The Soccer Bowl was the championship game of the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1983. The event was created by NASL Commissioner Phil Woosnam, who was trying to build a neutral-site championship event in the mold of the NFL's Super Bowl.
Unlike the Super Bowl, the game was not denoted by Roman numerals (Super Bowl XVI, for example). Instead, the last two digits of the year would be used to denote which game it was (say, Soccer Bowl '78). As the NASL hit financial problems, 1984 – the league's final year – saw it abandon the neutral-site format for a best-of-three series played at each team's home field.
Prior to 1975, the NASL had used various championship formats. While there had been single-game finals since 1972, the 1968 NASL season and 1970 NASL season had been decided by a two-game aggregate goals series. Similar to 1984, the 1971 NASL season was decided by a best-of-three championship series. There were no playoffs for the 1969 NASL season, as the regular-season champion was declared the league winner.
Read more about Soccer Bowl: Game Results
Famous quotes containing the words soccer and/or bowl:
“If we were doing this in the Falklands they would love it. It’s part of our heritage. The British have always been fighting wars.”
—British soccer fan. quoted in Independent (London, Dec. 23, 1988)
“Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or
the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the
cistern.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit
shall return unto God who gave it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.”
—Bible: Hebrew Ecclesiastes (l. XII, 6–7)