The 1981–82 season was the North American Soccer League's third indoor soccer season.
Overview Thirteen of a possible 14 NASL teams participated. Fort Lauderdale was the only non-participant in the 18-game regular season. The Los Angeles Aztecs and the Minnesota Kicks had been scheduled to participate but were unable to do so, due to mounting financial issues. By early December both teams had folded. Other changes in the indoor structure included the separating of the teams into two conferences, each with two divisions. The Atlantic Conference contained the East and Central Divisions, while the Pacific Conference held the West and Northwest Divisions. During the regular season teams played eighteen matches within their conference only. Four teams from each conference advanced to the playoffs, which included the two division winners, along with the two non-division winners with the best won-loss record. The championship series was broadcast live on ESPN. The San Diego Sockers won the championship with a two-game finals sweep of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. This was the Sockers' first ever NASL title. Juli Veee of San Diego won both the regular season and playoff MVP awards.
Map of clubs
Regular season W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games behind 1st place, % = Winning percentage, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Atlantic Conference East DivisionWLGB%GFGA Montreal Manic9 9 – .5009397 Toronto Blizzard8101.4448696 Jacksonville Tea Men7112.38986 106 New York Cosmos 6123.333102123
Central DivisionWLGB%GFGA Chicago Sting 126 – .667139 117 Tampa Bay Rowdies 117 1.611121113 Tulsa Roughnecks1082 .556128 103
Pacific Conference West DivisionWLGB%GFGA San Diego Sockers 108 – .556 147 110 Portland Timbers 711 3 .38986 103 San Jose Earthquakes 5135 .27883 141
Northwest DivisionWLGB%GFGAEdmonton Drillers135 – .72213392 Vancouver Whitecaps1083.5569394 Seattle Sounders994.5009597
NASL All-Stars First team Pacific Conference Positionhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19820331&id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699 Atlantic Conference Volkmar Gross, San Diego G Jürgen Stars, Tampa Bay Alan Hudson, Seattle D Barry Wallace, Tulsa Martin Donnelly, San Diego D Mike Connell, Tampa Bay Jan Goossens, Edmonton F Tatu, Tampa Bay Kai Haaskivi, Edmonton F Karl-Heinz Granitza, Chicago Juli Veee, San Diego F Gordon Hill, Montreal
Second team Pacific Conference Position Atlantic Conference John Baretta, Edmonton G Blagoje Tamindžić, Toronto Bernie James, Edmonton D Derek Spalding, Chicago Gert Wieczorkowski, San Diego D John Gorman, Tampa Bay Dale Mitchell, Portland F Pato Margetic, Chicago Carl Valentine, Vancouver F Laurie Abrahams, Tulsa Jean Willrich, San Diego F Ingo Peter, Chicago
Playoffs
Bracket
1st round
If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played. Higher seedLower seedGame 1Game 2Mini-gameAttendanceEdmonton Drillers - Seattle Sounders 8–6 12–4 x February 17 • Kingdome • 4,112February 20 • Northlands Coliseum • 6,027San Diego Sockers - Vancouver Whitecaps 4–3 8–4 x February 19 • Pacific Coliseum • 5,128February 21 • San Diego Sports Arena • 9,728Montreal Manic - Tampa Bay Rowdies 7–8 (OT) 3–2 1–2 (3OT) February 18 • Bayfront Center • 5,043February 21 • Montreal Forum • 15,855Chicago Sting - Tulsa Roughnecks 4–5 7–6 (OT) 1–3 February 16 • Expo Square Pavilion • 5,482February 18 • Chicago Stadium • 16,077
Semi-finals
Higher seedLower seedGame 1Game 2Mini-gameAttendanceTampa Bay Rowdies - Tulsa Roughnecks 5–4 3–4 1–0 February 25 • Expo Square Pavilion • 7,021March 1 • Bayfront Center • 5,545Edmonton Drillers - San Diego Sockers #2–8 3–12 x February 25 • San Diego Sports Arena • 8,435March 1 • San Diego Sports Arena • 12,840#Although Edmonton was the higher seed, a scheduling conflict forced both games to be played in San Diego.
Championship finals
*Higher seedLower seedGame 1Game 2Mini-gameAttendanceTampa Bay Rowdies - San Diego Sockers 7–9 5–10 x March 3 • San Diego Sports Arena • 12,840March 8 • Bayfront Center • 6,325*Championship finals re-seeded based on regular-season won-loss record.
Championship match reports
1981–82 NASL Indoor Champions: San Diego Sockers
Postseason awards Most Valuable Player: Juli Veee, San Diego Playoff MVP: Juli Veee, San Diego
References