# 1982 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1982. This was the 15th season of the NASL.

## Overview

The league comprised 14 teams. The New York Cosmos won the championship. The NASL no longer used the 35-yard line for offside, but retained its presence for use in tie-breaker shootouts.

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

* None

### Teams folding

* Atlanta Chiefs
* Calgary Boomers
* California Surf
* Dallas Tornado
* Los Angeles Aztecs
* Minnesota Kicks
* Washington Diplomats
Atlanta, Calgary, California, Dallas and Washington folded in September 1981, while Los Angeles and Minnesota were dissolved in November–December 1981.

### Teams moving

* None

### Name changes

* None

## Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system
6 points for a win in regulation and overtime, 4 point for a penalty shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 bonus point for each regulation goal scored, up to three per game.
    Premiers (most points). Other playoff teams.
| Eastern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
| New York Cosmos | 23 | 9 | 73 | 52 | 203 |
| Montreal Manic | 19 | 13 | 60 | 43 | 159 |
| Toronto Blizzard | 17 | 15 | 64 | 47 | 151 |
| Chicago Sting | 13 | 19 | 56 | 67 | 129 |
| Southern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 18 | 14 | 64 | 74 | 163 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 16 | 16 | 69 | 57 | 151 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 | 20 | 47 | 77 | 112 |
| Jacksonville Tea Men | 11 | 21 | 41 | 71 | 105 |
| Western Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
| Seattle Sounders | 18 | 14 | 72 | 48 | 166 |
| San Diego Sockers | 19 | 13 | 71 | 54 | 162 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 20 | 12 | 58 | 48 | 160 |
| Portland Timbers | 14 | 18 | 49 | 44 | 122 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 13 | 19 | 47 | 62 | 114 |
| Edmonton Drillers | 11 | 21 | 38 | 65 | 93 |

## NASL All-Stars

| First Team | Position | Second Team | Honorable Mention |
| Hubert Birkenmeier, New York | G | Jan van Beveren, Fort Lauderdale | Jan Möller, Toronto |
| Frantz Mathieu, Chicago | D | Barry Wallace, Tulsa | Bruce Wilson, Toronto |
| Cho Young-Jeung, Portland | D | Jeff Durgan, New York | Mike Connell, Tampa Bay |
| Peter Nogly, Tampa Bay | D | Carlos Alberto, New York | John Wile, Vancouver |
| Andranik Eskandarian, New York | D | Ray Evans, Seattle | Bob Lenarduzzi, Vancouver |
| Vladislav Bogićević, New York | M | Steve Daley, Seattle | Vince Hilaire, San Jose |
| Ace Ntsoelengoe, Toronto | M | Johan Neeskens, New York | Ray Hudson, Fort Lauderdale |
| Arno Steffenhagen, Chicago | M | Teófilo Cubillas, Ft. Lauderdale | Juli Veee, San Diego |
| Giorgio Chinaglia, New York | F | Steve Hunt, New York | Branko Šegota, Fort Lauderdale |
| Peter Ward, Seattle | F | Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago | David Byrne, Toronto |
| Ricardo Alonso, Jacksonville | F | Pato Margetic, Chicago | Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa • Godfrey Ingram, San Jose • Carl Valentine, Vancouver |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Semifinals (Best-of-3) | Soccer Bowl '82 (Single match) | Soccer Bowl '82 (Single match) | Soccer Bowl '82 (Single match) |
| 1 | New York Cosmos | 5 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 0 | 1 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | New York Cosmos | 2 | 2 | – | | | |
| | | | | | 4 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | 1 | – | | | |
| 4 | San Diego Sockers | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | San Diego Sockers | 1 | 1 | – | | | |
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | 1 | New York Cosmos | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Seattle Sounders | 0 |
| 3 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2 | 1 | 4 | | | | | | | | | 2 | Seattle Sounders | 0 |
| 6 | Montreal Manic | 3 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Montreal Manic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 0 | 4 | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | 2 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | 3 | 1 | | | |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | Seattle Sounders | 2 | 3 | 1 | | | |
| 7 | Toronto Blizzard | 2 | 2 | 2 | | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Attendance$^†$ |
| New York Cosmos | Tulsa Roughnecks | 5–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | August 25 • Giants Stadium • 23,917 August 28 • Skelly Stadium • 15,817 September 1 • Giants Stadium • 24,209 |
| Seattle Sounders | Toronto Blizzard | 4–2 | 1–2 (OT) | 4–2 | August 25 • Kingdome • 13,005 August 27 • Exhibition Stadium • 5,099 September 1 • Kingdome • 17,332 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | Montreal Manic | *2–3 (OT) | 1–0 (OT) | 4–1 | *August 25 • Olympic Stadium • 15,232 August 29 • Lockhart Stadium • 10,696 September 1 • Lockhart Stadium • 11,897 |
| San Diego Sockers | Vancouver Whitecaps | 5–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | August 25 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 7,267 August 29 • Empire Stadium • 18,253 September 2 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 8,857 |
† Higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3
* Montreal Manic hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2) due to stadium conflicts with the Expos baseball club.

### Semifinals

| Higher seed | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Attendance$^†$ |
| New York Cosmos | San Diego Sockers | 2–1 | 2–1 (OT) | × | September 5 • Giants Stadium • 34,653 September 8 • Jack Murphy Stadium • 13,074 |
| Seattle Sounders | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 2–0 | 3–4 (OT) | 1–0 (OT) | September 4 • Kingdome • 17,338 September 8 • Lockhart Stadium • 15,196 September 10 • Kingdome • 28,986 |
† Higher seed hosts Games 1 and 3

### Soccer Bowl '82

1982 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

## Post season awards

* Most Valuable Player: Peter Ward, Seattle
* Coach of the year: Johnny Giles, Vancouver
* Rookie of the year: Pedro DeBrito, Tampa Bay
* North American Player of the Year: Mark Peterson, Seattle
* Soccer Bowl MVP: Giorgio Chinaglia, New York