1980 North American Soccer League season

The league comprised 24 teams; for the only time in NASL history, the lineup of teams was identical to the year before, with no clubs joining or dropping out, franchise shifts or even name changes. The New York Cosmos defeated the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the finals on September 21 to win the championship. For the third time in league history the team with the most wins (Seattle) did not win the regular season due to the NASL's system of awarding bonus points for goals scored.

The 1980 season saw the regular season expand from 30 games to 32 games. Three North Americans were required to be among the eleven playing in the match for each team, up from two during the previous season.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19800112&id=z1pQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v1gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3629,2943528|title=The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com}}

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{{Clear}}

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

6 points for a win,

0 points for a loss,

1 point for each regulation goal scored up to three per game.

:{{Color box|#B3B7FF|border=darkgray}}-Premiers (most points). {{Color box|#BBEBFF|border=darkgray}}-Best record. {{Color box|#ccffcc|border=darkgray}}-Other playoff teams.

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{{main|1980 North American Soccer League playoffs}}

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs automatically. The last two spots would go to the next best teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three conference seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were given wild-card berths. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by regular season point total, regardless of first-round seeding.{{cite book |title=1980 Official North American Soccer League Guide | year=1980 | page=276 }} The Soccer Bowl remained a single game final.

In 1979 and 1980, if a playoff series was tied at one win apiece, a full 30 minute mini-game was played. If there was no winner after the 30 minutes ended, the teams would then move on to a shoot-out to determine a series winner.{{cite news |title=NASL Playoffs Open Tonight |date=August 14, 1979|publisher=The Hour|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0rg0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=B24FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4566,2362302&dq=nasl+playoffs&hl=en |page=49|access-date=2013-07-06}}

{{16TeamBracket|legs=2/2/2/1|aggregate=y

| RD1=Conference Quarterfinals

| RD2=Conference Semifinals

| RD3=Conference Championships

| RD4=Soccer Bowl '80

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| RD1-score01-2=3

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| RD1-seed02=AC8

| RD1-team02= San Diego

| RD1-score02-1=2

| RD1-score02-2=2

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| RD1-seed03=AC2

| RD1-team03= Tampa Bay

| RD1-score03-1=1

| RD1-score03-2=4

| RD1-score03-agg=–

| RD1-seed04=AC7

| RD1-team04= New England

| RD1-score04-1=0

| RD1-score04-2=0

| RD1-score04-agg=–

| RD1-seed05=AC3

| RD1-team05= Edmonton

| RD1-score05-1=2

| RD1-score05-2=0

| RD1-score05-agg=1

| RD1-seed06=AC6

| RD1-team06= Houston

| RD1-score06-1=1

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| RD1-score06-agg=0

| RD1-seed07=AC4

| RD1-team07= Fort Lauderdale

| RD1-score07-1=2

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| RD1-score07-agg=0(3)

| RD1-seed08=AC5

| RD1-team08= California

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| RD1-team10= Tulsa

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| RD1-team14= Washington

| RD1-score14-1=1

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| RD1-team15= Seattle

| RD1-score15-1=2

| RD1-score15-2=3

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| RD1-team16= Vancouver

| RD1-score16-1=1

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| RD2-score01-2=0

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| RD2-team02= Tampa Bay

| RD2-score02-1=3

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| RD2-score02-agg=1(0)

| RD2-team03= Edmonton

| RD2-score03-1=0

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| RD2-score03-agg=0

| RD2-team04= Fort Lauderdale

| RD2-score04-1=1

| RD2-score04-2=2(1)

| RD2-score04-agg=3

| RD2-team05= New York

| RD2-score05-1=3

| RD2-score05-2=0

| RD2-score05-agg=3

| RD2-team06= Dallas

| RD2-score06-1=2

| RD2-score06-2=3

| RD2-score06-agg=0

| RD2-team07= Los Angeles

| RD2-score07-1=3

| RD2-score07-2=0

| RD2-score07-agg=1(2)

| RD2-team08= Seattle

| RD2-score08-1=0

| RD2-score08-2=4

| RD2-score08-agg=1(0)

| RD3-team01= San Diego

| RD3-score01-1=1

| RD3-score01-2=4

| RD3-score01-agg=0

| RD3-team02= Fort Lauderdale

| RD3-score02-1=2

| RD3-score02-2=2

| RD3-score02-agg=2

| RD3-team03= New York

| RD3-score03-1=2

| RD3-score03-2=3

| RD3-score03-agg=–

| RD3-team04= Los Angeles

| RD3-score04-1=1

| RD3-score04-2=1

| RD3-score04-agg=–

| RD4-team01= Fort Lauderdale

| RD4-score01=0

| RD4-team02= New York

| RD4-score02=3

}}{{-}}

{{main|Soccer Bowl '80}}

{{football box

|date = September 21{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bX5QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fVoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2472,5632997&dq=cosmos+gobble+up&hl=en|title = St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search}}

|time = 12:44 pm EDT{{Cite journal|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0923/092323.html|title = Cosmos regain soccer title|journal = Christian Science Monitor|date = 23 September 1980}}

|team1 = New York Cosmos

|score = 3–0

|report =

|team2 = Fort Lauderdale Strikers

|goals1 = Romero {{goal|47:55|Chinaglia, Bogićević}}
Chinaglia {{goal|70:06|Davis, Rijsbergen}}
Chinaglia {{goal|87:07|Cabañas}}

|goals2 =

|stadium = RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

|attendance = 50,768{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JPBgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AG4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1241,2941687&dq=cosmos+strikers+soccer+bowl&hl=en|title = The Evening News - Google News Archive Search}}

|referee = Paul Avis (Canada){{Cite web |url=http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788 |title=NASL Soccer Bowl |access-date=October 17, 2013 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105045420/http://www.naslsoccerbowl.com/index.php?id=788 |url-status=dead }}

}}

1980 NASL Champions: New York Cosmos

• Most Valuable Player: Roger Davies, Seattle
• Coach of the year: Alan Hinton, Seattle
• Rookie of the year: Jeff Durgan, New York
• North American Player of the Year: Jack Brand, Seattle{{Cite web |url=http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/en-us/halloffame/virtualhalloffame/players/jackbrand.aspx |title=Jack Brand |access-date=2013-05-08 |archive-date=2012-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518101743/http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/en-us/halloffame/virtualhalloffame/players/jackbrand.aspx |url-status=dead }}

{{Reflist}}

{{cite book |title=1980 Official North American Soccer League Guide |publisher=North American Soccer League |year=1980 |location=New York, NY}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsdxLnn5wWI&list=PL235DC04966F036D9 Video of 1980 goals of the year]
• [http://soccerstats.us/c/north-american-soccer-league/1980/ Complete Results and Standings]

{{North American Soccer League (1966–85)}}

{{1980 in American soccer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 North American Soccer League Season}}

Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) seasons

Category:1980 in American soccer leagues

Category:1980 in Canadian soccer