The 1967 Oakland Clippers
April 16, 1967: For the first time, the United States of America has what European countries would consider a "top flight football league." We call the sport "soccer," and the league was called the National Professional Soccer League.
There were 10 teams, most owned by men who already owned major league sports teams, as you can see in this table:
| Franchises | Stadiums (Capacity) | Owners |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Chiefs | Atlanta (Fulton County) Stadium (50,893) | William Bartholomay (Atlanta Braves) |
| Baltimore Bays | Memorial Stadium (52,185) | Jerold Hoffberger (Baltimore Orioles) |
| Chicago Spurs | Soldier Field (100,000) | William B. Cutler, Michael Butler |
| Los Angeles Toros | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (93,000) | Dan Reeves (Los Angeles Rams -- not the later Denver Broncos coach) |
| New York Generals | Yankee Stadium (67,000) | RKO General Inc., Elser Enterprises Inc. |
| Oakland Clippers | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (53,000) | Joseph O'Neill, H.T. Hilliard |
| Philadelphia Spartans | Temple University Stadium (20,000) | John Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers) |
| Pittsburgh Phantoms | Forbes Field (35,714) | Peter Block, Richard George (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
| St. Louis Stars | Busch Memorial Stadium (50,000) | Bob Hermann/Bill Bidwill (St. Louis Cardinals-football) |
| Toronto Falcons | Varsity Stadium (25,000) | Joseph Peters |
The NPSL refused to pay a $25,000 entry fee to the governing body of American soccer, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). As a result, FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, branded the NPSL an "outlaw league."
The United Soccer Association (USA) did pay the fee, and was recognized by both the USSF and FIFA. But they started later, and imported entire teams from Britain, Europe and Latin America to represent cities that many of their players had never heard of.
The NPSL kicked off on Sunday, April 16 with a full slate of 5 matches attended by a total of 46,547 fans. The largest crowd of the day was found at Temple University Stadium in Philadelphia, where 14,163 cheered the hometown Spartans to a 2–0 victory over the Toronto Falcons.
The most notable game however, was Baltimore's 1–0 victory over Atlanta in front of a crowd of just 8,434 at Memorial Stadium. It was televised by CBS, which had signed a two-year contract to broadcast a game every Sunday afternoon live and in color. The announcing team was Jack Whitaker and former Tottenham Hotspur and Northern Ireland captain Danny Blanchflower, who was not impressed with the standard of play, and did not hesitate to say so.
The NPSL was also criticized after Pittsburgh's 2–1 triumph over Toronto in the Falcons' home opener at Varsity Stadium on Sunday, May 14. Of the 21 fouls that afternoon, eleven were called to allow CBS to insert commercials into its telecast. Referee Peter Rhodes also admitted that he had forced players to fake injuries to serve the same purpose. This raised many questions about whether the TV networks and their sponsors were having too much influence over televised sporting events.
The NPSL did however attract some notable players including three former Aston Villa players Phil Woosnam, Vic Crowe and Peter McParland, who, together with another veteran of England's Football League, Ron Newman, all turned out for Atlanta Chiefs.
Two ex-Real Madrid players, Juan Santisteban and Yanko Daucik, turned out for the Baltimore Bays and Toronto Falcons respectively. Santisteban made the NPSL All-Star team, and Daucik finished as the league's top scorer.
The Oakland Clippers laid claim to the regular season title, boasting both the best record and the most total points in either division. In the NPSL Finals, the Western Division champion Clippers defeated the Bays, winners of the Eastern Division for the NPSL Championship by virtue of a 4–2 aggregate. Former Manchester United star Dennis Viollet gave Baltimore a 1–0 win on Sunday, September 3 before a home crowd of 16,619. Six days later, in the second leg at Oakland, Dragan Đukić scored a hat trick as the Clippers won 4–1, in front of 9,037.
On the same day as the second leg of the NPSL final, the St. Louis Stars defeated Philadelphia, 2–1, in a battle of division runner-ups held in St. Louis before a crowd of 9,565. The victory gave the Stars a birth in the Commissioner's Cup versus Oakland. On September 18, the Clippers completed the NPSL "treble," by defeating the Stars for the Commissioner's Cup in front of 8,415 fans at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, by the score of 6–3.
*
April 16, 1967 was a Sunday. American-style football was out of season, but a full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:
* The New York Yankees played one of the longest games in their history, beating the Boston Red Sox, 7-6 in 18 innings. Eventual Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg and eventual Seattle Pilot Fred Talbot started, and neither got through the 6th inning.
Al Downing pitched innings 14 through 18 for the win. In spite of the game being as long as 2 games, no home runs were hit. Joe Pepitone went 4-for-9 with 3 RBIs. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-3, then drew a walk, and was replaced by a pinch-runner, Ray Barker, who also took over for him at 1st base. For the Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski went 5-for-8 with an RBI, Tony Conigliaro went 5-for-7 with 3 RBIs, and Rico Petrocelli went 4-for-8 with an RBI.
* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) Hank Aaron went 0-for-1 with 3 walks, 1 of them intentional.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4, and Ernie Banks went 1-for-5.
* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds won the 1st game, 4-1; and the 2nd game, 6-0, with Mel Queen pitching a 6-hit shutout. Willie Mays did not play in either game, Pete Rose went 1-for-8 with 2 RBIs, and Johnny Bench's major league debut was still 4 months away.
* The Chicago White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators at Comiskey Park. The Pale Hose won the opener, 7-3. They won the nightcap, 4-3, when Jerry Adair drew a walk with the bases loaded... in the bottom of the 16th inning.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 11-8 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* A doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 6-3. The Kansas City Athletics won the 2nd game, 11-7. Al Kaline went 4-for-8 with a home run and 2 RBIs in the twinbill.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* A doubleheader was split at Anaheim Stadium. The California Angels won the 1st game, 5-4. Jim Fregosi singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Baltimore Orioles won the 2nd game, 3-0. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-8, and Frank Robinson went 3-for-9 with 2 RBIs.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals was played at the Convention Hall of the Philadelphia Civic Center. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors, 126-95, to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Rick Barry scored 30 points for the Warriors, who had played in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962. But for the Sixers, who debuted in 1963 after having been the Syracuse Nationals, Hal Greer scored 30, Billy Cunningham had 28, and, while he only had 10 points, Wilt Chamberlain also had 38 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but this was a day off in them. The Toronto Maple Leafs led the Chicago Black Hawks 3 games to 2, and would win that series 3 days later. The Montreal Canadiens had already swept the New York Rangers in 4 straight. On May 2, the Leafs would beat the Canadiens in Game 6, to take their 13th Cup, their 4th in the last 7 years. They have never made the Stanley Cup Finals again.
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