NASL had a fascinating attraction power on everyone. Players from all over the globe featured and the last season played was 1984. Chicago Sting played Toronto Blizzard in the Soccerbowl. Sting ended up as winners with a 2-0 win in the last of three games.
NASL had a bit of complexity about them, not playing with FIFA rules, having shoot outs, other offside rules and playing on artificial turfs. It was something different, but soccer were not strange or difficult to play for a professional.
There were nine clubs involved in that last season. Chicago Sting, Golden Bay Earthquakes, Minnesota Strikers, New York Cosmos, San Diego Sockers, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Toronto Blizzard, Tulsa Roughnecks and Vancouver Whitecaps.
All of these clubs had a short history, being established on some sort of idea of a new and exciting football adventure happening over in America. Soccer has been a sport played in USA almost as long as the game has excisted, being introduced by English sailors, same as in most other countries.
A professional football league in America, ASL has excisted since 1921. This original league excisted until 1931. Then a new ASL started up in 1933, and lasted to 1983, folding, a year before NASL. This shows how strange everything looked, having competitive leagues not really based on a system of relegation and promotion. Anyway and as strange at it sounds, when NASL foulded in 1984, some of the clubs started to compete in other competitions in soccer in the USA and Canada, so life went on, but far from the sircus we had seen since 1968, when the NASL was launched.
None of the teams in that first 1968 season excisted when everything foulded after the 1984 season. New York Cosmos was the longest serving, had been in the league since 1971. San Jose Earthquakes came into the NASL in 1974, but from 1983 to 1984, named Golden Bay Earthquakes. Minnesota Strikers, had moved from Fort Lauderdale in front of the 1984 season, strangely leaving Florida, as Minnesota no longer had a professional soccer team, with a grand following, so they believed it would be good just to move. Fort Lauderdale Strikers had their first season in NASL in 1977.
1975 was the first season for Chicago Sting. San Diego Sockers joined in 1977. The club had a previous life as San Diego Jaws, then became Las Vegas Quicksilvers and for a season known as Baltimore Comets. Tampa Bay Rowdies had their first season in 1975. Rowdies continued to play as soccer team in different leagues until 1994. A phoenix club is back up, being founded in 2008 and excist today.
Toronto Blizzard, joined the NASL in 1971, known as Toronto Metros. In 1975, 50% of the team was purchased for $250,000 by the Toronto Croatia of the Canadian National Soccer League (NSL), and the team became the Toronto Metros-Croatia. From 1979 named Toronto Blizzard. Tulsa Roughnecks was also among the teams playing in the last season of NASL. They were before 1978, known as Team Hawaii and before that San Antonio Thunder, founded in 1975.
The last of the nine clubs appearing in the 1984 NASL season was Vancouver Whitecaps. Whitecaps was founded in 1973 and had great success depending on English League Stars. In that last season they had Carl Valentine, David Cross, Mick Martin, Tony Towers, Peter Ward, Franz Thijssen, Colin Todd and Paul Bradshaw. Alan Hinton was their head coach.
#OnThisDay in 1984 – #ChicagoSting captured its 2nd #SoccerBowl trophy after defeating hosts #TorontoBlizzard, 3:2, in 2nd game & clinched #NASL Final Series, before 16,842 fans, at Canada’s Varsity Stadium. Pato Margetic scored twice for #Chicago. pic.twitter.com/wlicsweBZm
— Steven Torres (@Steve1T) October 3, 2025
Looking further on players who had some sort of a star mark on them, there were a few. New York Cosmos still had Hubert Birkenmeier in goal. Prevously playing in German football for Tennis Borussia Berlin and Freiburger FC, becoming famous when joining New York Cosmos. Andranik Eskandarian had also established himself as a quality defender, picked up after impressive performances in the 1978 World Cup for Iran. Wladuzlaw Zmuda was a quality defender representing Poland. Other star names, Johan Neeskens, Vladislav Bogicevic, Dragan Vujovic, Chico Borja and Roberto Cabanas. Former Coventry forward Alan Green was also in their squad. Eddie Firmani was their coach in that last season.
Chicago Sting always had strong teams, being coached by Willy Roy. Argentinian Pato Margetic was a talented player. Karl Heinz Granitza was a German forward who shone in NASL. Dave Huson was a name to appear, born on Jersey, but never played professional football in England. Minnesota Strikers had influence from star names such as Brian Kidd, Godfrey Ingram, Ken Fogarty, Ricardo Villa, Paul Price, Ray Hudson and Peter Daniel.
San Diego Sockers being coached by Ron Newman, having their best players in Kaz Deyna, Steve Daley, Ade Coker and Laurie Abrahams. Tampa Bay Rowdies had South African’s, Roy Wegerle, Steve Wegerle, Mike Connell and Neill Roberts. Stuart Lee and Don McAllister were two players with a past in English football, known for their time at Man City (SL) and Spurs (DM).
Toronto Blizzard had Swedish international Conny Karlsson in their squad. Jimmy Nichol, Ace Ntsolengoe, Roberto Bettega, Cliff Calvert and Roberto Bettega were other known names in their set up. This season former Ipswich, Everton and Liverpool forward Dave Johnson played for Tulsa Roughnecks. Ron Futcher, Dave Bradford, Bill Caskey and Vic Moreland were other players known from English football.
If you look at the names and star factor from that last season in the NASL, you had still a nice group of special names being involved. There were also the unknown for us European, but still names popular in this league of soccer.
Elvis Comrie is a name to mention. Comrie was born in England to Jamaican parents. He was named after Elvis Presley. He played for both his school team, the Bristol Boys and his club team, the Kingsford Rangers, part of the Bristol City club system.
When he was ten, Comrie’s father moved to the U.S. where he settled in Brooklyn and worked to bring over his family. Comrie played for Chicago Sting and New York Cosmos. He was part of the Soccer Bowl winning team in 1984.
Another massive name in NASL soccer history is Bob Lenarduzzi. He began his professional playing career as a midfielder and defender at age 15 with Reading in the English Football League and went on to play 67 first-team games and score 2 goals with the club.
Lenarduzzi then also joined the NASL Vancouver Whitecaps in 1974 in the team’s first season. Until 1976, he divided his time between Vancouver in the summer and Reading in the winter. He played 11 seasons for Vancouver until the Whitecaps’ last season in 1984, when the league folded.
Lenarduzzi holds the record for most games played in the league, with 312. Lenarduzzi played all eleven positions during his tenure with the team, including 45 minutes as goalkeeper. He was also voted NASL North American player of the year in 1978. The Whitecaps won the NASL Soccer Bowl championship in 1979. In 1984, Lenarduzzi joined the Tacoma Stars of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).
He spent two seasons with them before in 1986 becoming executive director of the Vancouver 86ers of the Canadian Soccer League. In 1987, he returned to the field as a player and a coach with the 86ers.
Gerry Gray must also be mentioned. Born and raised in Scotland, Gray moved to Toronto, Ontario[1] with his family at the age of 12 and played for several teams in Canada and the United States in the NASL. In 1982 Gray was named to the NASL’s first North American All-Star team.
Gray also played indoor soccer in the original MISL for the Chicago Sting as well as the Tacoma Stars.
Gray played outdoors again in the Canadian Soccer League with the Ottawa Intrepid in 1988, Hamilton Steelers in 1989, Toronto Blizzard in 1990, the Steelers again in 1991, and then the Blizzard again in the same year.[2]
In April 2001, Gray was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.
The Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League (NASL) selected Rudy Glenn in the first round (third overall) of the 1979 NASL College Draft. Glenn went on to become an accomplished defender for the Sting. He scored the decisive goal in the penalty shootout phase of the 1981 NASL championship match, which had remained scoreless after 90 minutes of regulation and 15 minutes of golden goal extra time. In 1983, the U.S. Soccer Federation, in coordination with the NASL, entered the U.S. national team—known as Team America—into the NASL as a league franchise. The team drew on U.S. citizens competing in the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League, and American Soccer League. Glenn departed the Sting and signed with Team America. When Team America concluded the 1983 season with a 10–20 record, the worst in the NASL, the USSF withdrew the team from the league. Glenn then returned to the Sting and remained with the club until his retirement from playing. In 1984, the Sting secured a second NASL championship, the final title in the league’s history. At the end of that season, the NASL folded and the Sting transitioned to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Glenn stayed with the Sting and played two seasons in the MISL. During the 1985–1986 season, he made only eight appearances, scoring one goal, before sustaining an injury. He was released by the Sting on May 1, 1986. In October 1986, Glenn joined the Chicago Shoccers of the American Indoor Soccer Association.
There are many more names to count from that last season of NASL, but we will close this chapter with the names brought up above.
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