# 1979–80 NASL indoor season

The 1979–80 season was the North American Soccer League's first ever full indoor soccer season with playoffs. It began in November 1979, and the championship occurred in March 1980.

## Overview

Only 10 of the 24 NASL member-teams chose to field a squad for the 12 game regular season and 6 team, 3 round playoffs. The league decided to make several rule modifications from the NASL indoor tournaments and indoor friendlies of previous years. The most obvious change was the goal. No longer 4 by 16 feet (h x w), the goals now measured a more proportionate 6.5 by 12, with a board or plexiglass panel above the cross bar instead of netting. Rather than being divided into three 20-minute periods (like hockey) as was done previously, or the more recent three 15-minute periods, the game now featured four 15-minute quarters with an extended halftime (similar to American football) and short breaks and the end of the first and third quarters. These modifications were consistent with the rules of the competing Major Indoor Soccer League, which had begun operation in December 1978. Other changes included an extra referee at the bench to keep track of time penalties. Like most American sports, the clock would count down to 00:00 rather than up to "full time" as was done in association football. As before, (like ice hockey) there would be free substitutions, but players now had to touch the wall by their bench before a substitute player could come onto the playing floor. The floor dimensions remained, more or less 200 by 85 feet. Golden goal/sudden death overtime was used to settle games tied at the end of regulation. In the playoffs, 15-minute mini-games were used to decide series that were tied at one victory apiece. Indeed, two playoff series, including the Championship Final between Tampa Bay and Memphis, would need to be settled by means of a mini-game.

## Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, % = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Avg Att = Average Home Attendance
| Eastern Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA | Avg Att |
| Atlanta Chiefs | 10 | 2 | – | .833 | 70 | 46 | 5,069 |
| Tampa Bay Rowdies | 8 | 4 | 2 | .667 | 75 | 64 | 5,910 |
| Detroit Express | 7 | 5 | 3 | .583 | 70 | 69 | 3,937 |
| Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | 9 | 7 | .250 | 58 | 65 | 1,724 |
| New England Tea Men | 2 | 10 | 8 | .167 | 52 | 81 | 3,249 |
| Western Division | W | L | GB | % | GF | GA | Avg Att |
| Memphis Rogues | 9 | 3 | – | .750 | 65 | 44 | 8,249 |
| Minnesota Kicks | 8 | 4 | 1 | .667 | 75 | 52 | 9,562 |
| Tulsa Roughnecks | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 63 | 64 | 4,657 |
| California Surf | 4 | 8 | 5 | .333 | 71 | 83 | 3,181 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 2 | 10 | 8 | .167 | 56 | 87 | 2,768 |

## Regular season statistics
### Scoring leaders

GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| David Byrne | Atlanta | 12 | 23 | 11 | 57 |
| Keith Furphy | Detroit | 12 | 21 | 13 | 55 |
| Laurie Abrahams | California | 12 | 18 | 17 | 53 |
| Peter Baralić | Tampa Bay | 12 | 21 | 10 | 52 |
| Iraj Danaifard | Tulsa | 12 | 19 | 10 | 48 |
| Chris Dangerfield | Los Angeles | 12 | 15 | 9 | 39 |
| Mark Lindsay | California | 12 | 13 | 12 | 38 |
| Wes McLeod | Tampa Bay | 12 | 13 | 12 | 38 |
| Steve Earle | Tulsa | 12 | 10 | 18 | 38 |
| Alan Willey | Minnesota | 12 | 15 | 6 | 36 |

### Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins
| Player | Team | Min | Svs | GA | GAA | W |
| John Houska | Memphis | 721 | 172 | 43 | 3.58 | 9 |
| Victor Nogueira | Atlanta | 637 | 164 | 39 | 3.67 | 10 |
| Tino Lettieri | Minnesota | 658 | 165 | 41 | 3.74 | 8 |
| Nick Owcharuk | Tulsa | 441 | 134 | 33 | 4.49 | 7 |
| Željko Bilecki | Tampa Bay | 684 | 173 | 54 | 4.74 | 8 |

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| First round Single game | First round Single game | First round Single game | First round Single game | First round Single game | Division finals Best-of-3 | Division finals Best-of-3 | Division finals Best-of-3 | Division finals Best-of-3 | Division finals Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 | Championship series Best-of-3 |
| | | | | | E1 | Atlanta Chiefs | 3 | 5 | – | | | | | |
| E2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12 | x | x | E2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 7 | 6(OT) | – | | | | | |
| E3 | Detroit Express | 1 | x | x | | | | | | E2 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | W1 | Memphis Rogues | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| | | | | | W1 | Memphis Rogues | 3 | 4(OT) | 1 | | | | | |
| W2 | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | x | x | W2 | Minnesota Kicks | 6 | 3 | 0 | | | | | |
| W3 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 2 | x | x | | | | | | | | | | |

### 1st round

| February 19 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 12–1 | Detroit Express | Bayfront Center • 4,880 |
| February 20 | Minnesota Kicks | 3–2 | Tulsa Roughnecks | Met Center • 3,170 |

### Division finals

If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played.
| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | Attendance |
| Atlanta Chiefs | – | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 3–7 | 5–6 (OT) | x | February 23 • Bayfront Center • 5,545 February 25 • The Omni • 6,141 |
| Memphis Rogues | – | Minnesota Kicks | 3–6 | 4–3 (OT) | 1–0 | February 23 • Met Center • 3,701 February 26 • Mid-South Coliseum • 7,130 |

### Championship finals

| Higher seed | | Lower seed | Game 1 | Game 2 | Mini-game | Attendance |
| Memphis Rogues | – | Tampa Bay Rowdies | *5–4 | 4–10 | 0–1 | *February 29 • Mid-South Coliseum • 9,081 March 2 • Bayfront Center • 5,545 |
*Memphis Rogues hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2 and Mini-game) due to scheduling conflicts at the Mid-South Coliseum.

#### Championship match reports

1979–80 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies