NASL 1973 Final Philadelphia Atoms Dallas Tornado

Finale

25 aout 1973

Texas Stadium Irving

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Having beaten New York to advance to the finals, and with the better overall record, Dallas got to pick the date of the final. With the start of the English football season looming, they chose August 25, knowing that several key Atoms players would by then have to be back with their home teams. While Provan and Fryatt would be gone between them they had 18 goals and nine assists Dunleavy, the leader of the Goal Patrol, was suspended for the first two games of the English season and would be available. Miller was required to make changes to his lineup as a result of the absence of such key players. One change was starting the Philadelphia-born and University of Pennsylvania alumni Bill Straub. Straub, a midseason acquisition from Montreal Olympique and a defender who had yet to play a single minute for the Atoms, was started as a forward.

From the start Philadelphia was in charge. Most of the first half was played in the Dallas end of the field. The rest of it was in midfield. The shots Dallas got at Rigby, in the Philadelphia goal, came seldom and they were puny. For all his jumping ability and his advantage in size, [NASL Rookie of the Year Kyle Rote Jr.]  found Dunleavy wrapped around him like an overcoat. The Atoms saw their first breakthrough 20 minutes into the second half. Attempting to clear a dangerous pass, Dallas defender John Best, formerly of the ASL club Philadelphia Spartans, mishit the ball into his own net for an own goal. With less than five minutes to go in the game, Roy Evans crossed the ball in front of the Dallas goal. Straub headed it into the net to make it 2–0 and all that was left was for the final whistle to be blown. With the win the Philadelphia Atoms became the first expansion team to win a championship in its first year in any American professional sport Miller said after the game, “Our people run until they drop. And we played six or seven Americans on our side tonight. This game has got a hell of a future here.”

The Atoms never qualified for the playoffs again and the Philadelphia franchise was placed in receivership by the league after the 1976 season. Rigby said later, “We did so well you can’t do better than winning your division and then winning the championship that people expected us to do it again next season. We had a great season, but we couldn’t match it again.” The franchise reappeared in 1978 as the Philadelphia Fury, back by a group of investors that included Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon. Despite having a 12–18 record (by now the league had done away with ties), the Fury made it to first round of the playoffs. They were promptly dispatched by Detroit Express 1–0. In their second year, the Fury finished with an even worse record of 10–20. Still, they made the playoffs where, against all expectation, they defeated the American Conference Western Division champion Houston Hurricane, winning each game of the two-game series 2–1. The Fury advanced to the Conference semifinals where they were defeated 2–3 and 0–1 by Tampa Bay Rowdies. Tampa Bay would go on to the Soccer Bowl championship game, losing to Vancouver Whitecaps 1–2. The next year, the Fury would go on to become the Montreal Manic. Philadelphia soccer fans would have to wait 30 years for the return of professional soccer to the city.