American Conference
LeagueNorth American Soccer League
SportSoccer
Inaugural season1978
Ceased1980
DivisionsEast
Central
West
No. of teams12
Most titlesTampa Bay Rowdies (2 titles)

The American Soccer Conference was one of two conferences of the original North American Soccer League between 1978 and 1980. It along with the National Conference were formed for the 1978 season as part of a realignment to accommodate an expanding league, and bolster more competitive play which had been lacking under the previous Atlantic and Pacific conferences. It is speculated, that the league decided to realign the league to be more similar to the National Football League (American football) format, with one league official stating that the league hoped that new expansions and initiatives would cause "enough demand for soccer that they [could] sell the TV rights to two networks like the NFL did."[1] During the three seasons using the American/National alignment, American Conference teams struggled to compete against their National Conference counterparts, with the American Conference champion failing to win the Soccer Bowl in every season.

Teams

Following the realignment, the conference was initially made up of five teams from the Atlantic Conference, two teams from the Pacific Conference, and five teams making their NASL debut. After playing just one season, the Oakland Stompers were sold and relocated to Edmonton.

Team Division First season[lower-alpha 1] Last season[lower-alpha 1] Previous conference (division)
Fort Lauderdale StrikersEast19781980Atlantic (East)
New England Tea MenEast197819801978 debut
Philadelphia FuryEast197819801978 debut
Tampa Bay RowdiesEast19781980Atlantic (East)
Chicago StingCentral19781980Atlantic (North)
Detroit ExpressCentral197819801978 debut
Houston HurricaneCentral197819801978 debut
Memphis RoguesCentral197819801978 debut
California SurfWest19781980Atlantic (North)[lower-alpha 2]
Oakland StompersWest19781978Atlantic (North)[lower-alpha 3]
San Diego SockersWest19781980Pacific (South)[lower-alpha 4]
San Jose EarthquakesWest19781980Pacific (West)
Edmonton DrillersWest19791980American (West)[lower-alpha 5]
  1. 1 2 Season played in the American Conference. Teams may have played before and/or after the conference existed.
  2. ↑ Relocated from St. Louis.
  3. ↑ Relocated from Connecticut.
  4. ↑ Relocated from Las Vegas.
  5. ↑ Relocated from Oakland.

Conference honors

American Conference championships

Bold Won NASL Championship
Season Champions Series Runners-up
1978 Tampa Bay Rowdies2–1[n 1]Fort Lauderdale Strikers
1979 Tampa Bay Rowdies2–1[n 1]San Diego Sockers
1980 Fort Lauderdale Strikers2–1[n 1]San Diego Sockers
  1. 1 2 3 Series tied 1–1, mini-game used as tiebreaker

Regular season titles

Bold NASL Premiers
Year Team Division Points (W–L) Playoffs result
1978 Detroit ExpressCentral176 (20–10)Conference Semifinals
Tampa Bay RowdiesEast165 (18–12)Lost Soccer Bowl
San Diego SockersWest164 (18–12)Conference Semifinals
1979 Houston HurricaneCentral187 (22–8)First Round
Tampa Bay RowdiesEast169 (19–11)Lost Soccer Bowl
San Diego SockersWest140 (15–15)Lost Conference Final
1980 Chicago StingCentral187 (21–11)First Round
Tampa Bay RowdiesEast168 (19–13)Conference Semifinals
Edmonton DrillersWest149 (17–15)Conference Semifinals

See also

References

  1. ↑ John Feinstein (March 19, 1978). "An Expanded but Pele-Less NASL Kicks Off Season April 1". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
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