armada | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 7 | |
| 11 | Miami FC | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 7 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CAR | FCE | FTL | IND | JAX | MIA | MNU | NYC | OTT | OKC | TBR |
| Carolina RailHawks | — | | 1–3 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | | |
| Edmonton | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | | | | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | | | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | | | 0–1 |
| Indy Eleven | 4–1 | 1–1 | | — | | | 4–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | |
| Jacksonville Armada | | 0–1 | | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | | | | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Miami | | 1–0 | | 0–0 | | — | | 0–3 | | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Minnesota United | | | 3–0 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | | | 0–2 |
| New York Cosmos | 1–0 | | | | 2–0 | | | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Ottawa Fury | | | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | | — | 1–1 | |
| Rayo | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | | | 1–0 | | | — | |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | | | | | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |

## Fall season
### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New York Cosmos (F) | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 44 | 21 | +23 | 47 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Indy Eleven | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 36 | 25 | +11 | 37 | |
| 3 | FC Edmonton | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 36 | |
| 4 | Rayo OKC | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 28 | 21 | +7 | 35 | |
| 5 | Miami FC | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 31 | 27 | +4 | 33 | |
| 6 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 26 | |
| 7 | Carolina RailHawks | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 26 | |
| 8 | Minnesota United | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 25 | |
| 9 | Puerto Rico | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 31 | −12 | 24 | |
| 10 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 23 | |
| 11 | Jacksonville Armada | 22 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 23 | |
| 12 | Ottawa Fury | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 23 | 26 | −3 | 22 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | CAR | FCE | FTL | IND | JAX | MIA | MNU | NYC | OTT | PRF | OKC | TBR |
| Carolina RailHawks | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 |
| Edmonton | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 |
| Indy Eleven | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | — | 5–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Jacksonville Armada | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Miami | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Minnesota United | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–4 | — | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| New York Cosmos | 6–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Ottawa Fury | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Puerto Rico | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Rayo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | — |

## Playoffs
### Combined standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | New York Cosmos (C, X) | 32 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 59 | 29 | +30 | 65 | Championship qualifiers |
| 2 | Indy Eleven | 32 | 15 | 10 | 7 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 55 | Championship qualifiers |
| 3 | FC Edmonton | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 21 | +4 | 53 | Championship qualifiers |
| 4 | Rayo OKC | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 39 | 33 | +6 | 47 | Championship qualifiers |
| 5 | Minnesota United | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 41 | |
| 6 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 40 | −9 | 41 | |
| 7 | Miami FC | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 40 | |
| 8 | Carolina RailHawks | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 36 | 48 | −12 | 40 | |
| 9 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 41 | −1 | 39 | |
| 10 | Ottawa Fury | 32 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 31 | |
| 11 | Jacksonville Armada | 32 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 30 | 46 | −16 | 30 | |
| 12 | Puerto Rico FC | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 19 | 31 | −12 | 24 | |

### The Championship
#### Participants

* (1) New York Cosmos (Fall season champion)
* (2) Indy Eleven (Spring season champion)
* (3) FC Edmonton
* (4) Rayo OKC

#### Soccer Bowl 2016
## Attendance

| Club | GP | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| Minnesota United | 16 | 137,161 | 9,460 | 6,101 | 8,573 | -2.2% |
| Indy Eleven | 16 | 134,339 | 9,356 | 6,132 | 8,396 | -14.4% |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 16 | 94,048 | 7,690 | 4,429 | 5,878 | 4.1% |
| Ottawa Fury | 16 | 87,717 | 7,847 | 4,317 | 5,482 | 6.2% |
| Miami | 16 | 86,833 | 10,156 | 1,229 | 5,427 | N/A |
| Carolina RailHawks | 16 | 80,923 | 8,086 | 3,093 | 5,058 | 11.4% |
| Puerto Rico | 11 | 41,811 | 6,474 | 1,233 | 3,801 | N/A |
| New York Cosmos | 16 | 60,403 | 6,243 | 2,419 | 3,775 | -25.4% |
| Jacksonville Armada | 16 | 55,988 | 5,313 | 1,254 | 3,499 | -55.9% |
| Rayo OKC | 16 | 51,865 | 6,416 | 924 | 3,242 | N/A |
| FC Edmonton | 16 | 32,959 | 3,130 | 1,243 | 2,060 | -28.7% |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 16 | 21,290 | 2,376 | 418 | 1,331 | -70.2% |
| Total | 187 | 885,337 | 10,156 | 418 | 4,734 | -19.9% |
Source: NASL

### Highest attendances

Regular season
| Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Week | Venue |
| 1 | Miami | 1 – 1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10,156 | April 9, 2016 (2016-04-09) | 2 | FIU Stadium |
| 2 | Miami | 1 – 1 | Minnesota United | 10,012 | September 24, 2016 (2016-09-24) | 24 | FIU Stadium |
| 3 | Miami | 1 – 1 | Minnesota United | 9,739 | August 27, 2016 (2016-08-27) | 20 | FIU Stadium |
| 4 | Minnesota United | 2 – 0 | Indy Eleven | 9,460 | July 16, 2016 (2016-07-16) | 14 | National Sports Center |
| 5 | Minnesota United | 0 – 1 | Jacksonville Armada | 9,402 | October 1, 2016 (2016-10-01) | 25 | National Sports Center |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | NASL Player of the Month | NASL Player of the Month | NASL Player of the Month | NASL Player of the Month |
| Month | Player | Club | Stats | Ref |
| April | Austin da Luz | Carolina RailHawks | 3G | |
| May | Papé Diakité | FC Edmonton | 2G | |
| June | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven | 3G | |
| July | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United | 7G, 1A | |
| August | Matt Van Oekel | FC Edmonton | 22SV, 0GA | |
| September | Darío Cvitanich | Miami | 3G | |

### Weekly awards

| Week | NASL Player of the Week | NASL Player of the Week | NASL Play of the Week | NASL Play of the Week |
| Week | Player | Club | Player | Club |
| Week 1 | Juan Arango | New York Cosmos | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United |
| Week 2 | Austin da Luz | Carolina RailHawks | Ben Speas | Minnesota United |
| Week 3 | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven |
| Week 4 | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United |
| Week 5 | Yohandry Orozco | New York Cosmos | Jair Reinoso | Indy Eleven |
| Week 6 | Nana Attakora | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Jake Keegan | FC Edmonton |
| Week 7 | Papé Diakité | FC Edmonton | Kevin Venegas | Minnesota United |
| Week 8 | Ramón Núñez | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Ruben Bover | New York Cosmos |
| Week 9 | Joe Cole | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Matt Bahner | Jacksonville Armada |
| Week 10 | Georgi Hristov | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tyler Gibson | Rayo OKC |
| Week 11 | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven |
| Week 12 | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United | Héctor Ramos | Puerto Rico |
| Week 13 | Nazmi Albadawi | Carolina RailHawks | Dylan Mares | Indy Eleven |
| Week 14 | Michel | Rayo OKC | Joe Cole | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Week 15 | Jaime Chavez | Miami | J. C. Banks | Minnesota United |
| Week 16 | Lucky Mkosana | New York Cosmos | Ariel Martínez | Miami |
| Week 17 | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven | Keith Savage | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Week 18 | Alhassane Keita | Jacksonville Armada | Héctor Ramos | Puerto Rico |
| Week 19 | Matt Van Oekel | FC Edmonton | Amauri | Fort Lauderdale Strikers |
| Week 20 | Andrés Flores | New York Cosmos | Brad Ring | Indy Eleven |
| Week 21 | Daryl Fordyce | FC Edmonton | Bruno Cardoso | Fort Lauderdale Strikers |
| Week 22 | Darío Cvitanich | Miami | Romuald Peiser | Ottawa Fury |
| Week 23 | Matt Van Oekel | FC Edmonton | Joseph Marrero | Puerto Rico |
| Week 24 | Georgi Hristov | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Trevor Spangenberg | Puerto Rico |
| Week 25 | Ruben Bover | New York Cosmos | Sidney Rivera | Puerto Rico |
| Week 26 | Ben Fisk | FC Edmonton | J. C. Banks | Minnesota United |
| Week 27 | Michel | Rayo OKC | Jaime Chavez | Miami |
| Week 28 | Juan Arango | New York Cosmos | Duke Lacroix | Indy Eleven |

### League awards

* Golden Ball (MVP): Juan Arango (New York Cosmos)
* Golden Boot: Christian Ramirez (Minnesota United)
* Golden Glove: Matt Van Oekel (FC Edmonton)
* Coach of the Year: Tim Hankinson (Indy Eleven)
* Goal of the Year: Duke Lacroix (Indy Eleven)
* Young (U24) Player of the Year: Papé Diakité (FC Edmonton)
* Humanitarian of the Year: Michael Lahoud (Miami FC)
* Fair Play Award: Carolina RailHawks
NASL Best XI :
| Position | Player | Team |
| Goalkeeper | Matt Van Oekel | FC Edmonton |
| Defense | Ayoze | New York Cosmos |
| Defense | Justin Davis | Minnesota United |
| Defense | Albert Watson | FC Edmonton |
| Defense | Carlos Mendes | New York Cosmos |
| Midfield | Nazmi Albadawi | Carolina RailHawks |
| Midfield | Juan Arango | New York Cosmos |
| Midfield | Joe Cole | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Midfield | Michel | Rayo OKC |
| Forward | Christian Ramirez | Minnesota United |
| Forward | Éamon Zayed | Indy Eleven |