1974 Vancouver Whitecaps season

Division 1 professional soccer returned to Vancouver in 1974 with the Vancouver Whitecaps as interest began to grow in US 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.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

1974 season
Chairman	Herb Capozzi
Manager	Jim Easton
NASL	Division: 5th Overall: 11th
NASL Playoffs	Did not qualify
Highest home attendance	17,343 vs San Jose Earthquakes May 5, 1974[1]
Lowest home attendance	6,310 vs Baltimore Comets June 16, 1974[1]
Average home league attendance	10,098[2]
Home colours Away colours

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  BER Sam Nusum 1 GK  CAN Greg Weber 2 DF  CAN Neil Ellett 3 DF  CAN Bruce Wilson 4 MF  CAN Doug Scorse 5 DF  CAN Bob Lenarduzzi 6 DF  CAN Sam Lenarduzzi 7 FW  ITA Victor Kodelja 8 FW  CAN Glen Johnson

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 FW  SCO George McLean 10 MF  SCO Billy Stevenson 11 MF  CAN Brian Gant 12 FW  CAN Brian Budd 13 FW  ENG Chris Bennett 14 FW  CAN Gary Thompson 15 MF  CAN Darryl Samson 16 DF  SCO Gerry Heaney 17 DF  SCO Charlie Palmer 19 DF  ENG Les Wilson

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

NASL

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 by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Ground	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	D	W	D	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	D	D	L	W	D	L

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

Match results

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

May 11, 1974 2	Vancouver Whitecaps	1–0	Denver Dynamos	Vancouver, British Columbia
	Brian Gant	Report		Stadium: Empire Stadium Attendance: 10,232

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

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

May 25, 1974 5	Vancouver Whitecaps	1–0	Boston Minutemen	Vancouver, British Columbia
	Brian Gant	Report		Stadium: Empire Stadium Attendance: 11,148

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

June 1, 1974 7	Denver Dynamos	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Vancouver Whitecaps	Denver, Colorado
		Report		Stadium: Mile High Stadium Attendance: 3,325

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

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

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

June 23, 1974 11	Vancouver Whitecaps	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Philadelphia Atoms	Vancouver, British Columbia
		Report		Stadium: Empire Stadium Attendance: 8,816

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 11, 1974 20	Seattle Sounders	2–1	Vancouver Whitecaps	Seattle, Washington
	John Rowlands Jimmy Gabriel	Report	Charlie Palmer	Stadium: Kingdome Attendance: 14,876

See also

History of Vancouver Whitecaps FC

References

1. http://soccerstats.us/teams/vancouver-whitecaps/games/
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.