Three teams celebrating 50 years of pro soccer
Well before Major League Soccer kicked off, the North American Soccer League was at the top of professional soccer in the United States. And in 1974, three new teams joined that fold: the Seattle Sounders, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the San Jose Earthquakes.
All three teams eventually morphed into MLS clubs, and this season the trio are celebrating a 50-year milestone.
The NASL was founded in 1967 and was the first successful top-tier league in the United States. The Whitecaps, Sounders and Earthquakes were among eight teams that joined in 1974 as the league rapidly expanded. All three teams drew more than 10,000 fans a game on average.
Much like Lionel Messi’s impact on MLS with his signing last season by Inter Miami, the NASL had its own superstar join the league in 1975: the legendary Pele, who played three seasons with the New York Cosmos.
The NASL dissolved after the 1984 season and the three clubs had various incarnations in other leagues before joining MLS. But those NASL clubs became integral to the growth of soccer culture in the United States.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer remembered his dad playing on Sundays in an ethnic league of immigrants who brought their love of the sport to this country after World War II.
“So the soccer culture, the soccer history – I think we’re getting to a point where all of that stuff is relevant to the growth of our sport as you fast forward now into another World Cup coming and all of the excitement about these major announcements for MLS clubs,” Schmetzer said. “Again, it’s just part of