Soccer Bowl '75

Soccer Bowl '75 was the championship final of the 1975 NASL season, played between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Portland Timbers. The match took place on August 24, 1975 at Spartan Stadium, in San Jose, California. It was the first North American Soccer League championship to be known as the Soccer Bowl. The Tampa Bay Rowdies won the match, 2–0, to claim their first North American championship. This was the third consecutive year that an expansion team won the NASL title.^[2]

Spartan Stadium was the venue for Soccer Bowl '75

Soccer Bowl '75

Event	Soccer Bowl
Tampa Bay Rowdies Portland Timbers 2 0
Date	August 24, 1975 (1975-08-24)
Venue	Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California
Man of the Match	Stewart Jump
Referee	Henry Landauer (United States)[1]
Attendance	17,483
← 1974 1976 →

Background

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Main article: 1975 Tampa Bay Rowdies season

The Tampa Bay Rowdies qualified for the playoffs by virtue of winning the Eastern Division with 135 points. The point total earned them the number 2 seed and the right to host all preliminary rounds of the playoffs. The Rowdies defeated the Toronto Metros-Croatia in the quarterfinal match, 1–0, on August 13, 1975. Three days later they dispatched the Miami Toros, 3–0, in their semifinal game played on August 16, 1975, to advance to the finals.

Portland Timbers

Main article: 1975 Portland Timbers season

The Portland Timbers qualified for the playoffs by virtue of winning the Western Division with 138 points. The point total earned them the number 1 seed and the right to host all preliminary rounds of the playoffs. The Timbers defeated the Seattle Sounders in the quarterfinal match, 2–1, in sudden death overtime on August 12, 1975. Five days later they beat the St. Louis Stars, 1–0, in a semifinal game played on August 17, 1975, to advance to the finals.

Match details

August 24

12:30 p.m. PDT

Tampa Bay Rowdies	2–0	Portland Timbers
Auguste 66:00' (Smethurst) Best 87:40'

|goals2 = |stadium = Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California |attendance = 17,483 |referee = Henry Landauer^[1][3] }}

TB Rowdies

Portland Timbers

GK 1 Paul Hammond D 13 Stewart Jump D 3 Alex Pringle D 6 Mike Connell D 5 Malcolm Linton  63:00' M 4 John Boyle (c) M 15 Mark Lindsay F 9 Clyde Best F 10 Stewart Scullion F 12 Derek Smethurst F 14 John Sissons Substitutes: D 18 Arsène Auguste  63:00' D 2 Farrukh Quarishi M 7 Bernard Hartze M 8 Randy Garber F 11 Doug Wark F 17 Eddie Austin GK 1 Mike Hewitt Manager: Eddie Firmani

GK 1 Graham Brown D 2 Ray Martin D 3 Barrie Lynch D 5 Graham Day M 6 Brian Godfrey (c) M 7 Thomas McLaren M 8 Barry Powell M 13 Chris Dangerfield F 9 Peter Withe F 11 Jimmy Kelly F 12 Willie Anderson Substitutes:[4] D 4 Mick Hoban D 18 Nick Nicolas F 10 Dan Gardner F 14 Tony Betts F 16 Roger Goldingay GK 22 Dave Landry Manager: Vic Crowe

1975 NASL Champions: Tampa Bay Rowdies
Television: CBS
Announcers: Frank Glieber, Jack Whitaker^[5]

Soccer Bowl MVP: Stewart Jump (Tampa Bay) Assistant referees:[6][7] John Davies Cor de Groot

Match statistics

First half^[8]

Statistic	Tampa Bay	Portland
Goals scored	0	0
Total shots	9	8
Shots on target	2	6
Saves	6	2
Offsides	0	0
Yellow cards	0	0
Red cards	0	0

Second half^[8]

Statistic	Tampa Bay	Portland
Goals scored	2	0
Total shots	10	10
Shots on target	6	6
Saves	6	4
Offsides	0	0
Yellow cards	0	1[9]
Red cards	0	0

Overall^[8]

Statistic	Tampa Bay	Portland
Goals scored	2	0
Total shots	19	18
Shots on target	8	12
Saves	12	6
Offsides	0	0
Yellow cards	0	1
Red cards	0	0
Fouls	25	21
Corner kicks	8	4

See also

• 1975 North American Soccer League season