Neha Patil (Editor)

1980 North American Soccer League season

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Average attendance
  
14,440

Champion
  
New York Cosmos

Matches played
  
384

Start date
  
1980

Goals scored
  
1,371

Champions
  
New York Cosmos (4th title)

Premiers
  
New York Cosmos (4th title) most total points *Seattle Sounders best Won/Loss record

Top goalscorer
  
Giorgio Chinaglia (32 goals)

Highest attendance
  
70,312 (Ft. Lauderdale @ NY)

Lowest attendance
  
254 (Memphis at New England)

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1981 North American Soccer League season

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1980. This was the 13th season of the NASL.

Contents

Overview

The league comprised 24 teams. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (Seattle) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.

Changes from the Previous Season

The 1980 Season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season.

New Teams

None

Teams Folding

None

Teams Moving

None

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= 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).     -Best record.     -Other playoff teams.

Playoffs

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The two highest remaining point totaled teams in each conference also qualified for the playoffs as wild cards and were given the lowest first round seeds. Playoff match-ups and home/away status were reset after each round, based on regular season point totals.

In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one victory each, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If neither team held an advantage after the 30 minutes, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner.

Soccer Bowl '80

1980 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

Post season awards

  • Most Valuable Player: Roger Davies, Seattle
  • Coach of the year: Alan Hinton, Seattle
  • Rookie of the year: Jeff Durgan, New York
  • North American Player of the Year: Jack Brand, Seattle
  • References

    1980 North American Soccer League season Wikipedia