1974 Vancouver Whitecaps season

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1974 football season
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
1974 season
ChairmanHerb Capozzi
Head coachJim Easton
NASLDivision: 5th
Overall: 11th
NASL PlayoffsDid not qualify
Highest home attendance17,343 vs San Jose Earthquakes May 5, 1974[1]
Lowest home attendance6,310 vs Baltimore Comets June 16, 1974[1]
Average home league attendance10,098[2]
Home colours
Away colours
1975 →

Division 1 professional soccer returned to Vancouver in 1974 with the Vancouver Whitecaps as interest began to grow in U.S. soccer, and the NASL grew after stabilizing in terms of attendance and number of teams with six to eight teams. In 1974 the Whitecaps were one of five expansion teams that were the first teams since 1968 (when Vancouver previously had a team) west of Dallas, Texas and St. Louis, Missouri.

The 1974 Vancouver Whitecaps season was the inaugural season of the Whitecaps and their debut season in the North American Soccer League. The Whitecaps were born on December 11, 1973, with the franchise announcement on the top floor of a downtown Vancouver Davie Street hotel. The city had officially amateur teams with regional leagues going back to the 1930s in the Pacific Coast Soccer League. The city was also home to NASL professional soccer in 1967 and 1968 when the Vancouver Royal Canadians competed at Empire Stadium.

The team played in colours of red and white. Their logo was a standard shield-shaped crest decorated only by a red soccer ball, with a maple leaf in the middle and the words 'Vancouver Whitecaps' above. The Whitecaps hit the pitch on May 5, 1974, with an attendance of 17,343 at Empire Stadium for their first NASL regular season match against the San Jose Earthquakes, losing 2–1 in a shootout.

Jim Easton who had moved from his native Scotland in 1973 to take the 'Caps coaching role after playing the previous season for the Miami Toros, missed the playoffs the first season with a team from the local Vancouver area reinforced with four Scottish players. Locals included players from the University of British Columbia, Pacific Coast Soccer League, and returned local players who had gone abroad to train with European clubs.

Squad

The 1974 squad[3]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK Bermuda BER Sam Nusum
1 GK Canada CAN Greg Weber
2 DF Canada CAN Neil Ellett
3 DF Canada CAN Bruce Wilson
4 MF Canada CAN Doug Scorse
5 DF Canada CAN Bob Lenarduzzi
6 DF Canada CAN Sam Lenarduzzi
7 FW Italy ITA Victor Kodelja
8 FW Canada CAN Glen Johnson
No. Pos. Nation Player
9 FW Scotland SCO George McLean
10 MF Scotland SCO Billy Stevenson
11 MF Canada CAN Brian Gant
12 FW Canada CAN Brian Budd
13 FW England ENG Chris Bennett
14 FW Canada CAN Gary Thompson
15 MF Canada CAN Darryl Samson
16 DF Scotland SCO Gerry Heaney
17 DF Scotland SCO Charlie Palmer
19 DF England ENG Les Wilson

Midfielder Billy Stevenson and defender Sam Lenarduzzi were captains of the 1974 Vancouver Whitecaps.

NASL

League Standings

Western Division

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Los Angeles Aztecs 20 11 2 7 41 36 +5 110
2 San Jose Earthquakes 20 9 8 3 43 38 +5 103
3 Seattle Sounders 20 10 3 7 37 17 +20 101
4 Vancouver Whitecaps 20 5 4 11 29 30 –1 70

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source: [1]

Overall

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Los Angeles Aztecs 20 11 2 7 41 36 +5 110
2 Miami Toros 20 9 6 5 38 24 +14 107
3 Baltimore Comets 20 10 2 8 42 46 –4 105
4 San Jose Earthquakes 20 9 8 3 43 38 +5 103
5 Seattle Sounders 20 10 3 7 37 17 +20 101
6 Dallas Tornado 20 9 3 8 39 27 +12 100
7 Boston Minutemen 20 10 1 9 41 36 +5 94
8 Toronto Metros-Croatia 20 4 12 14 28 40 –12 87
9 Rochester Lancers 20 4 12 14 28 40 –12 77
10 Philadelphia Atoms 20 8 1 11 25 25 0 74
11 Vancouver Whitecaps 20 5 4 11 29 30 –1 70
12 Washington Diplomats 20 7 1 12 29 36 –7 70
13 New York Cosmos 20 4 12 14 28 40 –12 58
14 St. Louis Stars 20 4 1 15 42 54 –12 54
15 Denver Dynamos 20 5 0 15 21 42 –21 49

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
Source: [1]

Results

Results by round

Source: soccerstats.us
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Match results

Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes
May 5, 1974 1 Vancouver Whitecaps 1–1 (a.e.t.) San Jose Earthquakes Vancouver, British Columbia
Niel Ellett Report Hernandez Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 17,343
Vancouver Whitecaps v Denver Dynamos
May 11, 1974 2 Vancouver Whitecaps 1–0 Denver Dynamos Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Gant Report Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 10,232
Miami Toros v Vancouver Whitecaps
May 17, 1974 3 Miami Toros 2–2 (a.e.t.) Vancouver Whitecaps Miami, Florida
George McLean Report Derek Watts Stadium: Miami Orange Bowl
Attendance: 4195
Toronto Metros v Vancouver Whitecaps
May 19, 1974 4 Toronto Metros 2–1 Vancouver Whitecaps Toronto, Ontario
Vojin Lazarevic
Tadeusz Polak
Report George McLean Stadium: Varsity Stadium
Attendance: 5,130
Vancouver Whitecaps v Boston Minutemen
May 25, 1974 5 Vancouver Whitecaps 1–0 Boston Minutemen Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Gant Report Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 11,148
Los Angeles Aztecs v Vancouver Whitecaps
May 27, 1974 6 Los Angeles Aztecs 3–0 (a.e.t.) Vancouver Whitecaps Los Angeles, California
Jerry Kazarian
Doug McMillan
Tony Douglas
Report Stadium: Weingart Stadium
Attendance: 6,248
Denver Dynamos v Vancouver Whitecaps
June 1, 1974 7 Denver Dynamos 0–0 (a.e.t.) Vancouver Whitecaps Denver, Colorado
Report Stadium: Mile High Stadium
Attendance: 3,325
Dallas Tornado v Vancouver Whitecaps
June 2, 1974 8 Dallas Tornado 1–1 (a.e.t.) Vancouver Whitecaps Dallas, Texas
Rote Report Victor Kodelja Stadium: Texas Stadium
Attendance: 9,286
Vancouver Whitecaps v Seattle Sounders (1974–83)
June 9, 1974 9 Vancouver Whitecaps 0–2 Seattle Sounders (1974–83) Vancouver, British Columbia
Report David Butler
Jimmy Gabriel
Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 11,258
Vancouver Whitecaps v Baltimore Comets
June 16, 1974 10 Vancouver Whitecaps 4–1 Baltimore Comets Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Gant
Bruce Wilson
Victor Kodelja
Report Hank Kazmierski Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 6,130
Vancouver Whitecaps v Philadelphia Atoms
June 23, 1974 11 Vancouver Whitecaps 0–0 (a.e.t.) Philadelphia Atoms Vancouver, British Columbia
Report Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 8,816
Washington Diplomats v Vancouver Whitecaps
June 29, 1974 12 Washington Diplomats 2–1 Vancouver Whitecaps Washington DC
Gary Darrell
George Ross
Report Chris Bennett Stadium: Robert F. Kennedy Stadium
Attendance: 3,156
New York Cosmos v Vancouver Whitecaps
June 30, 1974 13 New York Cosmos 0–2 Vancouver Whitecaps New York, New York
Report Chris Bennett
George McLean
Stadium: Downing Stadium
Attendance: 2,835
Vancouver Whitecaps v St. Louis Stars
July 7, 1974 14 Vancouver Whitecaps 1–1 (a.e.t.) St. Louis Stars Vancouver, British Columbia
Glen Johnson Report Dennis Vaninger Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 8,142
St. Louis Stars v Vancouver Whitecaps
July 10, 1974 15 St. Louis Stars 1–1 (a.e.t.) Vancouver Whitecaps St. Louis, Missouri
Jim Bokern Report Glen Johnson Stadium: Busch Memorial Stadium
Attendance: 9,990
Vancouver Whitecaps v Dallas Tornado
July 14, 1974 16 Vancouver Whitecaps 2–2 (a.e.t.) Dallas Tornado Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Gant
Bob Lenarduzzi
Report Ilija Mitic
Garcia
Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 11,814
San Jose Earthquakes v Vancouver Whitecaps
July 26, 1974 17 San Jose Earthquakes 3–1 Vancouver Whitecaps San Jose, California
Own Goal
Paul Child
Archie Roboostoff
Report George McLean Stadium: Spartan Stadium
Attendance: 17,670
Vancouver Whitecaps v Los Angeles Aztecs
July 28, 1974 18 Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 Los Angeles Aztecs Vancouver, British Columbia
Brian Budd
Darryl Sampson
Report Doug McMillan Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 8,024
Vancouver Whitecaps v Rochester Lancers
August 4, 1974 19 Vancouver Whitecaps 2–2 (a.e.t.) Rochester Lancers Vancouver, British Columbia
Bob Lenarduzzi
George McLean
Report Rudi Sacher
David Proctor
Stadium: Empire Stadium
Attendance: 7,892
Seattle Sounders v Vancouver Whitecaps
August 11, 1974 20 Seattle Sounders 2–1 Vancouver Whitecaps Seattle, Washington
John Rowlands
Jimmy Gabriel
Report Charlie Palmer Stadium: Kingdome
Attendance: 14,876

Overall

See also

History of Vancouver Whitecaps FC

References

  1. ^ a b "Vancouver Whitecaps All-time Game Results | SoccerStats.us".
  2. ^ "The Year in American Soccer - 1974". Homepages.sover.net. October 4, 2003. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
  3. ^ "NASL Vancouver Whitecaps Rosters". Nasljerseys.com. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
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