The National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) was a North American professional soccer league that existed for only the 1967 season before merging with the United Soccer Association (USA) to form the North American Soccer League. It was a "wild league", as it was not sanctioned by FIFA.The 1967 USA Soccer War by Corey Almond at footballheritage.co.uk. 18 Apr 2026

It had ten charter members, nine from the United States and one from Canada. To encourage attacking play, the NPSL introduced a new standings points system that was later used by the NASL – 6 points for a win, 3 for a draw, 0 for a loss and 1 bonus point for each of the first three goals scored. The circuit's commissioner was Ken Macker, an American publisher of three Philippines-based newspapers. The name National Professional Soccer League was revived in 1990 and used by a United States professional indoor soccer league.

Origins

In 1966, a group of sports entrepreneurs led by Bill Cox and Robert Hermann formed a consortium called the North American Professional Soccer League with the intention of forming a professional soccer league in United States and Canada. However, this was just one of three groups with similar plans. The NAPSL eventually merged with one of these groups, the National Soccer League, led by Richard Millen, to form the National Professional Soccer League. A third group, the United Soccer Association was sanctioned by both the USSFA and FIFA. The NPSL did not receive sanctioning by the USSFA as they refused to pay the $25,000 fee, was branded an outlawed entity by FIFA, and players faced penalties for signing with it. Despite this the NPSL, which secured a TV contract from CBS, set about recruiting players, and announced it would be ready to launch in 1967.

Teams Nat. Team Stadium Capac. Owner Atlanta Chiefs Atlanta Stadium 50,893 William Bartholomay (Atlanta Braves) Baltimore Bays Memorial Stadium 52,185 Jerold Hoffberger (Baltimore Orioles) Chicago Spurs Soldier Field 100,000 William B. Cutler, Michael Butler Los Angeles Toros Memorial Coliseum 93,000 Dan Reeves (Los Angeles Rams) New York Generals Yankee Stadium 67,000 RKO General Inc., Elser Enterprises Inc. Oakland Clippers Oakland Coliseum 53,000 Joseph O'Neill, H.T. Hilliard Philadelphia Spartans Temple Stadium 20,000 John Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers) Pittsburgh Phantoms Forbes Field 35,714 Peter Block, Richard George (Pittsburgh Penguins) St. Louis Stars Busch Memorial Stadium 50,000 Bob Hermann/Bill Bidwill (St. Louis Cardinals football) Toronto Falcons Varsity Stadium 25,000 Joseph Peters

Map of clubs

1967 season recap The NPSL kicked off on Sunday, April 16 with a full slate of five matches attended by a total of 46,547 fans. The largest crowd of the day was found in Philadelphia, where 14,163 cheered the hometown Spartans to a 2–0 victory over the Toronto Falcons. The most notable game however, was Baltimore's 1–0 home victory over Atlanta in front of a crowd of just 8,434. It was televised by CBS which had signed a two-year contract to broadcast a game every Sunday afternoon live and in color. Play-by-play voice Jack Whitaker was joined by the former Northern Ireland international Danny Blanchflower as a pundit. Blanchflower was not impressed with the standard of play and did not hesitate to say so.Maule, Tex Sports Illustrated, April 24, 1967

The NPSL was also criticised after Pittsburgh's 2–1 triumph over Toronto in the Falcons' home opener on Sunday, May 14. Of the twenty-one fouls that afternoon, eleven were called to allow CBS to insert commercials into its telecast. Referee Peter Rhodes also admitted that he had forced players to fake injuries to serve the same purpose. This raised many questions about whether the television networks and its sponsors were having too much influence over televised sporting events.

The NPSL did however attract some notable players including three former Aston Villa players Phil Woosnam, Vic Crowe and Peter McParland who, together with another veteran of the English League, Ron Newman, all turned out for the Atlanta Chiefs. Two ex-Real Madrid players, Juan Santisteban and Yanko Daucik, also turned out for the Baltimore Bays and Toronto Falcons respectively. Santisteban made the NPSL All-Star team and Daucik finished as the league's top scorer.

The Oakland Clippers laid claim to the regular season title boasting both the best record and the most total points in either division. In the NPSL Finals the Western Division champion Clippers defeated the Bays, winners of the Eastern Division for the NPSL Championship by virtue of a 4–2 aggregate. Dennis Viollet gave Baltimore a 1–0 win on Sunday, September 3, before a home crowd of 16,619. Six days later, in the second leg at Oakland, Dragan Đukić scored a hat trick as the Clippers won 4–1 in front of 9,037.

On the same day as the second leg of the NPSL final, the St. Louis Stars defeated Philadelphia, 2–1, in a battle of division runner-ups held in St. Louis before a crowd of 9,565. The victory gave the Stars a berth in the Commissioner's Cup versus Oakland. On September 18, the Clippers completed the NPSL treble, by defeating the Stars for the Commissioner's Cup in front of 8,415 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium by the score of 6–3.

1967 regular season P = Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = point system

6 points for a win, 3 points for a tie, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored up to three per game. Premiers (most points) Other playoff team

Eastern Division P W L T GF GA Pts Baltimore Bays 32 14 9 9 53 47 162 Philadelphia Spartans 32 14 9 9 53 43 157 New York Generals 32 11 13 8 60 58 143 Atlanta Chiefs 31 10 12 9 51 46 135 Pittsburgh Phantoms 31 10 14 7 59 74 132

Western Division P W L T GF GA Pts Oakland Clippers 32 19 8 5 64 34 185 St. Louis Stars 32 14 11 7 54 57 156 Chicago Spurs 32 10 11 11 50 55 142 Toronto Falcons 32 10 17 5 59 70 127 Los Angeles Toros 32 7 15 10 42 61 114

NPSL League leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts Yanko Daucik Toronto 17 20 8 48 Willy Roy Chicago 27 17 5 39 Rudolf Kölbl St. Louis 23 15 8 38 Eli Durante Los Angeles 23 15 5 35 Manfred Rummel Pittsburgh 19 14 4 32 Ilija Mitic Oakland 19 13 3 29 Oscar López Toronto 25 12 5 29 Bora Kostić St. Louis 28 12 5 29 Ernie Winchester Chicago 13 13 2 28 Norbert Pogrzeba St. Louis 31 11 6 28 Orlando Garro Philadelphia 20 12 2 26 Mario Baesso Oakland 17 11 4 26 Co Prins Pittsburgh 21 8 9 25 Selemir Milošević Oakland 12 12 0 24 Manfred Seissler Pittsburgh 16 10 4 24

NPSL All-Stars Sources: First team player Pos. Team Mirko Stojanovic G Oakland Mel Scott D Oakland Badu DaCruz D Baltimore Rubén Navarro D Philadelphia Juan Santisteban M Baltimore Ilija Mitic M Oakland Willy Roy F Chicago Co Prins F Pittsburgh Mario Baesso F Oakland Art Welch F Baltimore Emment Kapengwe F Atlanta

NPSL Final 1967

Western Division ChampionAggregateEastern Division ChampionFirst legSecond legAttendanceOakland Clippers 4–2 Baltimore Bays 0–1 4–1 September 3 • Memorial Stadium • 16,619September 9 • Oakland-Alameda Coliseum • 9,037

1967 NPSL Champions: Oakland Clippers

NPSL Commissioner's Cup 1967 The Commissioner's Cup was a one-off challenge match between the NPSL Champion and the winner of a third-place match between the two division runners-up. On September 9 the St. Louis Stars defeated the Philadelphia Spartans 2–1 to secure their place in the match. Earlier that same day the Oakland Clippers were crowned NPSL champions with a, 4–2, two-match aggregate victory over the Baltimore Bays to claim the other cup spot.

Post season awards Most Valuable Player: Rubén Navarro, Philadelphia Rookie of the year: Willy Roy, Chicago

NASL formation In December 1967, the NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. As a result of the merger several of the original NPSL franchises folded or relocated. This was partly to avoid some cities having two teams. Philadelphia Spartans and Pittsburgh Phantoms both folded, while Chicago Spurs became Kansas City Spurs and Los Angeles Toros became San Diego Toros. Together with New York Generals, Baltimore Bays, Atlanta Chiefs, Toronto Falcons, St. Louis Stars and Oakland Clippers, these teams then became founding members of the NASL. However, only Atlanta Chiefs, who won the inaugural NASL title, and St. Louis Stars enjoyed any longevity. The remaining franchises all folded by 1970.

Notable players

Walter Chyzowych Bob Gansler Pat McBride Ilija Mitic Willy Roy Terry Adlington Ron Newman Dennis Viollet John Best César Luis Menotti Rubén Navarro Salvador Reyes Edgar Marin Yanko Daucik Eric Barber Joe Haverty Bill Brown Juan Santisteban Co Prins Peter McParland Vic Crowe Phil Woosnam

Bibliography Official 1968 North American Soccer League Guide. St. Louis: The Sporting News, 1968. Durso, Joseph. "Local Pro Soccer Teams May Share Stadium With Yanks in Spring", The New York Times, Sunday, February 12, 1967.

References

External links 1966 in American soccer 1967 in American soccer 1968 in American soccer 1969 in American soccer NASL Rosters