Earthquakes history -- NASL style!, Part 2

Happy 84th birthday to England international Geoff Hurst, the 1st player ever to score a hat trick in a FIFA World Cup final when he led England to victory in 1966, who scored 222 goals for West Ham (1959-72), Stoke City (1972-75) and West Bromwich Albion (1975-76), appeared in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, then transferred to the Seattle Sounders in 1976 and notched 8 goals and 4 assists in 23 games, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998.



Happy 73rd birthday to U.S. international Paul Child, the British-born striker who developed through the Aston Villa youth system but spent virtually his entire pro career in North America, leading the NASL in scoring in 1974 and ranking among the all-time leading goalscorers in both the NASL (102 goals / 5th place) and MISL (266 goals / 12th place), earning 2 all-NASL selections and playing in the 1985 MISL All Star Game, and gaining election to the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.



NASL National Team: Boris Bandov, USA



NASL Memories: Belgian international François Van der Elst was one of the best wingers of his generation, winning titles in Europe and North America, reaching the UEFA European Championship final and playing in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Born on 7 December 1954, Van der Elst (pictured at right) already had 2 European Cup Winners' Cup trophies and a pair of European Super Cup wins to his name with Anderlecht when he jumped to New York midway through the 1980 NASL season, and his 6 goals and 5 assists in just 13 games were enough to help New York cruise to the Soccer Bowl '80 title. He was even better in 1981 as the Cosmos swept to another championship final. A big-money return to Europe and West Ham followed, and he closed out his glittering career with Lokeren in 1986. Sadly, Van der Elst suffered heart failure in 2017 and died 10 days after being placed in a coma. He was 62.





NCAA Dateline: On 7 December 1975, the University of San Francisco won its 2nd NCAA title by defeating SIU-Edwardsville, 4-0, before 4,400 at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville.



NASL Dateline: On 7 December 1981, the Toronto Blizzard paid $10,000 to acquire playmaker Patrick "Ace" Ntsoelengoe outright from the defunct Minnesota Kicks, securing a vital piece to the team's back-to-back Soccer Bowl appearances in 1983-84.…



MISL Action: MISL referee Gino D'Ippolito sets a re-start between Baltimore Blast goalkeeper Keith Van Eron and forward Dan Counce at the Baltimore Civic Center.



NASL National Team: Bruce Wilson, Canada



MISL Memories: Greg Villa and Sam Bick helped the St. Louis Steamers win back-to-back MISL Central Division titles in 1981 and 1982 - and advance to the MISL Championship Series both years.



NASL Action: Forward Archie Roboostoff pushes the attack for the Oakland Stompers in the 1978 NASL season.

 

Soccer in the 1970s: The Oakland Stompers' promotional "ShepHerd" photo op featured goalkeeper Shep Messing, defenders Joe Raduka, Paki Paunovich, Volker Fass and Alec Lindsay and a handful of local sheep preparing for the 1978 NASL season.

 

NASL Media Guides: San Jose Earthquakes

 

One for every year is in the museum collection.

 

Former SJSU players......

Steve Ryan, Derek Evans, Easy Perez, Joe Silveira!

 

NASL Memories: Former Vancouver Whitecaps forward Peter Beardsley and England teammate Tony Cottee pose in London Monarch uniforms to promote that team's launch in the World League of American Football (1991-92).

 

NASL Action: Goalkeeper Arnie Mausser and forward Tony Crescitelli celebrate a Team America victory shootout victory against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at RFK Stadium.

Team America won this thrilling game on June 12 by a score of 2-1 in a shootout…this was Mausser’s 1st win of the season in 2 starts…there was great excitement at this game in front of a Team America record attendance of 50,108 at RFK & a team record of 6-4.

 

Did You Know? Defender Mark Demling was the 1st draft pick in San Jose Earthquakes history, taken with the 8th overall selection of the 1974 NASL Draft.

 

Museum donations by Mark Demling.

 

Happy 67th birthday to Jan Goossens, the 6-foot-1 Dutch target man who made just 13 appearances with N.E.C. before jumping to the NASL in 1979 where he scored 33 goals in 106 games with the Edmonton Drillers (1979-82) and captured the 1981 NASL Indoor crown, added 15 goals in 2 seasons with the Golden Bay Earthquakes (1982-84) and finished as the 33rd leading goalscorer in NASL history, then went indoors with the Minnesota Strikers (1984-86), Kansas City Comets (1986-91) and Dallas Sidekicks (1991-92), made 3 MISL All-Star teams, and ranks among the all-time leaders with 311 goals in the MISL (15th).

 

NASL Merchandise: San Jose Earthquakes 50th anniversdary cap

 

NASL Action: San Jose Earthquakes forward Ilija Mitic and Paul Child lead the attack as Team Hawaii defender Chris Carenza closes in at Spartan Stadium.

 

NASL Dateline: On 27 December 1979, the Memphis Rogues acquired high-scoring forward Paul Child from the San Jose Earthquakes.

This picture of Paul Child was from a charity basketball game at a high school.




Happy 75th birthday to Italy international Roberto Bettega, the high-scoring striker who won 7 Serie A titles in 14 seasons with Juventus -- along with the 1979 Coppa Italia and the 1977 UEFA Cup -- while also competing for the Azzurri at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and the 1980 European Championships (and only missed the 1982 FIFA World Cup due to a knee injury), then jumped to the NASL in 1983 and became one of the last great world stars to play in North America, scoring 11 goals in 48 games over 2 seasons and helping the Toronto Blizzard reach back-to-back Soccer Bowl finals.



MISL Dateline: On 27 December 1986, the New York Express suffered its MISL-record 11th straight loss when Chico Borja scored at 5:08 of overtime to give the Wichita Wings a 6-5 win before 5,677 at Nassau Coliseum. New York's losing streak surpassed the 10 consecutive losses endured by the Dallas Sidekicks in 1984-85.



NASL Dateline: On 27 December 1982, the Vancouver Whitecaps sold midfielder Gerry Gray to the San Jose Earthquakes.






NASL Holiday Cards: New York Cosmos / Soccer Camps of America Inc.

Giorgio Chinaglia, Pele and Wrener Roth




Holiday card signed by Cosmos coach Eddie Firmani




Happy 75th birthday to U.S. international Kyle Rote Jr., the 1st great native-born American and the player who legitimized soccer as a sport by winning ABC-TV's "Superstars" competition a record 3 times, but who also championed North American players' rights and salaries, even as he scored 43 goals in 142 NASL games with Dallas Tornado (1972-78) and Houston Hurricane (1979), leading the NASL in scoring in 1973 and winning the MVP Award, and memorably exchanging U.S. and Brazilian flags with Pelé prior to the 1975 made-for-TV exhibition between Dallas and the New York Cosmos.



MISL Dateline: On 30 December 1981, a crowd of 18,384 filled the Checkerdome to watch the St. Louis Steamers defeat the Wichita Wings, 3-2, the 3rd attendance of 18,000-plus for St. Louis in the 1981-82 MISL season.





MISL Dateline: On 26 December 1983, a crowd of 18,621 squeezed into the Richfield Coliseum to see the Cleveland Force extend their season-opening start to 12-1 by beating the Baltimore Blast, 6-3.

 

The Checkerdome!!

 

Did You Know? Croatian-American forward Mark Liveric changed teams 7 times in his 8-year NASL career - including twice in mid-season - but he made his mark after joining the New York Cosmos midway through the 1979 season, racking up 10 goals and 9 assists in just 15 games to finish as the team's 3rd-leading scorer.

 

FORZA Demling Brothers Jimmy Johnstone, my Celtic Hero and The King Of Kings Pele Soccer in the 1970s: New York Cosmos star Pelé shares a pre-game laugh with NASL veterans Mark Demling, Jimmy Gabriel and Buzz Demling prior to a match against the San Jose Earthquakes at Spartan Stadium.

 

Leeds and Wales legend Yorath dies aged 75





Terry Yorath also played for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the early 1980's.

 

NASL Head Shots: San Jose Earthquakes, 1976

 

Happy 78th birthday to U.S. international Mike Ivanow, the University of San Francisco All-American goalkeeper who played in the first 2 games of the 1972 Olympics, then joined the NASL in 1974 and amassed 11 shutouts over an 8-year career that included 42 games with the San Jose Earthquakes and 35 games with the Seattle Sounders -- which included the run to the Soccer Bowl '77 final -- and 2 MISL seasons with the Wichita Wings (1979-80, 1984-85).

 

Happy 69th birthday to U.S. international Tony Crescitelli (number 13), the Italian-American striker who set Division III scoring records at North Adams State College and was taken 36th overall in the 1979 NASL Draft, then embarked on a 6-year outdoor career with the Washington Diplomats (1979-80), San Jose Earthquakes (1981-82), Team America (1983) and Tulsa Roughnecks (1984) that included a breakout 15-goal season in 1980 in addition to indoor stops with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1979-80) and Buffalo Stallions (1983-84).

 

Happy 72nd birthday to Mexico international Leonardo Cuéllar, the wild-maned midfielder who dominated Mexican soccer with Pumas in the 1970s and played in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, then joined the World All Stars against the New York Cosmos later that same summer and jumped to the NASL the following year, enjoying extended success with the San Diego Sockers (1979-81) and San Jose / Golden Bay Earthquakes (1982-84), notching 12 goals and 48 assists in 128 games.

 

NASL Adverts: Don Ricardo's / Los Angeles Aztecs



Happy 75th birthday to Mihalj Keri, the steady Serbian defender who debuted with Red Star Belgrade at the age of 18 and made 210 appearances over the next 10 years -- missing just one season due to military conscription -- then jumped to North America in 1979 and became a perennial all-NASL selection with the Los Angeles Aztecs (1979-81), Jacksonville Tea Men (1982), and San Jose / Golden Bay Earthquakes (1982-84), playing alongside Johan Cruyff, George Best and Steve Zungul, reaching the NASL's Conference Championship in 1980 and scoring 6 career goals in 151 games.



NASL Memories: Wim Suurbier was an elite defender whose ability to move forward and drive the offense ensured the Dutch "Total Football" concept could work. Born on 15 January 1945, Suurbier (number 19) was a FIFA World Cup finalist in 1974 and 1978 for The Netherlands and a 3-time European Cup winner with Ajax who jumped to the NASL in 1979 and made 96 appearances over the next 4 seasons for the Los Angeles Aztecs (1979-81) and San Jose Earthquakes (1982), earning all-NASL honors in 1979. Suurbier became a top coach after retiring in 1983, leading the Tulsa Roughnecks in 1984 NASL season and later working in the AISA. Sadly, Suurbier died in 2020 at the age of 74




Happy 79th birthday to West Germany international Peter Nogly (pictured at right, with Pertti Alaja), the defensive midfielder who backstopped a decade of success at Hamburg SV that included the 1979 Bundesliga title, the 1977 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, and the 1980 European Cup final, then followed the West German migration to the NASL and scored 24 goals in 105 games over 4 seasons with the Edmonton Drillers (1980-81) and Tampa Bay Rowdies (1982-83), earning 3 all-NASL selectio…



NASL Action: Gert Wieczorkowski and Juli Veee take a breather on the San Diego Sockers bench during the 1981-82 NASL Indoor season



NASL National Team: Dave Watson, England



NASL Action: Vancouver Whitecaps defender Mark Nickeas clears the ball away from Golden Bay Earthquakes forward Steve Zungul at Spartan Stadium.



Happy 71st birthday to Brooks Cryder, the American defender who starred at Philadelphia Textile and was selected with the 8th overall pick of the 1976 NASL Draft by the Philadelphia Atoms, but chose to play 2 ASL seasons instead with the Tacoma Tides (1976) and Los Angeles Skyhawks (1977), then joined the NASL's Philadelphia Fury for 40 games over 2 seasons (1978-79) and closed out his career indoors with the Cleveland Force (1979-80) and Philadelphia Fever (1980-81).







NASL Dateline: On 13 January 1983, the Vancouver Whitecaps signed free agent midfielder Flemming Lund.