# 1976 San Jose Earthquakes season

The 1976 San Jose Earthquakes season was their third in the North American Soccer League, and they finished in first place in the Southern Division of the Pacific Conference. In the playoffs, they defeated the Dallas Tornado in the Conference Semifinals, 2-0 at Spartan Stadium. The Minnesota Kicks beat the Earthquakes, 3-1 in the Conference Championship played at Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota.

## Squad

The 1976 squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Mike Ivanow |
| 1 | GK | USA | Terry Weekes |
| 2 | DF | USA | Buzz Demling |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Laurie Calloway |
| 4 | DF | USA | Mark Demling |
| 5 | DF | YUG | Momcilo Gavric |
| 6 | FW | USA | Mani Hernandez |
| 7 | MF | POR | Antonio Simoes |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Johnny Moore |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Paul Child |
| 11 | FW | USA | Mark Liveric |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | MF | SCO | Davie Kemp |
| 14 | DF | ENG | John Rowlands |
| 15 | MF | YUG | Ilija Mitic |
| 17 | FW | YUG | George Sorgic |
| 18 | MF | HUN | Tibor Molnar |
| 19 | FW | TRI | Tony Douglas |
| 20 | MF | USA | Jim Zylker |
| 21 | DF | YUG | Miro Pavlovic |
| 22 | MF | USA | Juli Veee |
| 24 | GK | SCO | Mike Hewitt |

## Competitions
### NASL
#### Season

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers |
| April 17, 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | H | 2–1 | Child, Liveric |
| April 24, 1976 | Minnesota Kicks | H | 4–2 | Liveric, Sorgic, Mitic (2) |
| May 1, 1976 | San Diego Jaws | H | 0–1 | |
| May 2, 1976 | Dallas Tornado | A | 1–3 | Sorgic |
| May 8, 1976 | St. Louis Stars | A | 3–0 | Child, Liveric, Mitic |
| May 9, 1976 | Minnesota Kicks | A | 1–4 | Mitic |
| May 16, 1976 | Vancouver Whitecaps | H | 2–0 | Sorgic (2) |
| June 4, 1976 | Seattle Sounders | A | 2–1 | Mitic, Child |
| June 6, 1976 | San Antonio Thunder | H | 0–3 | |
| June 11, 1976 | Washington Diplomats | A | 1–2 | Mitic |
| June 13, 1976 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | A | 0–0* | |
| June 20, 1976 | Seattle Sounders | H | 2–1 | Child, Mitic |
| June 25, 1976 | Portland Timbers | A | 0–1 | |
| June 27, 1976 | Dallas Tornado | H | 4–0 | Child (2), Liveric (2) |
| July 3, 1976 | Portland Timbers | H | 3–0 | B. Demling, Child (2) |
| July 7, 1976 | Vancouver Whitecaps | A | 1–0 | Liveric |
| July 11, 1976 | St. Louis Stars | H | 6–1 | Child (2), Mitic (2), Liveric (2) |
| July 17, 1976 | Boston Minutemen | H | 6–1 | Child (2), Moore (2), Liveric (2) |
| July 23, 1976 | San Diego Jaws | A | 2–3 | Moore, Mitic |
| July 25, 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | A | 1–0 | Mitic |
| July 31, 1976 | Miami Toros | H | 3–0 | Mitic (2), Child |
| August 7, 1976 | New York Cosmos | H | 2–1 | Moore, Rowlands |
| August 11, 1976 | Chicago Sting | A | 1–1* | Mitic |
| August 13, 1976 | San Antonio Thunder | A | 0–2 | |

#### Playoffs

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorers |
| August 20, 1976 | Dallas Tornado | H | 2–0 | Mitic (2) |
| August 25, 1976 | Minnesota Kicks | A | 1–3 | Mitic |
* = Shootout Source:

#### Pacific Conference

| Southern Division | W | L | GF | GA | PT |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 14 | 10 | 47 | 30 | 123 |
| Dallas Tornado | 13 | 11 | 44 | 45 | 117 |
| Los Angeles Aztecs | 12 | 12 | 43 | 44 | 108 |
| San Antonio Thunder | 12 | 12 | 38 | 32 | 107 |
| San Diego Jaws | 9 | 15 | 29 | 47 | 82 |