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1968 North American Soccer League season

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The 1968 North American Soccer League season was the 56th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, and the 1st with a national first-division league with the inaugural season of the NASL.

North American Soccer League 1968 season
Season1968
ChampionsAtlanta Chiefs
PremiersSan Diego Toros
most total points
*Atlanta Chiefs
best Won/Loss record
Matches played271
Goals scored924 (3.41 per match)
Top goalscorerJanusz Kowalik
(30 goals)
Average attendance4,669
1969 →

The NASL was formed this year as a merger between the former top division soccer leagues, the United Soccer Association along with the National Professional Soccer League. In the inaugural year, the Atlanta Chiefs were the champions, by winning the NASL Final 3–0, in a two-game aggregate over the San Diego Toros. While the Chiefs were the champions for the season, the premiers for this season were the Toros, who obtained the highest point total.[1]

Overview

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17 teams competed in this inaugural season, and the Atlanta Chiefs won the championship. While San Diego won the premiership, Atlanta's winning percentage was higher because a match had been canceled.[1] This would mark the first of five times in the league's history that the best record did not equate to a premiership. The Oakland Clippers had an identical record to the Western Division Champion Toros and a higher goal-differential, but just as with Atlanta the Toros had more league points. Oakland had won every competition in the NPSL's 1967 season, but were denied a chance to defend their title in the merged league because of this unique points system.

  • 8 came from the NPSL: Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City (from Chicago), New York, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego ( from Los Angeles) and Toronto.
  • 9 came from the USA: Boston (nickname changed), Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Vancouver (nickname shortened) and Washington.
  • 2 teams from the NPSL folded (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).
  • 3 teams from the USA folded (New York, San Francisco and Toronto).
  • 2 teams, Houston (USA) and St. Louis (NPSL), had the same nickname the "Stars".

Map of clubs

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  Atlantic Division   Lakes Division   Gulf Division   Pacific Division

Regular season

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W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts= point system, Avg Att= Average Attendance[2]

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

 -Premiers (most points).  -Best record.  -Other playoff teams.

NASL All-Stars

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First Team[3][4]   Position   Second Team
Mirko Stojanović, Oakland G Vic Rouse, Atlanta
Mel Scott, Oakland D John Worbye, Washington
Momcilio Gavric, Oakland D John Cocking, Atlanta
David Davidovic, Oakland M Dennis Viollet, Baltimore
Ron Crisp, San Diego M Milan Čop, Oakland
Ruben Navarro, Cleveland M Tony Knapp, Los Angeles
Janusz Kowalik, Chicago F Victorio Casa, Washington
Pepe Fernandez, San Diego F Mario Baesso, Oakland
Jorgen Kristensen, Detroit[5] F Eric Barber, Kansas City
Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis F Vavá, San Diego
Ilija Mitic, Oakland F Enrique Mateos, Cleveland

Playoffs

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Bracket

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Conference Finals[6]
(2-match aggregate) 		NASL Final 1968
(2-match aggregate)
          
E1 Atlanta Chiefs 1 2 3
E2 Cleveland Stokers 1 1 2
E1 Atlanta Chiefs 0 3 3
W1 San Diego Toros 0 0 0
W1 San Diego Toros 1 1 2
W2 Kansas City Spurs 1 0 1

Conference finals

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Higher seed Aggregate Lower seed First leg Second leg Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs 3–2 Cleveland Stokers 1–1 2–1 (OT) September 11 • Cleveland Stadium • 3,431
September 14 • Atlanta Stadium • 6,645
San Diego Toros 2–1 Kansas City Spurs 1–1 1–0 (2OT) September 11 • Municipal Stadium • 5,042
September 16 • Balboa Stadium • 6,271[1][7][6]

NASL Final 1968

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Main article: NASL Final 1968
Eastern Champion Aggregate Western Champion[8] First leg Second leg Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs 3–0 San Diego Toros 0–0 3–0 September 21 • Balboa Stadium • 9,360[9]
September 28 • Atlanta Stadium • 14,994

First leg

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San Diego Toros0–0Atlanta Chiefs
Report
Attendance: 9,360
Referee: Reg Clark (Canada)

Second leg

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Atlanta Chiefs3–0San Diego Toros
Peter McParland   22:34' (Hughes)
Delroy Scott   42:53'
Kaizer Motaung   79:50'		 Report
Attendance: 14,994
Referee: Jim Carr (USA)


1968 NASL Champions: Atlanta Chiefs

Post season awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Year in American Soccer - 1968". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  2. ^ "Attendance Project: NASL". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
  3. ^ "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  4. ^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  5. ^ "NASL Soccer North American Soccer League Players-Jorgen Kristensen". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "San Diego advance to Finals in Soccer - Milwaukee Journal". Google news. September 17, 1968.
  7. ^ "Toros Win Divisional Soccer Title - The Miami News". September 16, 1968.
  8. ^ "San Diego Toros 1968". www.nasljerseys.com.
  9. ^ "San Diego Toros All-time Game Results | SoccerStats.us".
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