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North American Soccer League
1979–80 indoor season
Season	1979–80
Champions	Tampa Bay Rowdies ; (2nd title)
Premiers	Atlanta Chiefs
Matches played	60
Goals scored	665 (11.08 per match)
Top goalscorer	David Byrne ; (23 goals)
Average attendance	4,869
	← 1979 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 season was the North American Soccer League's first ever full indoor soccer season with playoffs. It began in November 1979, and the championship occurred in March 1980.

Overview

Only 10 of the 24 NASL member-teams chose to field a squad for the 12 game regular season and 6 team, 3 round playoffs. The league decided to make several rule modifications from the NASL indoor tournaments and indoor friendlies of previous years. The most obvious change was the goal. No longer 4 by 16 feet (h x w), the goals now measured a more proportionate 6.5 by 12,^[1] with a board or plexiglass panel above the cross bar instead of netting. Rather than being divided into three 20-minute periods (like hockey) as was done previously, or the more recent three 15-minute periods, the game now featured four 15-minute quarters with an extended halftime (similar to American football) and short breaks and the end of the first and third quarters. These modifications were consistent with the rules of the competing Major Indoor Soccer League,^[2] which had begun operation in December 1978.^[3]^[4] Other changes included an extra referee at the bench to keep track of time penalties. Like most American sports, the clock would count down to 00:00 rather than up to "full time" as was done in association football. As before, (like ice hockey) there would be free substitutions, but players now had to touch the wall by their bench before a substitute player could come onto the playing floor. The floor dimensions remained, more or less 200 by 85 feet.^[5] Golden goal/sudden death overtime was used to settle games tied at the end of regulation. In the playoffs, 15-minute mini-games were used to decide series that were tied at one victory apiece. Indeed, two playoff series, including the Championship Final between Tampa Bay and Memphis, would need to be settled by means of a mini-game.^[6]

Map of clubs

Chiefs

Express

Strikers

Tea Men

Rowdies

Surf

Aztecs

Rogues

Kicks

Rough
necks

Eastern Division

Western Division

Regular season

W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, % = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Avg Att = Average Home Attendance

Eastern Division	W	L	GB	%	GF	GA	Avg Att
Atlanta Chiefs	10	2	–	.833	70	46	5,069
Tampa Bay Rowdies	8	4	2	.667	75	64	5,910
Detroit Express	7	5	3	.583	70	69	3,937
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	3	9	7	.250	58	65	1,724
New England Tea Men	2	10	8	.167	52	81	3,249

Western Division	W	L	GB	%	GF	GA	Avg Att
Memphis Rogues	9	3	–	.750	65	44	8,249
Minnesota Kicks	8	4	1	.667	75	52	9,562
Tulsa Roughnecks	7	5	2	.583	63	64	4,657
California Surf	4	8	5	.333	71	83	3,181
Los Angeles Aztecs	2	10	8	.167	56	87	2,768

Regular season statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points^[7]

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
David Byrne	Atlanta	12	23	11	57
Keith Furphy	Detroit	12	21	13	55
Laurie Abrahams	California	12	18	17	53
Peter Baralić	Tampa Bay	12	21	10	52
Iraj Danaifard	Tulsa	12	19	10	48
Chris Dangerfield	Los Angeles	12	15	9	39
Mark Lindsay	California	12	13	12	38
Wes McLeod	Tampa Bay	12	13	12	38
Steve Earle	Tulsa	12	10	18	38
Alan Willey	Minnesota	12	15	6	36

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; Svs = Saves; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins

Player	Team	Min	Svs	GA	GAA	W
John Houska	Memphis	721	172	43	3.58	9
Victor Nogueira	Atlanta	637	164	39	3.67	10
Tino Lettieri	Minnesota	658	165	41	3.74	8
Nick Owcharuk	Tulsa	441	134	33	4.49	7
Željko Bilecki	Tampa Bay	684	173	54	4.74	8

Playoffs

Bracket

First round
Single game

Division finals
Best-of-3

Championship series
Best-of-3

E1

Atlanta Chiefs

3

5

–

E2

Tampa Bay Rowdies

12

x

E2

Tampa Bay Rowdies

7

6(OT)

–

E3

Detroit Express

1

x

E2

Tampa Bay Rowdies

4

10

1

W1

Memphis Rogues

5

4

0

W1

Memphis Rogues

3

4(OT)

1

W2

Minnesota Kicks

3

x

W2

Minnesota Kicks

6

3

0

W3

Tulsa Roughnecks

2

x

1st round

February 19	Tampa Bay Rowdies	12–1	Detroit Express	Bayfront Center • 4,880

February 20	Minnesota Kicks	3–2	Tulsa Roughnecks	Met Center • 3,170

Division finals

If a playoff series is tied after two games, a 15 minute, tie breaker mini-game is played.

Higher seed		Lower seed	Game 1	Game 2	Mini-game	Attendance
Atlanta Chiefs	–	Tampa Bay Rowdies	3–7	5–6 (OT)	x	February 23 • Bayfront Center • 5,545 February 25 • The Omni • 6,141
Memphis Rogues	–	Minnesota Kicks	3–6	4–3 (OT)	1–0	February 23 • Met Center • 3,701 February 26 • Mid-South Coliseum • 7,130

Championship finals

Higher seed		Lower seed	Game 1	Game 2	Mini-game	Attendance
Memphis Rogues	–	Tampa Bay Rowdies	*5–4	4–10	0–1	*February 29 • Mid-South Coliseum • 9,081 March 2 • Bayfront Center • 5,545

*Memphis Rogues hosted Game 1 (instead of Game 2 and Mini-game) due to scheduling conflicts at the Mid-South Coliseum.^[8]

Championship match reports

February 29, 1980 Game 1	Memphis Rogues	5–4	Tampa Bay Rowdies	Memphis, Tennessee
7:30 P.M. (CST)	Cooke 5:16' (Berrio, Houska) Vazquez 18:19' (Hasanbegović) Vazquez 44:26' (Carbognani) Vazquez 49:27' (Berrio, Husband) Field 52:21' (Rosul, Husband)	Report	Fabbiani 34:02' Wegerle 34:54' (Gorman) Fabbiani 54:44' (Anderson) Van der Beck 56:06' (Fabbiani)	Stadium: Mid-South Coliseum Attendance: 9,081

March 2, 1980 Game 2	Tampa Bay Rowdies	10–4	Memphis Rogues	St. Petersburg, Florida
2:00 P.M. (EST)	Van der Beck 8:05' (Fabbiani) Wegerle 9:20' (Van der Beck) Connell 12:36' (Baralić) Van der Beck 13:16' (Wegerle) Fabbiani 14:54' (Gorman) McLeod 38:00' (Baralić) Fabbiani 41:07' (Gorman) Anderson 41:38' (Fabbiani, McLeod) Connell 50:54' (McLeod) Anderson 56:04' (McLeod)	Report	Carbognani 27:10' (pen.) Field 45:53' (Husband) Rosul 48:38' Rosul 49:50' (Carbognani)	Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 5,545 Referee: John Davies (USA)

March 2, 1980 Mini-game	Tampa Bay Rowdies	1–0	Memphis Rogues	St. Petersburg, Florida
	Anderson 4:48' (McLeod)	Report		Stadium: Bayfront Center Attendance: 5,545 Referee: John Davies (USA)

1979–80 NASL Indoor Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies

References

^ "Indoor Returning, Officially This Time". Evening Independent. September 28, 1979. p. 4-C. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^ "Kids hurt playing with Arrows indoors". The Ottawa Journal. December 23, 1978. p. 28. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
^ Tierney, Mike (January 25, 1979). "Rowdies hope to hold onto goalie". St. Petersburg Times. p. 4C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ "Rowdies roll 6-4". St. Petersburg Times. January 26, 1979. p. 1C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ Scheiber, Dave (December 7, 1979). "Indoor soccer: just like hockey without a stick". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2C. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
^ Scheiber, Dave (March 3, 1979). "Rowdies slam to No. 1". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1-C. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1980". Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
^ Scheiber, Dave (February 29, 1980). "Rogues lose star for title go with Rowdies". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1, sec. C. Retrieved August 1, 2016.