1984 United Soccer League season
| Season | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Fort Lauderdale Sun |
| Premiers | Oklahoma City Stampede |
| Matches played | 108 |
| Goals scored | 400 (3.7 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Jose Neto (22 goals) |
← First 1985 → | |
The 1984 USL season was the United Soccer League's first and only full season.
History[edit]
The creation of Ingo Krieg, owner of the Jacksonville Tea Men, the United Soccer League formally announced its existence on February 1, 1984. The roots go back to Krieg's frustration over the direction taken by the second division American Soccer League which was declining after a period of overexpansion and financial excesses. Krieg proposed the creation of a financially sound league. In late January 1984, three ASL teams, the Dallas Americans, Detroit Express and Jacksonville Tea Men informed the ASL that they intended to move to the USL for the upcoming season.[1] When the league announced its formal creation on the first of February, it added to the list of teams by including one in Oklahoma City and another in North Carolina.[2] By the end of February, the list of teams had solidified with Detroit dropping out and Buffalo and Fort Lauderdale joining. Bill Burfeind was named league commissioner[3] On March 18, 1984, the league announced a final line-up of nine teams in three divisions. The season would run from May 12 through August 15.[4]
The season went fairly smoothly for a recently founded league, but the playoffs began with considerable confusion. The last week of July, league officials announced that the top team in each division would make the playoffs, for a total of three teams. The two teams with the next highest total points would play a single wild card game to determine the fourth team in the playoffs. Then the team with the highest number of points would play the team with the lowest in one semifinal and the middle two teams would play in the other semifinal. However, on Friday, August 17, two days before the first playoff games, league officials changed the format. They announced that Oklahoma City, which had topped the league with 127 points would play the winner of the wild card game, and not the Buffalo Storm which had the lowest number of points. Then the Storm owner, Sal DeRosa, announced that all games between his team and the Fort Lauderdale Storm would take place in Florida because of the low attendance at Buffalo home games.[5]
Fort Lauderdale Sun owner, Ronnie Sharp was forced to sell his team shortly after winning the 1984 championship, because of his involvement in a drug smuggling operation.[6] Entertainment Investors, Inc., which was mostly made up of a group of doctors that used to sit together at Strikers' games, took over control of the Sun.
League standings[edit]
Northern Division[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buffalo Storm | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 41 | 96 | .313 |
| 2 | New York Nationals | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 34 | 84 | .125 |
| 3 | Rochester Flash | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 27 | 49 | −22 | 30 | 65 | .917 |
Southern Division[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Lauderdale Sun | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 53 | 34 | +19 | 47 | 122 | .604 |
| 2 | Charlotte Gold | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 48 | 59 | −11 | 50 | 105 | .500 |
| 3 | Jacksonville Tea Men | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 43 | 98 | .354 |
Western Division[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | BP | Pts | PCT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Stampede | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 52 | 127 | .708 |
| 2 | Houston Dynamos | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 54 | 38 | +16 | 47 | 112 | .521 |
| 3 | Dallas Americans | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 37 | 34 | +3 | 40 | 110 | .417 |
Playoffs[edit]
Wild card[edit]
| Houston Dynamos (TX) | 2–1 | Dallas Americans (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Jose Neto Jose Neto  69' |
Semifinal 1[edit]
| Houston Dynamos (TX) | 3–1 (a.e.t.) | Oklahoma City Stampede (OK) |
|---|---|---|
| Walter Schlothauer 2' Jose Neto 94' (pen.) Manny Neves 109' (pen.) |
12',  110' Thompson Usiyan |
| Oklahoma City Stampede (OK) | 1–2 | Houston Dynamos (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Kenny Killingsworth 13' |
 28' Manny Andruszewski 55', 69' Jose Neto |
Semifinal 2[edit]
| Fort Lauderdale Sun (FL) | 3–0 | Buffalo Storm (NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Schwartz 59:20' (Cubillas) Teófilo Cubillas 62:58', 76:59' (Crescitelli)Tom Groark 70:13'John Lignos 76:59' |
| Fort Lauderdale Sun (FL) | 5–1 | Buffalo Storm (NY) |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Schwartz 12:16', 17:49', 45:21' Teófilo Cubillas 42:20'Christiansen 52'Dave Watson 56:53' |
49:12', 52' Jerry Martello 55' Corney |
Final[edit]
| Houston Dynamos (TX) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Fort Lauderdale Sun (FL) |
|---|---|---|
| Giulio Bernardi 105:30' |
78' Tom Mulroy 83' Asa Hartford 98:12' Keith Weller (Christensen) David Irving |
|
| Penalties | ||
Jose Neto  Walter Schlothauer Giulio Bernardi Lesh Shkreli |
4–2 |  Mark Longwell Boris Bandov Ronil Dufrene Tom Groark |
| Fort Lauderdale Sun (FL) | 3–0 | Houston Dynamos (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Schwartz (Crescitelli) 11:04' Mark Schwartz (Cubillas) 22:43' Teófilo Cubillas (Dufrene) 33:15' |
Report |
| Fort Lauderdale Sun (FL) | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Houston Dynamos (TX) |
|---|---|---|
| Dave Watson (Bandov) 41:08' |
Report | 33:20' Jose Neto (Hilton) |
| Penalties | ||
| Teófilo Cubillas Mark Schwartz John Lignos Tom Mulroy Boris Bandov ? ? ? Dave Watson |
3–2 | Jose Neto ? ? Nathan Sacks Beto Dos Santos ? ? Manny Andruszewski Glenn Davis[12] |
Honors[edit]
- MVP: Jose Neto
- Leading goal scorer: Jose Neto
- Leading goalkeeper: Jim Tietjens
- Rookie of the Year: Mark Schwartz
- Coach of the Year: Gary Hindley
- Playoffs MVP: Mark Schwartz[13]
- Executive of the Year: Peter Kane
Points leaders[edit]
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Neto | Houston Dynamos | 22 | 8 | 30 |
| 2 | David Kemp | Oklahoma City Stampede | 28 | ||
| 3 | Thompson Usiyan | Oklahoma City Stampede | 26 | ||
| 4 | Mark Schwartz | Fort Lauderdale Sun | 13 | 6 | 19 |
| 5 | Carlos Salguero | Buffalo Storm | 19 | ||
| 6 | Tony Johnson | Houston Dynamos | 11 | 7 | 18 |
References[edit]
- ^ 3 ASL Clubs Plan to Join New League The Daily Oklahoman - Monday, January 30, 1984
- ^ UNITED LEAGUE BRINGS SOCCER BACK TO TOWN Miami Herald, The (FL) - Wednesday, February 1, 1984
- ^ United Soccer League Names Six Franchises The Daily Oklahoman - Thursday, February 23, 1984
- ^ Soccer League Officially Formed The Daily Oklahoman - Sunday, March 18, 1984
- ^ SUN TO PLAY HOST TO BUFFALO Miami Herald, The (FL) - Saturday, August 18, 1984
- ^ Sarni, Jim (September 3, 1984). "Taste of championship sweet for Cubillas, Sun". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 11C. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (August 24, 1984). "High-pressure tactics net Sun playoff win". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (August 26, 1984). "Sun rout Storm advance USL finals". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (August 30, 1984). "Dynamos upset Sun in Game 1". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (September 1, 1984). "Sun ties series; title at stake tonight". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (September 2, 1984). "Sun wins USL crown with shootout victory". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 1C. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
- ^ "Sun Beats Houston 2–1 To Win Title". Palm Beach Post. September 2, 1984. p. D9. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
- ^ Sarni, Jim (September 3, 1984). "Taste of championship sweet for Cubillas, Sun". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 11C. Retrieved February 20, 2017.