1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer

North American Soccer League
1983 Grand Prix of Indoor
NASL Indoor Grand Prix
Tournament details
Dates 21 January 1983 –
20 February 1983
Teams 4
Final positions
Champions Tampa Bay Rowdies (3rd title)
Runners-up Montreal Manic
Tournament statistics
Matches played 16
Goals scored 199 (12.44 per match)
Attendance 37,111 (2,319 per match)
Top scorer(s) England Laurie Abrahams
Canada Dale Mitchell
(12 goals)
Best player England Laurie Abrahams
Algeria Mehdi Cerbah

The 1983 NASL Grand Prix of Indoor Soccer was a tournament staged in early 1983 by the Fort Lauderdale, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and Tulsa franchises of the North American Soccer League (NASL).[1]

At the same time, three North American Soccer League teams (Chicago, Golden Bay and San Diego) had joined the Major Indoor Soccer League for 1982-83 season, while the remaining five other NASL squads chose to sit-out winter indoor play completely. The tournament consisted of three weeks of round-robin play for the purpose of seeding, followed by a Championship weekend at the Forum in Montreal.[2][3] Fort Lauderdale did not host a round due to the fact that there was no suitable venue in the area that also met the minimum seating requirements. The tournament would mark the third time NASL teams played in such an event, with the first two coming in 1975 and 1976. Additionally the teams participated in the Shootout Challenge competition, with the overall champs splitting a $5000 purse on the final day.[4]

Montreal finished the preliminary rounds with the top seed.[5] Tampa Bay won the championship final 5–4 on a golden goal by Mark Karpun in double overtime. This victory marked the Rowdies' third indoor title and fourth overall in the NASL. Laurie Abrahams of Tulsa led all scorers (12 goals, 6 assists) and was named the offensive MVP, while Montreal goalie Mehdi Cerbah who posted a 4.36 goals-against-average was the defensive MVP of the tournament. Tampa Bay also won the $5000 Shootout Challenge purse by defeating Ft. Lauderdale 2–0, with Rowdies goalie Jürgen Stars stopping all three Strikers shots in the final round.[6][7][8]

Preliminary Rounds

Round 1

played at Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma[9][10]

January 21 Montreal Manic 6 – 3 Tampa Bay Rowdies Attendance: 3,522
Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 8 – 4 Tulsa Roughnecks
January 22 Montreal Manic 8 – 6 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Attendance: 4,341
Tampa Bay Rowdies 7 – 2 Tulsa Roughnecks

Round 2

played at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida[11][12]

February 4 Montreal Manic 6 – 3 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Attendance: 4,450
Tampa Bay Rowdies 7 – 6 Tulsa Roughnecks
February 5 Tulsa Roughnecks 7 – 4 Montreal Manic Attendance: 5,545
Tampa Bay Rowdies 10 – 6 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Round 3

played at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma

February 11 Tampa Bay Rowdies 7 – 5 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Attendance: 2,064
Tulsa Roughnecks 8 – 7 Montreal Manic
February 12 Montreal Manic 5 – 4 Tampa Bay Rowdies Attendance: 3,245
Tulsa Roughnecks 5 – 4 (OT) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Seeding

G = Games, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, GD = Goal Differential, PTS= point system

6 points awarded for a win. Beginning with the fourth goal, 1 bonus point awarded for each goal scored. Maximum of 5 bonus points per game.

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD PTS
1* Montreal Manic 6 4 2 36 31 +5 42
2 Tampa Bay Rowdies 6 4 2 38 31 +7 42
3 Tulsa Roughnecks 6 3 3 33 37 -4 33
4 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 6 1 5 32 40 -8 20

*Montreal wins top seed based on 2-0 head-to-head edge over Tampa Bay

Grand Prix Championship Rounds

Semi-finals

played at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec

February 18 Tampa Bay Rowdies 8 – 6 Tulsa Roughnecks Attendance: 6,049[13]
February 18 Montreal Manic 11 – 4 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Third place match

played at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec (1:30 PM EDT)

February 20 Tulsa Roughnecks 9 – 4 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers

Final

played at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec (3:30 PM EDT)

February 20 Tampa Bay Rowdies 5 – 4 (2OT) Montreal Manic Attendance: 7,895

Tournament Awards

Final Rankings

Pos Team G W L GF GA GD
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 8 6 2 51 41 +10
2 Montreal Manic 8 5 3 51 40 +11
3 Tulsa Roughnecks 8 4 4 48 49 -1
4 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 8 1 7 40 60 -20
Leading Scorers Goals Assists Points
Laurie Abrahams (Tulsa) 12 6 30
Dale Mitchell (Montreal) 12 4 28
Branko Šegota (Ft. Lauderdale) 10 8 28
Dragan Vujovic (Montreal) 9 7 25
Teófilo Cubillas (Ft. Lauderdale) 8 9 25
Hugo Pérez (Tampa Bay) 10 4 24
Tatu (Tampa Bay) 9 5 23
Keith Weller (Tulsa) 8 7 23
Wes McLeod (Tampa Bay) 5 13 23
Njego Pesa (Tulsa) 9 4 22
Alan Willey (Montreal) 8 6 22
Steve Wegerle (Ft. Lauderdale) 7 6 20
Leading Goalkeepers Minutes GA GAA
Mehdi Cerbah (Montreal) 330 24 4.36
Jürgen Stars (Tampa Bay) 377 32 5.09
Craig Scarpelli (Ft. Lauderdale) 330 33 5.99
Winston DuBose (Tulsa) 486 49 6.05

References

  1. ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  2. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  3. ↑ "Youngstown Vindicator - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  4. ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  5. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  6. ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  7. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  8. ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  9. ↑ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
  10. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  11. ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  12. ↑ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-02-27.
  13. ↑ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.