United Soccer Association
| Founded | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Folded | Merged with NPSL to form NASL in 1968 |
| Country | United States |
| Other club(s) from | Canada |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Last champions | Los Angeles Wolves (1967) |
| Most championships | Los Angeles Wolves (1) |
The United Soccer Association was a professional soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. Every team in the league was actually an imported European or South America club, that was then outfitted with a "local" name. Dick Walsh served as the commissioner.
Origins
In 1966 a group of sports entrepreneurs, led by Jack Kent Cooke and including Lamar Hunt and Steve Stavro, formed a consortium known as the North American Soccer League with the intention of forming a professional soccer league in North America. This group was subsequently sanctioned by both the USSFA and FIFA. However a rival consortium known as the National Professional Soccer League also emerged and to avoid confusion Cooke renamed his consortium the United Soccer Association. The USA originally intended to launch its league in the spring of 1968. However the NPSL, which secured a TV contract from CBS, announced it was ready to launch in 1967. Not wanting to lose ground to its rival, the USA decided to fast track its launch. Without any players of its own, it opted to import whole teams from Europe and South America. It was intended that these teams would represent the franchises during the inaugural season, giving them time to build their own squads for the following season. By May 1967, the USA had garnered applications for franchises wanting to create teams for the next season. An application was made for a team in Miami, to be called the Miami Cobras.[1] A Calgary-based franchise was also in the offing.[2]
Competing teams
1967 season
After a series of exhibition games, the USA began playing on May 28 and got off to a good start. The Houston Stars attracted an opening crowd of 34,965.[4] However subsequent attendances did not keep pace and the league finished with an average of 7,890 per game. Of the twelve teams, the Los Angeles Wolves, represented by Wolverhampton Wanderers and featuring Derek Dougan, the Cleveland Stokers, represented by Stoke City and featuring Gordon Banks, and the Washington Whips, represented by Aberdeen, emerged as the strongest sides. Roberto Boninsegna of Chicago Mustangs finished as the league's top scorer with 10 goals.
The USA entered its playoff stage in July 1967. The Western Division champion Los Angeles Wolves, by the flip of a coin, won the right to host the championship game against the Eastern Division champion Washington Whips. The match drew 17,824 to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Wolves won the championship beating the Whips, 6-5, after 36 minutes of extra-time. The wide-open final featured two hat-tricks, three penalties given (two converted), four goals scored within a four-minute period midway through the second half and each team scoring during (non-golden goal) extra time. The game was finally decided when Whips defender Ally Shewan scored an own goal shortly after the start of golden goal extra time.
Final standings
Eastern Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington Whips | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 11 | +8 | 15 | 1967 USA Championship |
| 2 | Cleveland Stokers | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 14 | |
| 3 | Toronto City | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 17 | +6 | 13 | |
| 4 | Detroit Cougars | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 18 | −7 | 12 | |
| 5 | New York Skyliners | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 10 | |
| 6 | Boston Rovers | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 7 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Note: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss
Western Division
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Wolves (C) | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 14 | +7 | 15 | 1967 USA Championship |
| 2 | San Francisco Golden Gate Gales | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 19 | +6 | 13 | |
| 3 | Chicago Mustangs | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 13 | |
| 4 | Houston Stars | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 18 | +1 | 12 | |
| 5 | Vancouver Royal Canadians | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 28 | −8 | 11 | |
| 6 | Dallas Tornado | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 23 | −9 | 9 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Note: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss
(C) Champion
USA Final 1967
|
Main article: USA Final 1967 |
| Los Angeles Wolves | 6–5[5] (a.e.t.) | Washington Whips |
|---|---|---|
Knowles  3'Burnside 65', 67', 82'Dougan 113'Shewan  122' (o.g.) |
Report | Smith 21' Munro 64' (pen.), 89', 120' (pen.)Storrie 66' |
1967 USA Champions: Los Angeles Wolves
USA All-Stars
| First Team[9][10] | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Bobby Clark, Washington | G | Gordon Banks, Cleveland |
| Mario Tito, Houston | D | Eric Skeels, Cleveland |
| Jose Fidelis, Houston | D | Jan Villerius, San Francisco |
| Pat Stanton, Toronto | M | Joe Davis, Toronto |
| Jim Baxter, Vancouver | M | John Moore, Cleveland |
| Tommy McMillan, Washington | M | Miguel Angelo Longo, Chicago |
| Ary Clemente, Houston | F | Doug Smith, Dallas |
| Paulo Borges, Houston | F | Henk Houwaart, San Francisco |
| Peter Dobing, Cleveland | F | Roberto Boninsegna, Chicago |
| George Eastham, Cleveland | F | Benedicto Ribeiro, New York |
| Roy Vernon, Cleveland | F | Peter Cormack, Toronto |
Coach of the year
- Ronnie Allen, Los Angeles[11]
NASL
In December 1967 the USA merged with National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League, taking the original name of the USA group. As a result of the merger several of the original USA franchises folded. This was partly to avoid some cities having two teams. As a result, Toronto City, New York Skyliners and the San Francisco Golden Gate Gales were disbanded in favor of their NPSL rivals, Toronto Falcons, New York Generals and Oakland Clippers. The owners of the Gales franchise subsequently merged with the Vancouver Royal Canadians and the Boston Rovers were relaunched as the Boston Beacons. Together with the Cleveland Stokers, Los Angeles Wolves, Houston Stars, Washington Whips and Dallas Tornado, these teams then became founding members of the NASL. However, after the 1968 season all of these franchises, with the exception of Dallas folded. For their part, the Tornado went on to become NASL champions in 1971 and continued to play in the NASL until 1981, when they merged with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.[12][13]
The idea of importing teams to represent franchises was revived during the 1969 NASL season. Both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Dundee United returned. This time the former represented Kansas City Spurs and again emerged as champions. The latter linked up once again with Dallas Tornado. Two other English League teams West Ham United and Aston Villa represented Baltimore Bays and Atlanta Chiefs while Kilmarnock of the Scottish Football League played as the St. Louis Stars.
Attendance
| Team | GP | Total | High | Low | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Stars | 6 | 118,793 | 34,965 | 12,380 | 19,799 |
| Dallas Tornado | 6 | 55,360 | 20,375 | 4,916 | 9,227 |
| New York Skyliners | 6 | 52,596 | 21,871 | 3,517 | 8,766 |
| Washington Whips | 7[a] | 54,597 | 9,760 | 5,112 | 7,800 |
| Los Angeles Wolves | 6 | 46,640 | 11,572 | 5,231 | 7,773 |
| Vancouver Royal Canadians | 6 | 42,113 | 10,053 | 5,114 | 7,019 |
| Toronto City | 6 | 41,538 | 15,178 | 3,152 | 6,923 |
| Cleveland Stokers | 6 | 39,399 | 9,793 | 4,516 | 6,567 |
| Detroit Cougars | 6 | 34,247 | 11,629 | 648 | 5,708 |
| San Francisco Golden Gate Gales | 6 | 32,531 | 8,177 | 3,853 | 5,422 |
| Chicago Mustangs | 6 | 25,239 | 9,872 | 2,013 | 4,207 |
| Boston Rovers | 6 | 25,025 | 7,343 | 853 | 4,171 |
| Total | 73[a] | 568,078 | 34,965 | 648 | 7,782 |
Sources: kenn.com
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