Former Celtic, Rangers and Scotland striker Mo Johnston did spend six seasons at the Kansas City Wizards, where ex-Rangers, Tottenham and Scotland defender Richard Gough was a teammate. Manchester City and West Ham midfielder Ian Bishop and former Arsenal League Cup hero Steve Morrow have been among other British imports, while John Spencer, the former Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers, Everton and Scotland striker, was in his third season of leading the Colorado Rapids attack in 2003.
For a while it appeared as though the MLS might take a step down a path trodden by the NASL when Paul Gascoigne was given a week’s trial by Washington DC United following the 2002 season, but the decision was made not to sign a player who would undoubtedly have raised the league’s profile.
Had Gascoigne played for Washington, his coach would have been fellow Geordie Ray Hudson, the ex-Newcastle midfielder. Hudson was in his second season at United in 2003, having previously coached the Miami Fusion, and is one of a small group who span the NASL and MLS eras. Another is Hudson’s former coach at the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Ron Newman – winner of more games than any other coach in NASL history – who led the Kansas City Wizards through the first couple of MLS seasons. Meanwhile, Roy Wegerle, the South African-born forward who was the NASL’s final Rookie of the Year and spent most of his career in England, was one of the US internationals who returned from foreign fields when the MLS kicked off.
A notable British name in the MLS during 2003 was that of former Liverpool and Scotland defender Steve Nicol, who took over as head coach of an ailing New England Revolution team the previous year and led them to the MLS Cup final. Nicol has seen enough in two years in America to believe that the MLS is rapidly closing the gap on the rest of the world. ‘I think we and the other MLS teams could hold our own in Division One of the Nationwide League,’ he says. ‘There may be too much depth in the Premiership for us to compete with the big teams, but maybe we could give the lower teams a run for their money. There’s certainly a possibility that in ten years’ time there could be a whole wealth of talent. The young guys coming through now are a real step up from what they had ten years ago. If they continue at that rate they’ll have a great national team and a strong league.’
Nicol warns that ‘if they think for one minute that soccer’s made it here, then it will just go down the pan’ and endorses the league’s continuing policy of shying away from NASL-style importing of ageing superstars. ‘It doesn’t look good for the league if they bring in retired guys, although people like that can pass on something to this country. There’s a fine dividing line between someone who’s coming here for a rest and someone who is going to work hard and do their stuff.’
While the MLS continues to combat that issue, and other problems faced by the NASL, some of its predecessor’s obstacles remain. Most significant is the simple fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans remain uninterested in watching professional soccer on a regular basis. The MLS’s determination to develop American players has undoubtedly raised the standard of the national team, but the fact that the USA is now good enough to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup remains of only passing interest. To a sporting public used to seeing its nation triumph on the world stage, nothing less than winning the World Cup seems likely to achieve the surge of interest that Phil Woosnam always argued would result from national team success. In fact, the 1999 World Cup victory of the US women’s team, in front of 90,000 fans in Los Angeles, captured the imagination to a far greater extent than the men’s achievement in the Far East three years later.
For now, however, professional soccer is at least re-established in the United States and, thanks to a sensible, safety-first business plan, appears to have a decent chance of achieving longevity. But the edge, excitement and anti-establishment feel of the NASL is still missed by many. The conservative MLS even allows games to end in a draw!
The North American Soccer League dared to be big; it screamed to be heard in the brash and boisterous world of American sport. Perhaps the kind of caution and common sense exhibited by Major League Soccer would have kept it in business for longer. But, as any of the NASL’s British contingent will tell you, it wouldn’t have been half as much fun.
Appendix
NASL Championship Games, 1967–84
1967 (NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE)
Baltimore Bays 1 (Viollet), Oakland Clippers 0. Attendance: 16,329 Oakland Clippers 4 (Djukic 3, Marin), Baltimore Bays 1 (St Vil). Attendance: 9,037
(Oakland won 4–2 on aggregate)
1967 (UNITED SOCCER ASSOCIATION), LOS ANGELES COLISEUM
Los Angeles Wolves 6 (Knowles, Burnside 3, Dougan, Shewan o.g.), Washington Whips 5 (Smith, Munro 3, Storrie). Attendance: 17,824
1968
San Diego Toros 0, Atlanta Chiefs 0. Attendance: 9,360
Atlanta Chiefs 3 (McParland, Scott, Motaung), San Diego Toros 0. Attendance: 14,994
(Atlanta won 3–0 on aggregate)
1969
No championship game. Championship won by Kansas City Spurs
1970
Rochester Lancers 3 (Costa 2, Marotti), Washington Darts 0. Attendance: 9,321
Washington Darts 3 (DeLeon, Nana, Browne), Rochester Lancers 1 (Costa). Attendance: 5,543
(Rochester won 4–3 on aggregate)
1971
Atlanta Chiefs 2 (Uriel, Motaung),
Dallas Tornado 1 (Molnar). Dallas Tornado 4 (Tinney, Juracy 2, McLoughlin), Atlanta Chiefs 1 (Largie).
Atlanta Chiefs 0, Dallas Tornado 2 (Renshaw, Moffat). Attendance: 4,687
(Dallas won series 2–1)
1972
New York 2 (Horton, Jelinek), St Louis Stars 1 (Frankiewicz). Hofstra Stadium, New York. Attendance: 6,102
1973
Dallas Tornado 0, Philadelphia Atoms 2 (Best o.g., Straub). Irving Stadium, Texas. Attendance: 18,824
1974
Los Angeles Aztecs 3 (De Rienzo, Banhoffer, McMillan), Miami Toros 3 (Wright, o.g., Aranguiz). Orange Bowl, Miami. Attendance: 15,507
(After extra time. Los Angeles won on penalties)
1975
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 (Auguste, Best), Portland Timbers 0. Spartan Stadium, San Jose. Attendance: 17,009
1976
Toronto Metros-Croatia 3 (Eusebio, Lukacevic, Ferreira), Minnesota Kicks 0. Kingdome, Seattle. Attendance: 25,765
1977
New York Cosmos 2 (Hunt, Chinaglia), Seattle Sounders 1 (Ord). Civic Stadium, Portland. Attendance: 35,548
1978
New York Cosmos 3 (Tueart 2, Chinaglia), Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 (Mirandinha). Giants Stadium, New Jersey. Attendance: 74,901
1979
Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (Whymark 2), Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 (Van der Veen). Giants Stadium, New Jersey. Attendance: 50,699
1980
New York Cosmos 3 (Romero, Chinaglia 2), Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0. RFK Stadium, Washington DC. Attendance: 50,768
1981
Chicago Sting 0, New York Cosmos 0. Exhibition Stadium, Toronto. Attendance: 36,971
(After extra time. Chicago won in a shoot-out)
1982
New York Cosmos 1 (Chinaglia), Seattle Sounders 0. Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego. Attendance: 22,634
1983
Tulsa Roughnecks 2 (Pesa, Futcher), Toronto Blizzard 0. Empire Stadium, Vancouver. Attendance: 60,051
1984
Chicago Sting 2 (Margetic, Rojas), Toronto Blizzard 1 (Wilson). Attendance: 8,352
Toronto Blizzard 2 (Paskin, Bettega), Chicago Sting 3 (Simanton, Margetic 2). Attendance: 16,821
(Chicago won series 2–0)
Sources
Interviews
Laurie Abrahams, Ken Adam, Alan Ball, Geoff Barnett, John Best, Alan Birchenall, Jeff Bourne, Gordon Bradley, Laurie Calloway, Noel Cantwell, Vince Casey, David Chadwick, Paul Child, Bobby Clark, Charlie Cooke, Chris Dangerfield, Roger Davies, Peter Dinsdale, Steve Earle, Keith Eddy, Roy Evans, Ken Furphy, Ron Futcher, Terry Garbett, Gordon Jago, Stewart Jump, Paul Hammond, Ray Hankin, Mick
Hoban, David Irving, Graham Leggat, Mark Lindsay, Bobby McAlinden, Bob McNab, Peter McParland, Don Megson, Alan Merrick, Ron Newman, John O’Hare, Derek Possee, Bruce Rioch, Neil Rioch, Jon Sammels, Peter Simpson, Derek Smethurst, Brian Tinnion, Clive Toye, Tony Waiters, Peter Wall, Colin Waldron, Peter Ward, Keith Weller, Alan West, Trevor Whymark, Alan Willey, Peter Withe, Phil Woosnam
Books
Arriverderci Swansea: The Giorgio Chinaglia Story, Mario Risoli (Mainstream, 2000)
Banks of England, Gordon Banks (Arthur Baker, 1980)
Blessed, George Best (Ebury Press, 2001)
Bring Back The Birch, Alan Birchenall with Paul Mace (Polar, 2000)
Children of the Revolution, Richard Whitehead (Sports Projects, 2001)
Chronicle of America (Longman Chronicle, 1989)
Deadly, Doug Ellis (Sports Projects, 1998)
Doog, Derek Dougan (All Seasons, 1980)
Football League Players’ Records, 1946–92, Barry J. Hugman (Tony Williams Publishing, 1992)
Football’s Strangest Matches, Andrew Ward (Past Times, 1999)
I Did It the Hard Way, Tommy Smith (Arthur Baker, 1980)
The Jimmy Hill Story, Jimmy Hill (Hodder & Stoughton, 1999)
NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League, Colin Jose (Breedon Books, 1989)
Priceless, Rodney Marsh (Headline, 2001)
Rothman’s Football Yearbook (Queen Anne Press, various)
The Seventies Revisited, Kevin Keegan (Leeward Queen Anne Press, 1994)
Sporting News Chronicle of 20th Century Sport, Ron Smith (Hamlyn, 1997)
Working Man’s Ballet, Alan Hudson (Robson Books, 1997)
Other Publications
Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Goal, Kick: The Official Magazine of the North American Soccer League, Shoot, The Sun, The Times, World Soccer
Internet Sites
American Soccer History Archives (www.sover.net/~spectrum) Soccer Base (www.soccerbase.com)
Playing for Uncle Sam Page 31