National Conference
LeagueNorth American Soccer League
SportSoccer
Inaugural season1978
Ceased1980
DivisionsEast
Central
West
No. of teams12
Most titlesNew York Cosmos (2 titles)

The National Soccer Conference was one of two conferences of the original North American Soccer League between 1978 and 1980. It along with the American Conference were formed for the 1978 season as part of a realignment to accommodate an expanding league, and bolster more competitive play which had been lacking under the previous Atlantic and Pacific conferences. It is speculated, that the league decided to realign the league to be more similar to the National Football League (American football) format, with one league official stating that the league hoped that new expansions and initiatives would cause "enough demand for soccer that they [could] sell the TV rights to two networks like the NFL did."[1] During their three-season tenure, National Conference teams dominated the league, and won all three available premierships, and all three league championships. Of these honors, five of them were won by the New York Cosmos, whose only playoff defeat in the National Conference came in 1979 where they were beaten by eventual champions, the Vancouver Whitecaps, in the Conference Finals.

Teams

Following the realignment, the conference was initially made up of four teams from the Atlantic Conference, seven teams from the Pacific Conference, and one team making their NASL debut. After playing just one season, the Colorado Caribous were sold and relocated to Atlanta to revive the Atlanta Chiefs franchise.

Team Division First season[lower-alpha 1] Last season[lower-alpha 1] Previous conference (division)
New York Cosmos[lower-alpha 2]East19781980Atlantic (East)
Rochester LancersEast19781980Atlantic (North)
Toronto BlizzardEast19781980Atlantic (North)
Washington DiplomatsEast19781980Atlantic (East)
Colorado CaribousCentral197819781978 debut
Dallas TornadoCentral19781980Pacific (South)
Minnesota KicksCentral19781980Pacific (West)
Tulsa RoughnecksCentral19781980Pacific (South)[lower-alpha 3]
Atlanta ChiefsCentral19791980South Division[lower-alpha 4] (1973)
Los Angeles AztecsWest19781980Pacific (South)
Portland TimbersWest19781980Pacific (West)
Seattle SoundersWest19781980Pacific (West)
Vancouver WhitecapsWest19781980Pacific (West)
  1. 1 2 Season played in the National Conference. Teams may have played before and/or after the conference existed.
  2. ↑ The New York Cosmos were known simply as the "Cosmos" in the 1978 season.
  3. ↑ Relocated from Hawaii.
  4. ↑ The 1973 season (the most recent season played by the Atlanta Chiefs) did not have conferences.

Conference honors

National Conference championships

Bold Won NASL Championship
Season Champions Series Runners-up
1978 Cosmos2–0Portland Timbers
1979 Vancouver Whitecaps2–1[n 1]New York Cosmos
1980 New York Cosmos2–0Los Angeles Aztecs
  1. ↑ Series tied 1–1, Vancouver won tiebreaking mini-game

Regular season titles

Bold NASL Premiers
Year Team Division Points (W–L) Playoffs result
1978 CosmosEast212 (24–6)Won Soccer Bowl
Vancouver WhitecapsWest199 (24–6)Conference Semifinals
Minnesota KicksCentral156 (17–13)Conference Semifinals
1979 New York CosmosEast216 (24–6)Lost Conference Final
Minnesota KicksCentral184 (21–9)First Round
Vancouver WhitecapsWest172 (20–10)Won Soccer Bowl
1980 New York CosmosEast213 (24–8)Won Soccer Bowl
Seattle SoundersWest207 (25–7)Conference Semifinals
Dallas TornadoCentral157 (18–14)Conference Semifinals

See also

References

  1. ↑ John Feinstein (March 19, 1978). "An Expanded but Pele-Less NASL Kicks Off Season April 1". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
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