1971 North American Soccer League season

North American Soccer League 1971 season
Season	1971
Champions	Dallas Tornado
Premiers	Rochester Lancers
Matches played	112
Goals scored	306 (2.73 per match)
Top goalscorer	Carlos Metidieri; (19 goals)
Highest attendance	19,437 Rochester @ NY
Average attendance	4,154
	← 1970 1972 →

Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1971. This was the 4th season of the NASL.

Overview

Eight teams competed in the 1971 season. The Dallas Tornado won the league championship after playing several playoff matches under the new sudden death rule, which replaced the penalty shootout. In Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal against the Rochester Lancers, league scoring champion Carlos Metidieri of Rochester scored to end the match at 2–1 in the 176th minute after six periods of overtime—shortly before midnight. Three days later, Dallas tied the series with a 3–1 regulation win. In the deciding match, the two teams ended regulation with a 1–1 tie and played four overtime periods before Bobby Moffat scored in the 148 minute for a 2–1 victory. Four days later, Dallas lost Game 1 of the NASL Championship Series, 2–1, in the 3rd overtime to the Atlanta Chiefs after 123 minutes.^[1] All totaled, Dallas had played 537 minutes of soccer (3 minutes short of six games) in 13 days. The Tornado won 4–1 in Game 2 and 2–0 in Game 3 to clinch the league championship.^[2]

Changes From the previous season

Rule changes

Playoffs series switched from a two-game aggregate score to a best-two-out-of-three match format. Any playoff games tied after 90 minutes would now be settled by golden goal (or sudden death) overtime periods lasting 15 minutes each.^[2]

New teams

Montreal Olympique
New York Cosmos
Toronto Metros

Teams folding

Kansas City Spurs

Teams moving

None

Name changes

None

Map of clubs

Olympique

Cosmos

Lancers

Metros

Chiefs

Tornado

Stars

Darts

Northern Division

Southern Division

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, T= Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PT= point system

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

-Premiers (most points). -Other playoff teams.

Northern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Rochester Lancers	13	5	6	48	31	141
New York Cosmos	9	10	5	51	55	117
Toronto Metros	5	10	9	32	47	89
Montreal Olympique	4	15	5	29	59	65

Southern Division	W	L	T	GF	GA	PT
Atlanta Chiefs	12	7	5	35	29	120
Dallas Tornado	10	6	8	38	24	119
Washington Darts	8	6	10	36	34	111
St. Louis Stars	6	13	5	37	47	86

1971 NASL All-Stars

First Team^[3]^[4]	Position	Second Team	Honorable Mention
Mirko Stojanovic, Dallas	G	Leonel Conde, Washington	Manfred Kammerer, Atlanta • Claude Campos, Rochester
Dick Hall, Dallas	D	Clive Charles, Montreal	Frank Donlavey, Washington
Willie Evans, Washington	D	Uriel da Veiga, Atlanta	Oreco, Dallas
Peter Short, Rochester	D	John Cocking, Atlanta	Gabbo Gavrić, Dallas
John Best, Dallas	D	Charlie Mitchell, Rochester	Mick Hoban, Atlanta • Roberto Lonardo, Rochester
Dragan Popovic, St. Louis	M	Francisco Escos, Rochester	Freddie Mwila, Atlanta • Barrie Lynch, Atlanta
Siggy Stritzl, New York	M	Felix Correia, Toronto	Billy Fraser, Washington • Keith Pointer, Montreal • Roy Turner, Dallas
Carlos Metidieri, Rochester	F	Warren Archibald, Washington	Tommy Youlden, Dallas
Randy Horton, New York	F	Casey Frankiewicz, St. Louis	Iris DeBrito, Rochester
Kaizer Motaung, Atlanta	F	Franco Gallina, Montreal	Mike Renshaw, Dallas
Manfred Seissler, Rochester	F	Jorge Siega, New York	Leroy DeLeon, Washington • Ian MacHattie, Toronto

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals Best-of-3					NASL Final 1971 Best-of-3

N1	Rochester Lancers	2	1	1

S2	Dallas Tornado	1	3	2
					S2	Dallas Tornado	1	4	2

					S1	Atlanta Chiefs	2	1	1
S1	Atlanta Chiefs	1	2	–

N2	New York Cosmos	0	0	–

Semifinals

Higher seed	Series	Lower seed	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Attendance
Rochester Lancers	1 - 2	Dallas Tornado	2–1 (6ot)	1–3	1–2 (4ot)	September 1 • Aquinas Memorial Stadium • 8,309 September 4 • Franklin Stadium • 6,131^[5] September 8 • Aquinas Memorial Stadium • 7,635
Atlanta Chiefs	2 - 0	New York Cosmos	1–0(3ot)	2–0	x	September 2 • Atlanta Stadium • 3,160^[6] September 5 • Hofstra Stadium • 3,800^[7]

NASL Final 1971

Higher seed	Series	Lower seed	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs	1 - 2	Dallas Tornado	2–1 (3ot)	1–4	0–2	September 12 • Atlanta Stadium • 3,218^[8] September 15 • Franklin Stadium • 6,456 September 19 • Atlanta Stadium • 4,687

Game one

September 12	Atlanta Chiefs	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
	Uriel da Veiga 71:53' Kaizer Motaung 123:58'	Report	Tibor Molnár 40:39'	Attendance: 3,218

Game two

September 15	Dallas Tornado	4–1	Atlanta Chiefs	Franklin Stadium, Dallas, Texas
	Phil Tinney 45' Luiz Juracy 54' Luiz Juracy 76' Tony McLoughlin	Report 1 Report 2	Henry Largie 44' (Paton)	Attendance: 6,456

Game three

September 19	Atlanta Chiefs	0–2	Dallas Tornado	Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
		Report	Mike Renshaw 2:34' (Tinney) Bobby Moffat 44:30'	Attendance: 4,687

1971 NASL Champions: Dallas Tornado

Post season awards

Most Valuable Player: Carlos Metidieri, Rochester
Coach of the year: Ron Newman, Dallas
Rookie of the year: Randy Horton, New York

References

^ Lewis, Michael (September 1, 2015). "Exhaustion and a 176th minute winner: The NASL game that lasted nearly three hours". The Guardian. Retrieved May 31, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "The Year in American Soccer - 1971". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
^ "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
^ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
^ "Dallas Evens Soccer Series". Atlanta Journal and Constitution. September 5, 1971. p. 6-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
^ Roberts, Charles (September 3, 1971). "Chiefs Topple Cosmos In Sudden Death, 1-0". Atlanta Constitution. p. 1-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
^ "Atlanta Moves into Finals". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. September 6, 1971. p. 3D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.
^ "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". September 22, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[1] Lewis, Michael (September 1, 2015). "Exhaustion and a 176th minute winner: The NASL game that lasted nearly three hours". The Guardian. Retrieved May 31, 2023.

[sover1971-2] "The Year in American Soccer - 1971". Homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[3] "NASL Homepage". May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[4] "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page". Oocities.org. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

[5] "Dallas Evens Soccer Series". Atlanta Journal and Constitution. September 5, 1971. p. 6-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.

[6] Roberts, Charles (September 3, 1971). "Chiefs Topple Cosmos In Sudden Death, 1-0". Atlanta Constitution. p. 1-D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.

[7] "Atlanta Moves into Finals". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. September 6, 1971. p. 3D. Retrieved May 27, 2017.

[8] "Previo Campeones: Dallas Tornado Ganan Titulo en 1971". September 22, 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2016.

[1]

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Seasons	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Soccer Bowls	1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984
Predecessors	USA 1967 Final NPSL 1967 Final
Indoor seasons	1971 1975 1976 1978 1979 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1983 1983–84
Conferences	1968 East West 1976–1977 Atlantic Pacific 1978–1980 American National
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