North American Soccer League (Div. 1)
Midway through the 1969 season, at a meeting in Dallas, Baltimore Bays had informed the league that they would not continue in 1970. Woosnam faced the prospect of another backward step, as a four-team league would have been simply unworkable. With his usual perseverance, Woosnam kept Baltimore’s plans quiet, and went out and persuaded Rochester Lancers and Washington Darts to transfer from the American Soccer League to the NASL; moreover, the two sides had to pay a $10,000 franchise fee for the privilege.
Woosnam’s ruse enabled the league to cheat death once more: with the two new teams, the league grew to six. Budgets were kept low, but the schedule was expanded to 24 games, and playoffs were reinstated.
Another International Cup was put on the schedule, but with a difference: this time it was the league teams against touring foreign clubs, with the games counting in the NASL standings. Coventry City (England), Hertha Berlin (West Germany), and Varzim (Portugal) all played six matches, one each against the NASL clubs. The fourth visitor-Hapoel Petah Tikva of Israel-only played five matches, though, skipping Dallas as Tornado owner Lamar Hunt figured a match against Israelis would not be good for his Arab oil business; Monterrey (Mexico) was the one game substitute. Washington Darts took the International Cup with a 2-2-0 record and 20 points, defeating Varzim and Hapoel Petah Tikva. The Darts went on to compile the league’s best record.
As it turned out, the most important event in the NASL’s season occurred off the pitch. During June, Woosnam met Neshui Ertegun at a cocktail party and struck up a friendship. Ertegun-executive vice president of Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Communications-was a soccer fanatic, and interested in Woosnam’s efforts to make pro soccer go over in the United States. The new friendship would pay off a substantial dividend by the end of the year.
Defense dominated the league, as demonstrated by Washington, led by goalkeeper-coach Lincoln Phillips-if leading can be exemplified by shouting and scolding his teammates for ninety minutes. With Willie Evans and Chris Dunleavy on the back line and ex-New York General Warren Archibald leading the offense, the Darts pitched 12 shutouts, including four in a row. Phillips recorded an 0.94 goals against average, and the side conceded only 29 goals in 24 games.
With their 14-6-4 record, the Darts were favorites in the playoffs as Southern Division champions. However, the favorites were upset by their fellow ASL alumnus Rochester, barely a .500 club during the regular season. The Lancers won a t home, 3-0, before 9,321 fans, and though they lost the second leg, 3-1, before 5,543 in Washington, they took the crown on total goals. Rochester was led by Carlos "Little Mouse" Metidieri, a 5’4’’star forward with Los Angeles Toros in 1968 and back in the league after a one year hiatus, who was the league MVP and tied for the NASL scoring title with 14 goals and 7 assists. Dallas’ Kirk Apostoldis also had 35 points, with 16 goals and 3 assists. St. Louis Stars’ Jim Leeker was the NASL’s first native-born American Rookie of the Year. Pat McBride became the first native to be named to a post-season all-star berth, making the second team. While St. Louis had carried 19 Yanks on its roster, only two others-Atlanta’s Manley Carter and Kansas City’s Sandy Feher-were in the league.
The NASL All-Stars capped the season by drawing 13,222 to Soldier Field in Chicago to see Pelé and Santos of Brazil beat them, 4-3, on a rebound of a Pelé shot. Dragan Popovic (St. Louis), Art Welch, Warren Archibald and American Pat McBride were among the All-Stars. Some weeks earlier, Santos smoked Washington, 7-4, with Pelé scoring 4 goals. All told, the performances on the field had improved considerably, even if crowds were only up to about 3,600 per game. Rochester led the way at 5,257 per game; St. Louis averaged 3,202 as the locals continued to be lukewarm in their support of their own
