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National Professional Soccer League (1967)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from NPSL I)

National Professional Soccer League
Founded1967
Folded1967; 59 years ago (1967) (merged with USA to form NASL in 1968)
CountryUnited States
Other club fromCanada
Number of clubs10
Level on pyramid1 (unofficial)
Last championsOakland Clippers
(1967)
Most championshipsOakland Clippers (1 title)
Broadcaster(s)CBS

The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) was a North American professional soccer league that existed for only the 1967 season before merging with the United Soccer Association (USA) to form the North American Soccer League. It was a "wild league", as it was not sanctioned by FIFA.[1]

It had ten charter members, nine from the United States and one from Canada. To encourage attacking play, the NPSL introduced a new standings points system that was later used by the NASL – 6 points for a win, 3 for a draw, 0 for a loss and 1 bonus point for each of the first three goals scored. The circuit's commissioner was Ken Macker, an American publisher of three Philippines-based newspapers. The name National Professional Soccer League was revived in 1990 and used by a United States professional indoor soccer league.

Origins

[edit]

In 1966, a group of sports entrepreneurs led by Bill Cox and Robert Hermann formed a consortium called the North American Professional Soccer League with the intention of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. However, this was just one of three groups with similar plans. The NAPSL eventually merged with one of these groups, the National Soccer League, led by Richard Millen, to form the National Professional Soccer League. A third group, the United Soccer Association was sanctioned by both the USSFA and FIFA. The NPSL did not receive sanctioning by the USSFA as they refused to pay the $25,000 fee,[2] was branded an outlawed entity by FIFA, and players faced penalties for signing with it. Despite this the NPSL, which secured a TV contract from CBS, set about recruiting players, and announced it would be ready to launch in 1967.

Teams

[edit]
Nat. Team Stadium Capac. Owner
United StatesAtlanta Chiefs Atlanta Stadium50,893 William Bartholomay (Atlanta Braves)
United StatesBaltimore Bays Memorial Stadium52,185 Jerold Hoffberger (Baltimore Orioles)
United StatesChicago Spurs Soldier Field100,000 William B. Cutler, Michael Butler
United StatesLos Angeles Toros Memorial Coliseum93,000 Dan Reeves (Los Angeles Rams)
United StatesNew York Generals Yankee Stadium67,000 RKO General Inc., Elser Enterprises Inc.
United StatesOakland Clippers Oakland Coliseum53,000 Joseph O'Neill, H.T. Hilliard
United StatesPhiladelphia Spartans Temple Stadium20,000 John Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers)
United StatesPittsburgh Phantoms Forbes Field35,714 Peter Block, Richard George (Pittsburgh Penguins)
United StatesSt. Louis Stars Busch Memorial Stadium50,000 Bob Hermann/Bill Bidwill (St. Louis Cardinals football)
CanadaToronto Falcons Varsity Stadium25,000 Joseph Peters

Map of clubs

[edit]
NPSL clubs

1967 season recap

[edit]

The NPSL kicked off on Sunday, April 16 with a full slate of five matches attended by a total of 46,547 fans. The largest crowd of the day was found in Philadelphia, where 14,163 cheered the hometown Spartans to a 2–0 victory over the Toronto Falcons.[3] The most notable game however, was Baltimore's 1–0 home victory over Atlanta in front of a crowd of just 8,434. It was televised by CBS which had signed a two-year contract to broadcast a game every Sunday afternoon live and in color. Play-by-play voice Jack Whitaker was joined by the former Northern Ireland international Danny Blanchflower as a pundit. Blanchflower was not impressed with the standard of play and did not hesitate to say so.[4]

The NPSL was also criticised after Pittsburgh's 2–1 triumph over Toronto in the Falcons' home opener on Sunday, May 14. Of the twenty-one fouls that afternoon, eleven were called to allow CBS to insert commercials into its telecast. Referee Peter Rhodes also admitted that he had forced players to fake injuries to serve the same purpose. This raised many questions about whether the television networks and its sponsors were having too much influence over televised sporting events.

The NPSL did however attract some notable players including three former Aston Villa players Phil Woosnam, Vic Crowe and Peter McParland who, together with another veteran of the English League, Ron Newman, all turned out for the Atlanta Chiefs. Two ex-Real Madrid players, Juan Santisteban and Yanko Daucik, also turned out for the Baltimore Bays and Toronto Falcons respectively. Santisteban made the NPSL All-Star team and Daucik finished as the league's top scorer.

The Oakland Clippers laid claim to the regular season title boasting both the best record and the most total points in either division. In the NPSL Finals the Western Division champion Clippers defeated the Bays, winners of the Eastern Division for the NPSL Championship by virtue of a 4–2 aggregate. Dennis Viollet gave Baltimore a 1–0 win on Sunday, September 3, before a home crowd of 16,619. Six days later, in the second leg at Oakland, Dragan Đukić scored a hat trick as the Clippers won 4–1 in front of 9,037.

On the same day as the second leg of the NPSL final, the St. Louis Stars defeated Philadelphia, 2–1, in a battle of division runner-ups held in St. Louis before a crowd of 9,565. The victory gave the Stars a berth in the Commissioner's Cup versus Oakland.[5] On September 18, the Clippers completed the NPSL treble, by defeating the Stars for the Commissioner's Cup in front of 8,415 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium by the score of 6–3.[6]

1967 regular season

[edit]

P = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = point system

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game.

  Premiers (most points)   Other playoff team
Eastern Division PWLTGFGAPts
Baltimore Bays3214995347162
Philadelphia Spartans3214995343157
New York Generals32111386058143
Atlanta Chiefs31101295146135
Pittsburgh Phantoms31101475974132
Western Division PWLTGFGAPts
Oakland Clippers3219856434185
St. Louis Stars32141175457156
Chicago Spurs321011115055142
Toronto Falcons32101755970127
Los Angeles Toros32715104261114

NPSL League leaders

[edit]

GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Czechoslovakia Yanko Daucik Toronto1720848
United States Willy Roy Chicago2717539
Germany Rudolf Kölbl St. Louis2315838
Brazil Eli Durante Los Angeles2315535
England Manfred Rummel Pittsburgh1914432
United States Ilija Mitic Oakland1913329
Argentina Oscar López Toronto2512529
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Bora Kostić St. Louis2812529
Scotland Ernie Winchester Chicago1313228
Poland Norbert Pogrzeba St. Louis3111628
Argentina Orlando Garro Philadelphia2012226
Brazil Mario Baesso Oakland1711426
Netherlands Co Prins Pittsburgh218925
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Selemir Milošević Oakland1212024
United States Manfred Seissler Pittsburgh1610424

[7]

NPSL All-Stars

[edit]

Sources:[8][9]

First team player Pos. Team
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Mirko Stojanovic GOakland
England Mel Scott DOakland
Brazil Badu DaCruz DBaltimore
Argentina Rubén Navarro DPhiladelphia
Spain Juan Santisteban MBaltimore
United States Ilija Mitic MOakland
United States Willy Roy FChicago
Netherlands Co Prins FPittsburgh
Brazil Mario Baesso FOakland
Jamaica Art Welch FBaltimore
Zambia Emment Kapengwe FAtlanta

NPSL Final 1967

[edit]
Western Division Champion Aggregate Eastern Division Champion First leg Second leg Attendance
Oakland Clippers4–2Baltimore Bays0–14–1September 3 • Memorial Stadium • 16,619
September 9 • Oakland-Alameda Coliseum • 9,037
September 3, 1967 First leg Baltimore Bays 1–0 Oakland Clippers Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
2:15 PM EDT Dennis Viollet (71:41) Report 1
Report 2		 Attendance: 16,619
Referee: Walter Crossley (England)[citation needed]
September 9, 1967 Second leg Oakland Clippers[10] 4–1 Baltimore Bays Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, Oakland, California
12:45 PDT Dragan Djukic 27' (Davidovic)
Dragan Djukic 35' (Davidovic)
Dragan Djukic 38' (pen.)
Edgar Marín ((Mitic) 58)		 Report 1
Report 2		 Juan Santisteban Red card 38'
Guy Saint-Vil 41' (Asher Welch)		 Attendance: 9,037
Referee: Mike Ashkenazi


1967 NPSL Champions: Oakland Clippers

NPSL Commissioner's Cup 1967

[edit]

The Commissioner's Cup was a one-off challenge match between the NPSL Champion and the winner of a third-place match between the two division runners-up. On September 9 the St. Louis Stars defeated the Philadelphia Spartans 2–1 to secure their place in the match. Earlier that same day the Oakland Clippers were crowned NPSL champions with a, 4–2, two-match aggregate victory over the Baltimore Bays to claim the other cup spot.[11]

September 18, 1967 Cup match St. Louis Stars 3–6 Oakland Clippers Busch Memorial Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
7:30 PM CDT Norb Pogrezba 36'
Bora Kostić , (pen.)		 Report Joe Fuhrman red-colored football 10' (o.g.)
Edgar Marín 25', 51'
George Lievano 28'
Ilija Mitić 40'
Sele Milosević 80'		 Attendance: 8,415
Referee: Emmett Brennan

Post season awards

[edit]

NASL formation

[edit]

In December 1967, the NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. As a result of the merger several of the original NPSL franchises folded or relocated. This was partly to avoid some cities having two teams. Philadelphia Spartans and Pittsburgh Phantoms both folded, while Chicago Spurs became Kansas City Spurs and Los Angeles Toros became San Diego Toros. Together with New York Generals, Baltimore Bays, Atlanta Chiefs, Toronto Falcons, St. Louis Stars and Oakland Clippers, these teams then became founding members of the NASL. However, only Atlanta Chiefs, who won the inaugural NASL title, and St. Louis Stars enjoyed any longevity. The remaining franchises all folded by 1970.

Notable players

[edit]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Official 1968 North American Soccer League Guide. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1968.
  • Durso, Joseph. "Local Pro Soccer Teams May Share Stadium With Yanks in Spring", The New York Times, Sunday, February 12, 1967.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ The 1967 USA Soccer War by Corey Almond at footballheritage.co.uk. 18 Apr 2026
  2. ↑ Logan, Gabe (2019). The Early Years of Chicago Soccer, 1887–1939. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 240. ISBN 9781498599047.
  3. ↑ "The Norwalk Hour - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  4. ↑ Maule, Tex "Kickoff For A Babel Of Booters"[link removed] Sports Illustrated, April 24, 1967
  5. ↑ Meyers, Jeff (September 10, 1967). "Stars Take Playoff". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1B. Retrieved October 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Meyers, Jeff (September 19, 1967). "Clippers Down Stars, Win Cup". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 5C. Retrieved October 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "North American Soccer League".
  8. ↑ "This page is dedicated to the history of the NASL (North American Soccer League)". home.att.net. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Steve Dimitry's NASL Web Page".
  10. 1 2 Seese, Dennis J. (2015). The Rebirth of Professional Soccer in America: The Strange Days of the United Soccer Association. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 173–175. ISBN 978-1442238947.
  11. ↑ Meyers, Jeff (September 10, 1967). "Stars Take Playoff". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1B. Retrieved October 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "The Year in American Soccer - 1967". homepages.sover.net. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
[edit]
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