The United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. All the teams in the league were imported from Europe and South America. Dick Walsh served as the commissioner.
Origins
In 1966 a group of sports entrepreneurs, led by Jack Kent Cooke and including Lamar Hunt and Steve Stavro, formed a consortium known as the North American Soccer League with the intention of forming a professional soccer league in North America. This group was subsequently sanctioned by both the USSFA and FIFA. However a rival consortium known as the National Professional Soccer League also emerged and to avoid confusion Cooke renamed his consortium the United Soccer Association. The USA originally intended to launch its league in the spring of 1968. However the NPSL, which secured a TV contract from CBS, announced it was ready to launch in 1967. Not wanting to lose ground to its rival, the USA decided to fast track its launch. Without any players of its own, it opted to import whole teams from Europe and South America. It was intended that these teams would represent the franchises during the inaugural season, giving them time to build their own squads for the following season. By May 1967, the USA had garnered applications for franchises wanting to create teams for the next season. An application was made for a team in Miami, to be called the Miami Cobras.[1] A Calgary-based franchise was also in the offing.[2]
Competing teams
| Franchises |
Stadiums (Capacity) |
Owners |
Imported Teams |
| Boston Rovers |
Manning Bowl, Lynn, MA (21,000) |
Weston Adams (Boston Bruins) |
 Shamrock Rovers |
| Chicago Mustangs |
Comiskey Park (46,550) |
Arthur Allyn Jr. (Chicago White Sox) |
 Cagliari Calcio |
| Cleveland Stokers |
Cleveland Stadium (78,000) |
Vernon Stouffer, Gabe Paul (Cleveland Indians) |
 Stoke City |
| Dallas Tornado |
Cotton Bowl (75,504) |
Lamar Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs) |
 Dundee United |
| Detroit Cougars |
Tiger Stadium (36,000) |
William Clay Ford (Detroit Lions) |
 Glentoran |
| Houston Stars |
Astrodome (44,500) |
Judge Roy Hofheinz (Houston Astros) |
 Bangu AC |
| Los Angeles Wolves |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (93,000) |
Jack Kent Cooke (Los Angeles Lakers & Kings) |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| New York Skyliners |
Yankee Stadium (67,000) |
Madison Square Garden Corporation |
 C.A. Cerro |
| San Francisco Golden Gate Gales |
Kezar Stadium (59,942)[3] |
George Fleharty (Ice Follies) |
 ADO Den Haag |
| Toronto City |
Varsity Stadium (25,000) |
Steve Stavro |
Hibernian |
| Vancouver Royal Canadians |
Empire Stadium (33,000) |
Brigadier General E.G. Eakins |
Sunderland |
| Washington Whips |
D.C. Stadium (46,000) |
Earl Foreman |
Aberdeen |
1967 Season
After a series of exhibition games, the USA began playing on May 28 and got off to a good start. The Houston Stars attracted an opening crowd of 34,965.[4] However subsequent attendances did not keep pace and the league finished with an average of 7,890 per game. Of the twelve teams, the Los Angeles Wolves, represented by Wolverhampton Wanderers and featuring Derek Dougan, the Cleveland Stokers, represented by Stoke City and featuring Gordon Banks, and the Washington Whips, represented by Aberdeen, emerged as the strongest sides. Roberto Boninsegna of Chicago Mustangs finished as the league's top scorer with 10 goals. The USA entered its playoff stage in July 1967. The Western Division champion Los Angeles Wolves, by the flip of a coin, won the right to host the championship game against the Eastern Division champion Washington Whips. The match drew 17,824 to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Wolves won the championship beating the Whips 6-5 after 36 minutes of extra-time. The wide-open final featured two hat-tricks, three penalties given (2 converted), four goals scored within a 4-minute period midway through the second half and each team scoring during (non-golden goal) extra time. The game was finally decided when Whips defender Ally Shewan scored an own goal shortly after the start of golden goal extra time.
Final Standings
Eastern Division
1967 USA Eastern Division table
Source: American Soccer History Archives
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Note: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss
Western Division
1967 USA Western Division table
Source: American Soccer History Archives
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Note: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss
USA Final 1967
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1967 USA Champions: Los Angeles Wolves
USA All-Stars
| First Team[8][9] |
Position |
Second Team |
| Bobby Clark, Washington |
G |
Gordon Banks, Cleveland |
| Mario Tito, Houston |
D |
Eric Skeels, Cleveland |
| Jose Fidelis, Houston |
D |
Jan Villerius, San Francisco |
| Pat Stanton, Toronto |
M |
Joe Davis, Toronto |
| Jim Baxter, Vancouver |
M |
John Moore, Cleveland |
| Tommy McMillan, Washington |
M |
Miguel Angelo Longo, Chicago |
| Ary Clemente, Houston |
F |
Doug Smith, Dallas |
| Paulo Borges, Houston |
F |
Henk Houwaart, San Francisco |
| Peter Dobing, Cleveland |
F |
Roberto Boninsegna, Chicago |
| George Eastham, Cleveland |
F |
Benedicto Ribeiro, New York |
| Roy Vernon, Cleveland |
F |
Peter Cormack, Toronto |
Coach of the year
NASL
In December 1967 the USA merged with National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League, taking the original name of the USA group. As a result of the merger several of the original USA franchises folded. This was partly to avoid some cities having two teams. As a result, Toronto City, New York Skyliners and San Francisco Golden Gate Gales were disbanded in favor of their NPSL rivals, Toronto Falcons, New York Generals and Oakland Clippers. The owners of the Gales franchise subsequently merged with Vancouver Royal Canadians and Boston Rovers were relaunched as Boston Beacons. Together with Cleveland Stokers, Los Angeles Wolves, Houston Stars, Washington Whips and Dallas Tornado, these teams then became founding members of the NASL. However, after the 1968 season all of these franchises, with the exception of Dallas Tornado folded. They became NASL champions in 1971 and continued to play in the NASL until 1981.
The idea of importing teams to represent franchises was revived during the 1969 NASL season. Both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Dundee United returned. This time the former represented Kansas City Spurs and again emerged as champions. The latter linked up once again with Dallas Tornado. Two other English League teams West Ham United and Aston Villa represented Baltimore Bays and Atlanta Chiefs while Kilmarnock of the Scottish Football League played as the St. Louis Stars.
References
General
- Official 1968 North American Soccer League Guide. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1968.
- Durso, Joseph. "Local Pro Soccer Teams May Share Stadium With Yanks in Spring," The New York Times, Sunday, February 12, 1967.
Specific
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External links
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United Soccer Association (1967)
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- REDIRECT Template:North American Soccer League (1968–1984)
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International
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Team seasons
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