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." During their three-season tenure, National Conference teams dominated the league, and won all three available league championships. Of these honors, two 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. TeamDivisionFirst seasonLast seasonPrevious conference (division)New York Cosmos East 1978 1980 Atlantic (East)Rochester Lancers East 1978 1980 Atlantic (North)Toronto Blizzard East 1978 1980 Atlantic (North)Washington Diplomats East 1978 1980 Atlantic (East)Colorado Caribous Central 1978 1978 1978 debutDallas Tornado Central 1978 1980 Pacific (South)Minnesota Kicks Central 1978 1980 Pacific (West)Tulsa Roughnecks Central 1978 1980 Pacific (South)Atlanta Chiefs Central 1979 1980 South Division (1973)Los Angeles Aztecs West 1978 1980 Pacific (South)Portland Timbers West 1978 1980 Pacific (West)Seattle Sounders West 1978 1980 Pacific (West)Vancouver Whitecaps West 1978 1980 Pacific (West)
Conference honors National Conference championships
BoldWon NASL Championship Season Champions Series Runners-up 1978 Cosmos 2–0 Portland Timbers 1979 Vancouver Whitecaps 2–1 New York Cosmos 1980 New York Cosmos 2–0 Los Angeles Aztecs
Regular season titles BoldMost points in NASL Year Team Division Points (W–L) Playoffs result 1978 East 212 (24–6) Vancouver Whitecaps West 199 (24–6) Minnesota Kicks Central 156 (17–13) 1979 New York Cosmos East 216 (24–6) Minnesota Kicks Central 184 (21–9) Vancouver Whitecaps West 172 (20–10) 1980 New York Cosmos East 213 (24–8) Seattle Sounders West 207 (25–7) Dallas Tornado Central 157 (18–14)
See also National Football Conference National League (baseball) Eastern Conference (MLS) Western Conference (MLS)
References
External links The Year in American Soccer – 1978 The Year in American Soccer – 1979 1979 NASL Complete Results and Standings 1980 NASL Complete Results and Standings