- New York Cosmos - public.resource.org
The North American Soccer League was fairly successful during its short peak of 1977-1981. MLS would probably not exist today if not for the exposure NASL gave soccer and the inspiration it provided to the youth soccer movement in America. Despite the well-deserved nostalgia felt for NASL and the exhaustive research done by soccer historian Colin Jose to keep its memory alive, there are some ways in which MLS has improved upon the old league.
Two such ways are the Supporter's Shield and the salary cap. The Shield gives the best team some recognition that similar squads in NASL lacked. Pele's 1975 contract with the New York Cosmos was worth more than the current per-team MLS salary cap, according to the film Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos. But thanks to the cap, parity exists in Major League Soccer.
The Supporter's Shield
The best seasonal team in NASL often went unheralded due to a playoff system that defied description. Too many teams made it into the playoffs, and the aforementioned point system often skewed the playoff brackets even further.
After long seasons of proven superiority, teams like the 1980 Seattle Sounders and the 1983 Vancouver Whitecaps went home empty handed due to losses in the playoffs. The 1980 Sounders were one of the best teams in the history of the NASL. They defeated the Los Angeles Aztecs that year twice, yet had to face them again in the playoffs, where they lost.
The 1977 NASL is perhaps the worst example of how not to reward your best teams in the playoffs. The 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Dallas Tornado both led the league in points with 161. The Strikers had to play the Pele-led Cosmos in the first round, a team who finished behind them in the standings. They lost. Dallas got the same treatment with the Aztecs in the first round and had a similar result.
MLS Cup Winner
The winner of MLS Cup is crowned champion for the year, however the Cup can almost be considered a separate entity from the regular season. MLS has a generous playoff system, like most major sports in America, so a team that only performed on an average level (or worse) can get lucky at the end of the year and claim the title, like the 2009 MLS Cup winner, Real Salt Lake.
Fortunately, the regular season has its own award in MLS, the Supporter's Shield. It rewards the best team during the year, the team that accumulates the most points. The Columbus Crew won both the Supporter's Shield and the MLS Cup in 2008, putting to rest any doubts about who was the best team that season.
The Columbus Crew were disappointed in the playoffs in 2009, but at least they have the consolation of their second straight Supporter's Shield to reward them for their excellent play during this year, something the best NASL teams did not have.
MLS Soccer Salary Cap
Once Pele opened the floodgates, many international players joined the NASL. The payrolls of league clubs were inconsistent. The New York Cosmos had the huge Warner Brothers Corporation behind them to pay for their veritable United Nations of soccer stars. But teams like the St. Louis Stars tried to retain a mostly American lineup with far worse economic means. The Cosmos dominated the league from 1977-1983 while many other franchises folded.
MLS has had a salary cap since its inception. They did add a three-year trial of having a club be able to use the Designated Player Rule. This allows the team to sign an international star with a salary beyond the cap. Despite this gesture to improve international competitiveness, the salary cap has kept some major stars, including some Americans, from playing in MLS.
The main reason for the salary cap is to ensure parity, and it has been a success. MLSnet.com reports that 8 different teams have won the Supporter's Shield during the 14-year history of the league. With such equal opportunity afforded all teams during the regular season, MLS shouldn't let so many clubs into the playoffs, especially if the winner of such a short, and flawed, tournament is going to be called champion.
References
Jose, Colin. NASL - A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League . Derby: Breedon Books, 1989. Print.
Brian Downing - Graduated Summa Cum Laude from the College of Mount St Joseph with a Bachelor's Degree in Socio-Psychology. Subsequently co-authored an ...
