See main article: article and 1978 North American Soccer League season.
| North American Soccer League Playoffs | |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Country: | United States Canada |
| Num Teams: | 16 |
| Defending Champions: | Cosmos |
| Winners: | Cosmos |
| Second: | Tampa Bay Rowdies |
| Matches: | 21 |
| Goals: | 81 |
| Scoring Leader: | Alan Willey (7 goals) |
| Prev Season: | 1977 |
| Next Season: | 1979 |
The 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs began on August 8 and ended on August 27 with Soccer Bowl '78 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 16 out of 24 teams qualified after a 30-match regular season, eight from each conference.
The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards', a nod to the NFL's playoff format. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by point total. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.[1]
Fort Lauderdale wins series 2–1
Tampa Bay wins series 2–1
New York wins series 2–1
Portland wins series 2–0
Tampa Bay wins series 2–1
New York wins series 2–0
See main article: article and Soccer Bowl '78.
1978 NASL Champions: Cosmos
Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Dennis Tueart | align=left | Cosmos | 6 | 6 | 5 | 17 | |
| align=left | Alan Willey | align=left | Minnesota Kicks | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | |
| align=left | Giorgio Chinaglia | align=left | Cosmos | 6 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |
| align=left | David Irving | align=left | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | |
| align=left | Rodney Marsh | align=left | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 5 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left | Phil Parkes | align=left | Vancouver Whitecaps | 3 | 270 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| align=left | align=left | San Diego Sockers | 3 | 225 | 3 | 1.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| align=left | align=left | Detroit Express | 3 | 306 | 4 | 1.33 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||
| align=left | align=left | Portland Timbers | 5 | 457 | 8 | 1.60 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| align=left | align=left | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 6 | 574 | 10 | 1.67 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Book: Henderson . Jim . Dr. Pepper 1979 Pro Soccer Guide . Snibbe Publications . 1979 . Tampa, Florida.
Book: 1979 Official North American Soccer League Guide . North American Soccer League . 1979 . New York.
Book: Jose, Colin . NASL: A Complete Record of the North American Soccer League . Breedon Books . 1989 . Derby, England.
Book: Jose, Colin . North American Soccer League Encyclopedia . St. Johann Press . 2003 . Haworth, New Jersey.