Over the course of three weekends in March 1976, the North American Soccer League hosted its second league-wide indoor soccer tournament. Twelve of the twenty NASL teams participated.
Overview In 1976, instead of playing a full indoor schedule (and despite the hopes of Tampa Bay owner George Strawbridge, Jr.), the North American Soccer League opted to stage a two-tiered indoor tournament for the second consecutive year. Of the league's 20 teams, 12 participated in three regions, which was down from 16 in four regions in the previous year's tournament. The regional winners along with the "best" second-place team would advance to the final four in St. Petersburg, Florida. While the goals remained 4 × 16, the games would be shortened to three 15-minute periods, instead of the 20-minute frames played the previous year. The tournament also saw the first-ever indoor overtime and penalty shootout, as Miami and Boston played to a 6–6 draw in the opening match. After 45 minutes of regulation time and two 5-minute golden goal extra sessions, the match was ultimately decided by spot kicks.
Playing in their home arena, the Bayfront Center, the Tampa Bay Rowdies defeated the Rochester Lancers 6–4 in the Championship Final. Juli Veee of San Jose scored eight goals to lead the tournament, while Clyde Best of Tampa Bay earned the MVP honors.
Map of clubs
1976 Indoor Regional tournaments
Eastern Regional played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida March 12Miami Toros7–6 (PK, 4–3)Boston Minutemen Attendance: 4,762 March 12Tampa Bay Rowdies9–5Washington Diplomats
March 13Washington Diplomats9–3Miami Toros Attendance: 5,785 March 13Tampa Bay Rowdies5–3Boston Minutemen PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS1Tampa Bay Rowdies220148+642Washington Diplomats2111412+223Miami Toros211915–624Boston Minutemen202911–20 *Tampa Bay wins region, advances to semifinals East Regional MVP: Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay) – 3 goals, 1 assist All-Regional Team: Stojan Trickovic (Washington), John Kerr (Washington), Rodney Marsh (Tampa Bay), Arsène Auguste (Tampa Bay), Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay), Shep Messing (Boston)
Midwest Regional played at International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois March 13Toronto Metros-Croatia8–6St. Louis Stars Attendance: 1,700 (est.) March 13Rochester Lancers5–2Chicago Sting
March 14Rochester Lancers5–4St. Louis Stars Attendance: 1,700 (est.) March 14Chicago Sting6–2Toronto Metros-Croatia
PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS1Rochester Lancers220106+442Chicago Sting21187+123Toronto Metros-Croatia2111012–224St. Louis Stars2021013–30 *Rochester wins region, advances to semifinals Midwest Regional MVP: Mario Garcia (Rochester) – 5 goals All-Regional Team: Mario Garcia (Rochester), Bobby Ranogejec (Chicago), Pat McBride (St. Louis) Jim May (Rochester)
West Regional played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California March 19Dallas Tornado5–2San Diego Jaws Attendance: 6,671 March 19San Jose Earthquakes18–6Vancouver Whitecaps
March 21Dallas Tornado11–2Vancouver Whitecaps Attendance: 5,438 March 21San Jose Earthquakes8–4San Diego Jaws
PosTeamGWLGFGAGDPTS1San Jose Earthquakes2202610+1642Dallas Tornado220164+1243San Diego Jaws202613–704Vancouver Whitecaps202829–210 *San Jose wins region on goal differential, while Dallas is the top second-place team in any region, so both advance to semifinals West Regional MVP: Juli Veee (San Jose) – 5 goals, 5 assists All-Regional Team: Juli Veee (San Jose), Paul Child (San Jose), Roy Turner (Dallas), David Chadwick (Dallas), Archie Roboostoff (San Diego), Mike Ivanow (San Jose)
1976 Indoor Final Four
Bracket
Semi-finals played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, FloridaRowdies win 6-2 March 26Rochester Lancers6–4San Jose Earthquakes Attendance: 5,365 March 26Tampa Bay Rowdies6–2Dallas Tornado
Third-place match played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida March 27San Jose Earthquakes5–2Dallas Tornado
Championship final
1976 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies
Final Four awards Most Valuable Player: Clyde Best (Tampa Bay) – Games: 4; Goals: 7; Assists: 4 Total points: 18 All-tournament Team: Clyde Best (Tampa Bay), Juli Veee (San Jose), Derek Smethurst (Tampa Bay), João Pedro (Rochester), Stewart Scullion (Tampa Bay), Jim May (Rochester)
Final team rankings G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential PosTeamGWLGFGAGD1Tampa Bay Rowdies4402614+122Rochester Lancers4312016+43San Jose Earthquakes4313518+174Dallas Tornado4222015+55Washington Diplomats2111412+2
Non-tournament matches In addition to the tournament itself, a few teams staged other indoor matches as tune-ups for both the outdoor season and the indoor tournament itself.
Match reports
References