Long before Major League Soccer began, the North American Soccer League was the pinnacle of professional soccer in the United States. And in 1974, he joined three new teams: the Seattle Sounders, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the San Jose Earthquakes.
All three teams eventually became MLS clubs, and this season they are celebrating their 50th anniversary.
The NASL was founded in 1967 and was the first successful top league in the United States. He was one of eight teams the Whitecaps, Sounders and Earthquakes joined in 1974 as the league rapidly expanded. For all three teams, on average he attracted more than 10,000 fans per game.
very similar Lionel Messi's influence on MLS With last season's deal with Inter Miami, the NASL had its own superstar joining the league in 1975. It's the legendary Pele, where he played three seasons for the New York Cosmos.
NASL disbanded after the 1984 season, and the three clubs went through various incarnations in other leagues before joining MLS. However, these NASL clubs became integral to the growth of soccer culture in the United States.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer remembered his father, who played Sunday in the ethnic league of immigrants who brought a love of the sport to this country after World War II.
“As we get closer to the culture of soccer, the history of soccer, another World Cup, and the excitement of these major tournaments, I think we're reaching a point where all of that is relevant to the growth of our sport.” This is an announcement to MLS clubs,” Schmetzer said. “Again, this is just part of the growth of the sport in our country.”
For Earthquakes coach Luci Gonzalez, this season's commemoration is one filled with pride.
“We stay connected with members of this community and people who were involved with the club during the NASL days. “It's really important to remember what it took from the city to get to where we are and all the hard work from our staff and players over the years,” Gonzalez said.
Let's take a look at the roots of each club celebrating their golden anniversary.
we are north
The Whitecaps won the NASL Championship in 1979, defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, winning the city's first professional sports title. When they returned to Vancouver, they were invited to participate in the Robson Street parade, which drew over 100,000 people.
The Whitecaps played their first sporting event at BC Place in 1983, defeating the rival Sounders 2-1 in front of 60,342 fans.
After the NASL disbanded, the Whitecaps joined the Canadian Soccer League as the Vancouver 86ers. The team went undefeated in 46 games from 1988 to 1989.
The team, which re-adopted the Whitecaps nickname in 2000, bounced around various leagues over the next few years. However, in 2009, it was announced that Vancouver would become the 17th team in MLS, starting in 2011.
emerald city
After a contest to name the new NASL team, the Seattle Sounders were chosen. The runner-up baseball team a few years ago was the Seattle Mariners.
The Sounders drew 13,498 fans to Memorial Stadium for a regular season game against the Philadelphia Atoms, marking the first full house in NASL history in its first year.
In 1975, Portland joined the NASL, and supporters of the Timbers, Sounders, and Whitecaps created a trophy for the winner of the Cascadia Cup, a three-way rivalry that still exists in the MLS era.
The Sounders moved to the Kingdome, which was also the home of the NFL's Seahawks, in 1976. The first match at the stadium was between the Sounders and the Cosmos, with over 58,000 fans in attendance as Pele scored two goals in a 3-1 win for the Cosmos.
Seattle joined MLS in 2009 and won titles in 2016 and 2019.
rock san jose
The Earthquakes were originally scheduled to be based in San Francisco, but moved to Spartan Stadium in San Jose State, where they had the highest average attendance in the NASL in 1974.
In 1996, San Jose became one of the original teams in MLS. San Jose, then known as the Clash, played their first-ever MLS match on April 6, winning 1–0 against DC United at Spartan Stadium. American national team star Eric Wynalda scored the only goal.
The team reverted to the Earthquakes name after the 1999 season.
In 2001, the Quakes acquired Landon Donovan on loan from Bayer Leverkusen and won the MLS Cup title. He won again in 2003 with Donovan.
“As soon as you get drafted or sign here, you walk in here and you hear a lot about the legends that played here, the great stories, the rivalry games,” he said of the Quakes. current forward Ouseni Bouda said. “You can feel the history of the club.”
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AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Seattle contributed to this report.
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