http://www.newsday.com/sports/soccer/phil-woosnam-father-of-pro-soccer-dies-1.5734611 The NASL would have died as a toddler had it not been for his determination and vision.
Very true. He was part of a trio of great men, Woosnam, Hunt and Toye, who kept the NASL alive when it seemed fated to expire in 1969.
I am certain someone, sometime, would have tried again, but I am also certain there would have been no Pele, no Cosmos, no youth soccer boom and very likely no World Cup 1994 (and all that came after) had they not kept it going then and not convinced Rochester and Washington to join for 1970.
Yup, first I remember seeing him was with the Atlanta Chiefs of the old NPSL (ca. 1967). #4 I believe. He was there at the very beginning.