This story, by correspondent Ike Kuhns, first appeared in the Sept. 11, 1976, issue of The Sporting News under the headline “Pele a Landslide Winner as Pro Soccer’s MVP”.
NEW YORK — It hardly comes as a surprise that Pele, the New York Cosmos’ super star, was an overwhelming choice as the Most Valuable Player of the North American Soccer League in a poll of the players conducted by THE SPORTING NEWS.
In his first full season in the league, Pele finished third in the league scoring race with 13 goals and an NASL record 18 assists for 44 points.
However, his value to the Cosmos cannot be measured merely in numbers — nor, for that matter, his value to the league.
The poll, which covered the players on all 20 teams, also named Steve Pecher of the Dallas Tornado as the Rookie of the Year.
Ed Firmani of Tampa Bay was chosen the Coach of the Year by a vote of the league’s general managers and coaches. Firmani’s Rowdies were undefeated at home in 12 games, posted an 18-6 record for the regular season and won the Eastern Division title.
Pele, Pecher and Firmani will receive suitably engraved Bulova Accuquartz wristwatches from THE SPORTING NEWS as an award. The all-star team picked by the players featured four members of the Cosmos and three from the Rowdies. Besides Pele, New Yorkers on the first team were Giorgio Chinaglia, the league scoring champion with 19 goals, 11 assists and 49 points in just 19 games; midfielder Ramon Mifflin and defender Keith Eddy.
Rowdies on the all-stars were midfielder Rodney Marsh, defender Tommy Smith and goalkeeper Arnold Mausser, the only American on the first team.
The rest of the team consisted of defenders Bobby Moore of San Antonio and Mike England of Seattle; midfielder Antonio Simoes, who started the season with Boston and finished with San Jose, and forward George Best of Los Angeles.
Nearly all of the selections played at one time or another for the national teams of their respective nations — Pele for Brazil, Chinaglia for Italy, Simoes for Portugal, Moore, Marsh and Smith for England, Best for Northern Ireland, England for Wales, Mifflin for Peru and Mausser for the USA.
THE SECOND team shows Eric Martin of Washington in goal; Stewart Jump of Tampa Bay, George Ley of Dallas, Ron Webster of Minnesota and Bobby Smith of New York as defenders; Alan West of Minnesota, Bob Hope of Dallas and Al Trost of St. Louis in midfield, and Derek Smethurst and Stewart Scullion of Tampa Bay and Jeff Bourne of Dallas as forwards.
The choice of Pele as MVP capped off a season in which the Brazilian super star proved that he is far from finished as a player. For nearly two decades Edson Arantes do Nascimento has been “El Rey,” the king of soccer, but after retiring from the game back home in Brazil on both club and international level, he was induced to make a comeback here at 35 years of age midway through last season.
“You can’t imagine what it means to have Pele in the same lineup,” commented Chinaglia, who finished third in the MVP balloting behind George Best, the flamboyant Irishman who nearly signed with the Cosmos before Pele got there last season.
“When Pele is on the field, it means that opponents cannot concentrate on our other forwards. They have Pele to worry about and he can do so many things to beat. you.”
When Pele signed with the Cosmos a year ago, he had been out of active competition for 10 months. It took time for him to get into top condition, and he didn’t really reach his peak until the Cosmos were on a post-season tour in Europe.
THIS YEAR, in shape from the beginning, Pele and his teammates gradually became a cohesive, well-drilled team. By season’s end, the Cosmos were scoring spectacular goals in clusters, pushing the ball around the field with precision and finesse. Always, Pele was the hub of the attack.
He climaxed the regular season with a spectacular “bicycle kick” goal against Miami, somersaulting to kick the ball which was above his head past startled Toro goalie Van Taylor.
“I scored five goals that night,” Chinaglia said, “but Pele’s was the goal of the game. It was beautiful to behold.”
The players who voted for Pele were concerned with his play on the field and his contributions to the Cosmos’ attack. But the Brazilian’s value went much further than that. He made the NASL a major league and was its No. 1 attraction.
There are other stars now and standout teams, but Pele continues to be the magnate. NASL record crowds followed the Cosmos wherever they went from the mammoth exhibition game crowd at Seattle’s Kingdome to regular-season records twice in one week, first in Tampa and then Bloomington, Minn. Everywhere there were sellouts or team-record gates.
KYLE ROTE, JR., of Dallas commented on another of Pele’s contributions to the NASL at one point during the season.
“He brought credibility to the league,” Rote said. “Now quality players from all over the world want to play here. They see that Pele is here and suddenly they know the NASL means business.” In each city along the way, there was the inevitable press conference set up in a local hotel with Pele patiently answering the same questions.
“Will you continue playing after next year?”
“No. I have a six-year contract with Warner Communications, three as a player and three more for various promotional projects. Next year will be my last as a player.”
“Have you seen an improvement in soccer in this country?”
“YES. WHEN WE used to come here with Santos, I never saw youngsters playing the game. Now when I drive to workouts on Long Island or ride a bus to games in various cities, I see kids playing the game. I conduct many clinics and everywhere I see great interest and enthusiasm.”
“How long before soccer in the U.S. will be on a level with that played in the top soccer nations?”
“At first I thought it would take maybe 30 years. But now, with the interest I have seen and knowing how fast you Americans do things, I think it could be much sooner — maybe 10 years.”
If it happens that soon, Pele should get some of the credit because he takes seriously his role as a soccer missionary.
In the Rookie of the Year voting, Pecher beat out goalkeeper Tom Chursky of Seattle and forward Mirro Rys of Chicago, who was still in high school when the season began.
PECHER WAS signed by Dallas as a free agent after playing one season at Florissant Valley Community College in St. Louis, his hometown. He had dropped out of school to go to work for his father.
A 6-0, 194-pound defender, he quickly established himself as a starter in the Tornado back line this season.
“The kid plays like a veteran,” one opponent said midway through the season. “He never puts a foot wrong all night.”
Pecher played 18 games for the Tornado and even contributed two goals, although preventing them was his job as a defender. A shoulder separation, suffered against Portland on July 24, ended his season prematurely, but not before he impressed enough opponents to win the rookie poll with ease.
