North American Soccer League

Uncommon card · No. 114787

The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United States. The league final was called the Soccer Bowl from 1975 to 1983 and the Soccer Bowl Series in its final year, 1984. The league was headed by Commissioner Phil Woosnam from 1969 to 1983. The NASL laid the foundations for soccer in the United States that helped lead to the country hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup and setting up Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996. The United States did not have a truly national top-flight league until the FIFA-sanctioned United Soccer Association (USA) and the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), which had operated separately for one season in 1967 and merged in December 1967 to form the NASL. The NASL considered the two pre-merge forerunner leagues as part of its history. The league's popularity peaked...

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