One rule that I liked from the NASL was the 35 yard offside rule. Fifa is constantly changing the offside rule and the interpretations of it and it is now a joke. With the 35 yard offside rule it did prevent teams from using the offside trap as much and spead out the midfield for better passing.
I don't know how much FIFA really changed the offsides rule. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think before it was if you were even with the defender you were offside and now if you are even with the d you are onside. At Spartan Stadium the 35 yard line didn't make much of a difference neither did it seem to make too much of a difference in goals scored when the NASL swithced back to the FIFA midfield line after they banned the 35 yard line. All I can remember was instead of the 4 defender back line hanging up at midfield they now hung back at the 35 yard line, I really didn't think it changed the game much but like I said most of the games I watched were either in San Jose or on TV so maybe someone else has better statistical stuff on it.
Read the NASL FIFA soccer wars segment talking about the 35 yard rule. http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1981.html#NASL FIFA threatened the NASL with expulsion and the NASL caved in. there was another story about FIFA & the NASL that Don Popovic told me about. supposedly, Steve Zungul was not allowed per FIFA rules to take part in the outdoor league in 1983. This is why he played only indoor during those earlier years in this country. FIFA however, showed no reason why Zungul could or couldn't play soccer in this country. By U.S. law everyone with a green card can work and no one can prevent them from earning a living. Supposedly, Don took it up to the Supreme Court and FIFA failed to show up, so he won and Zungul played in the 1983-1984 NASL seasons. Zungul was MVP of the NASL in 84 becoming the first and last Quake to do so.
I read that aand I loved the part about former SJSU player Derek Evans. He was basically a reserve player who hardly got off the bench in San Jose. Too bad Best didn't have a better supporting cast with the Quakes. I think if he had played in 82-84 , his skills would have been more in evident.
Nice! A South Florida viewpoint: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2005/11/26/a1b_best_1126.html
Geez, I got to reading all of this NASL stuff and have to post something. Being from San Jose, most of my memories involve the Earthquakes. In the early years, the in-stadium announcer was local radio personality, Bob Ray. In the early years, there was sort of a "play by play" annoucing at Spartan Stadium. I guess there was some thought that people needed to be told about what was happening. In any case, in either '74 or '75, Bob Ray became the only stadium announcer to receive a yellow card. Actually, the card was shown to the bench, but it was because Bob said something that the referee did not care for. When there was a free kick, he would say "free kick San Jose (or whomever they were playing)". I believe the card came as a result of a particularly vicsious foul, and Bob Ray saying "First and 10, San Jose". San Jose actually was one of the first teams to bring a first division European to the US. In 1975, they had Scotsman, Jimmy Johnstone, "The Flying Flea". I believe he played nine or ten games that summer for the Quakes. During the last two years of the NASL, I had a bullhorn that I took to games. There is no way that I could into a MLS game with a bullhorn. Believe me, EVERYONE on the field could hear me. I am actually a little surprised that they let take that thing in.
Johnny Moore told me that Jimmy Johnstone was here on a vacation and tied one on worse than George Best ever did.
I heard the same thing from some of the other guys. Last I checked, Jimmy Johnstone was doing well. I always loved the nickname: "The Flying Flea"...he was a small guy, with bright red hair.
Speaking of what happened to the NASL, I always wondered why the MLS didn't want anything to do with the NASL when it started? I mean I known they wanted their own identity however, there never would have been an MLS a World Cup in this country if it weren't for the NASL. That league provided a legacy that led to the current MLS. With the passing of Best , it makes me think of what could have been. Actually, George Best I think is the first star name player that I know of who passed away. With all the stars and players to have played in this country you would think the current MLS heads would make a tribute to those old guard players! I wish they had used the old logos & old names and uniforms to start up the MLS again. I mean the Clash & the Mutiny? Come on! I read yesterday that Nike even wanted the Chicago franchise to be named the Rythym and when the people in charge named them the Fire, Nike protested and held out on the Fire for one full year. Their move backfired back in their face when Chiacago won the MLS CUP & the Open Cup in their inagural year. Also, the Clash? Give me a break! Viva the San Jose Earthquakes!
I think the MLS didn't want to associate with a percieved "failure"....I phoned Dave Dir the day after he was named first coach of the Dallas Burn...I left him a message asking him to call me when he had a minute....I just wanted to welcome him and wish him well and to tell him I would be supporting the team and be at most games....I never got the chance as he never called me back.
The only real NASL'ers that played in the MLs were Hugo Sanchez and Roy Wegerle. I know they did not want to associate with the failure's of the NASL but in a way they have and still are copying many things that the old league did. When you see New York sign such stars as Donadoni, Daniel Hernandez, Lothar Mattehus , Branco and you see LA with Hermosillo, Campos and Hernandez you see how they make the same mistakes of the past. At least the Cosmos won with everyone they had and NY never has with any of their stars! LA won twice however, none of those guys were ever a factor. The Tampa Bay Rowdies were a big suiccess in the NASL and the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers had a star studded team that lasted for a while almost until the end only to move to Minnesota in thier final year. The MLS is still doing some suspect things with KC & San Jose and are leading Houston on a string. That city was never really a "soccer city" especially with the Houston Stars and/or Hurricane. The Hurricane averaged 5900 fans for 3 years of soccer and they were actually a pretty good franchise with Timo Leikoski and Kai Haskavii, and Paul Hammond and Eduardo Mrosko. To tell you the truth, the only foreign signings with a NAME that I think really made a difference in the MLS were/are Jaime Moreno & Marco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderamma, and maybe when healthy Hristo Stoichkov. All the rest in my opinion were not much help at all. Walter Zenga played ok for the Revs but he was a GK and I think this league needs someone more offensive like Chinaglia, Best or even a Neeskens.
Falvo, Are you forgetting about "passive offsides" ? That's a recent interpretation. The 35 yard offside rule did three things. First, it elimated the offside trap to a great extent. Secondly, it did open up the midfield play since defenders were required to play a little deeper. Finally, the linesman didn't have to cover as much territory and should be in better position to call offsides when it did occur. Fifa did not change rules or interpretations of them like they do now.
You may be right about that. I just don't remember it being used much at Spartan Stadium. Also the Quakes were horrible in the years 78- 82 so they could not really call the offside trap becuase they didn't have the capabilites to call it. As a youth growing up and following the NASL however, especially at Spartan Stadium there was not much room and almost no chance of having much of an offside trap. The dimensions were just too small and not there to have one. If you look at the George Best goal against the Strikers in 1981 his run started at the 35 yard line , but look where the 35 yard line was in comparison to the touch midfield line. I just don't remember seeing it called much at Spartan, not with the 35 yard line and not when Fifa made the NASL revert back to FIFA rules. I didn't remember seeing Rinus Michaels and the LA AZTECS use it in LA and he invented it with his Dutch Total soccer system. Now I can't recall all their games and TV was really not there in those years with a few exceptions. Also I may have been too young to pay much attention to the offside trap. This is just coming from me as I can't remember ever seeing the offside trap called until I started watching the SERIE A in the late 80's and early 90's after the NASL folded and when Franco Baresi would master the trap at AC Milan. I even noticed it at the World Cup final in 1994 when Baresi was pissed at the linesman for not calling one blatant offside. Having said that, the 35 yard line could change some things , then again I think the quality players will get used to it and learn to play with it in the end.
I seem to recall Toronto Metros-Croatia using the offside trap during their 1976 championship run, particularly in the nationally-televised final. From what I've read since, it may have been a case of Minnesota Kicks running out of interest by Soccer Bowl, but I recall M-C using it to their advantage... and the NASL's embarrassment (I mean, of all the star-studded teams that year... Cosmos, Rowdies, Sounders, et al...). M-C and the offside trap might've been the final straw of the league's contract with CBS!
Oh yes. That 76 Metro's team was awesome playing the offside trap. They killed many teams with it all year. To suggest it cost NASL on CBS is pretty dumb thoug. All great sides use an offside trap. Its part of a good team.
I wonder if the astroturf had something to do with calling or not calling the offside trap? I know that everyone runs faster on the turf and the ball rolls a lot faster. I wonder if it affected the play in the NASL Soccer Bowl 76 played on turf? Anyway, all I remember was Eusebio being carried off when Toronto won but thats it as the TBS station came in fuzzy back then. hehehe! Thank God for cable! The next year Eusebio was being carried off the turf in stetcher after a turf related injury playing for the Las Vegas Quicksilver.
But the point being that if the offside line is midfield then you'll have more offside situations occur and more blown calls. The offside trap is less valuable the closer the offside line is to the goal .
I don't know. I think Donadoni was good. Same for Djorkaeff. Can't forget Mo Johnston or John Spencer. I think a lot of the value many of these guys have isn't necessarily in their game performance but rather teaching young players what it means to be a professional footballer.
Bravo Giorgione! Forza Lazio! HEHEHE! Yes Donadoni was real good and I always liked his style of play. however, in 96 & 97 he was so far above the rest of the league that he almost seemed lost becuase he was playing with semi-pro players who just turned pro. In my opinion, I think great players all of a sudden lose something when they drop several divisions below their level. If you look at Donadoni initially in 1996 he seemed to be thinking , where is all the help? When he went to play for Italy in Euro 96 during that same MLS season , he played really welll up the flanks that his skill came out again, then he was lost again in NY. When you have a player like Roberto Donadoni you must have other quality players around him. He just is not the type of goalscoring threat that will score even 3-4 goals a year for you if that. His forte was passing and although he had a great shot, I seldom saw him score, not even in Italy. Angelo DiLivio was another similar player to Donadoni. Trapattoni picked him to play for WC 2002 to play a similar flank midfield role. The very next year he dropped down to Serie C2 (4th division) with Fiorentina and he ended up breaking his leg and didn't finish out the year. I think these types of players are wasted in the MLS. We need midfielders and goalscorers similar to maybe a Djorkaeff although he is already 38 which is too bad. In memory of George Best, I think it would have been great for the MLS to get someone of his caliber. Best came to the NASL at 30 years of age and ended up doing real well. I wish he had finished his career with the Quakes and played a little longer. As it is his greatest goal and his goal of the year in 82 was just proven on other threads, that it was his last goal ever. I would have relished to see what George would have done in the MLS. He is the exception to the rule and probably would have won everything there was to win. He would excel with anyone anywhere amateur or pro and his skills would have proven invaluable.
Forgive me if this has opinion has been placed earlier, I didn't review all 10 pages of this thread . . . Many of the "tactical" moves the league engaged without success (like the offsides thing, signing aging internationals, playing on AstroTurf, etc) are all incidental to a larger flawed "strategy" . . . basically the expansion effort and the roster-building was made worse by some owners who got into NASL (and then out of it) in the SHORT term, and only a few were in it for the LONG term. When soccer was "a kick in the grass" in the late 70s and early 80s, some of the NASL investors expected quick returns on their money and it seems like very few moves were made to establish a growing period that allowed that league to become stable for the long haul. Some owners bailed when quick returns were not forthcoming, and it seemed like that syndrome kept the league in a constant state of uncertianty. That isn't a rip on the owners of the time . . . I'm sure some thought it was a good gamble because professional televised American soccer was uncharted territory in those days and some hoped it would be a boom . . . but others like Lamar Hunt and Danny Villanueva and a few others had longer-term vision. A lot of folks are quick to rip on MLS, but the people making the money decisions in MLS have a clear vision of their prospects and their limitiations and they're building facilities to support that biz model.
What you must remember is that back in the early 1970's soccer in the United States was relatively new. The NASL prospered in many cities up until the expansion boon in 1978. You are right that there were many owners looking to capitalize on the sport, however, there was no roadmap to follow on how to actually run a successful soccer franchise here and many NASL clubs folded because they had no idea what they were getting into, nor did they realize that the Cosmos were going to have the payroll that they did! Without question or debate, that was the reality back then and many mistakes were made by the league. As for the astroturf, many NASL teams did not have an option based on the stadium conditions where they played. I don't think anyone is "Quick to rip MLS", rather, I think that many of us who remember the NASL days vividly would like to see MLS adopt some of the things that did work in the NASL, specifically the inclusion of top talent from abroad and in their fan building efforts. If all MLS teams are basically 50% owned by the league, a Cosmos situation of the "Have's" vs. the "Have not's" could be avoided. MLS is lucky that they have the NASL to look back on to learn from it's mistakes and to not make the same ones. However, at times it seems as though MLS is too conservative on it's approach in my opinion.