who saw the 1976 Olympic final between East Germany and Poland in Montreal

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Most of the new entries were short-lived. Hawaii, a logistical fifa 15 coins nightmare, became a dismal one-season experiment. Las Vegas f inished last in their division and then left Nevada, while Connecticut disappeared after playing to the league’s smallest crowds. Only Fort Lauderdale showed any real promise. Ron Newman, their coach, gave the club a predictably English look, emphasising fitness and a tight defence. Gordon Banks came out of retirement in spite of having the lost sight in one eye as a result of a road crash, and played capably enough to be named in the league’s all-star team – though not without misgivings (‘I felt like a circus act: “Roll up, roll up to see the greatest one-eyed goalkeeper in the world”’). Seemingly headed for Soccer Bowl 77 as the latest first-year success story, they were undone on the soggy artificial pitch of Giants Stadium by a Cosmos team at its free-f lowing best. With Beckenbauer – moved from sweeper into the midfield role where he had started his career – playing in front of Carlos Alberto, and Chinaglia, Hunt and Tony Field combining up front, the home side pumped eight goals past Banks, all but eliminating the Strikers before the return leg even began.

The wild 8-3 scoreline was witnessed by an audience even the Cosmos’ NFL cohabitants failed to match that year: 77,691, a figure soon to assume iconic status in American soccer. (It even set a new North American record, eclipsing the improbable 71,619 who saw the 1976 Olympic final between East Germany and Poland in Montreal.) For years to come, the illuminated proclamation of the Giants Stadium scoreboard that August evening would be reproduced whenever the NASL’s ‘meteoric’ rise was charted – something which now began to happen with increasing frequency.

Often misconstrued as the new incarnation of American soccer, the exceptional Cosmos and their sudden throng of fans distracted attention away from more earnest upsurges elsewhere. An appreciable proportion of Dallas began to follow the Tornado, whose combination of American and imported talent, skilfully blended by Al Miller, claimed a divisional title. Yet average crowds of 16,500, respectable as they might be, did not make for good copy when three or four times as many were turning East Rutherford, New Jersey, into the soccer capital of the continent. Nearly 74,000 returned to the Meadowlands for the Cosmos’ next home play- off match against the Rochester Lancers, and the 4-1 victory sent them into Soccer Bowl 77. The next day, Seattle drew more than 56,000 to the Kingdome and reached the final by beating Los Angeles 1-0.