1979–80 NASL Indoor season

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North American Soccer League -1979–80 Indoor Season-
Season 1979–80
Champions Tampa Bay Rowdies
(2nd title)
Premiers Atlanta Chiefs
Matches played 60
Goals scored 665 (11.08 per match)
Top goalscorer South Africa David Byrne
(23 goals)
Average attendance 4,869
← 1979

Beginning in November 1979, the North American Soccer League conducted their first ever full season of indoor soccer.

Overview

Only 10 of the 24 NASL member-teams chose to field a squad for the 12 game regular season and playoffs.

The league decided to make several rule modifications from the NASL indoor tournaments and indoor friendlies[jargon] of years past. The most obvious change was the goal. No longer 4 by 16 feet (h x w), the goals now measured a more proportionate 6 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 many years ago, 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. 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. Henceforth the clock would also stop with every referee's whistle. 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.[1] 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, Av Att = Average Home Attendance

Eastern Division W L GB % GF GA Av 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 Av 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[2]

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     Division Finals     Championship Series
                                       
        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.

Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs - Tampa Bay Rowdies 3 - 7 5 - 6 (OT) x February 23 -5,545 • February 25 -6,141
Memphis Rogues - Minnesota Kicks 3 - 6 4 - 3 (OT) 1 - 0 February 23 -3,701 • February 26 -7,130

Championship Finals

Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game Attendance
Tampa Bay Rowdies - Memphis Rogues 4 - 5 10 - 4 1 - 0 February 29 -9,081 • March 2 -5,545

References

  1. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PlBSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dnwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2214,6337949&dq=rowdies+bayfront&hl=en
  2. ↑ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1980.html
  1. REDIRECT Template:North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
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