Just six days after being the winning coach in the MISL All-Star Game in Tacoma, Alan Hinton is fired as coach of the Stars. He is replaced with Jimmy McAlister, 31. Tacoma, reportedly rife with dissension in the locker room, is just 17-18 following a runner-up finish last season. The Stars are coming off two wins in three days, including just their third road win at Wichita. Hinton was 117-79, including playoffs. The next night the Stars beat L.A. in McAlister's coaching debut, 5-3.

Finally, following six straight defeats, some of agonizingly close, the Tacoma Stars earn their first victory, 4-2 at St. Louis. Newly-signed Jimmy McAlister scores, and Dale Mitchell delivers the club's first hat trick.

Seattle Youth Soccer board members vote to adopt Seattle United as its new premier club. It will be comprised of four regions throughout the city, where select teams will be neighborhood-based. Those select teams will also be integrated with the premier program, with flexibility for players to move between levels. A scholarship program makes the club accessible to all families. Soon after, Jimmy McAlister is named Seattle United's Director of Soccer.

Down a goal with 22 minutes to go, a determined Decatur of Federal Way scores twice in three minutes to repeat as state 4A boys champion, 3-2 over Spokane's Lewis & Clark at Everett Memorial Stadium. Alex Chursky delivers the game-winner after Kyle Colbath ties it. The Tigers had forged a 2-1 lead through Grant Lundberg and Matt Ross penalty. The Gators' (20-0-2) unbeaten streak reaches 44 games. Their coach, Jimmy McAlister, watches the final minutes from the stands after being sent off for complaining about rough play.

Former NASL Rookie of the Year and hometown hero Jimmy McAlister is traded by Seattle to the Toronto Blizzard. McAlister, 22, had played four seasons at left back. In exchange, the Sounders get U.S. Olympic team captain Greg Makowski.

Pelé, universally considered the top player of his generation, dies at age 82 in São Paulo, Brazil, from colon cancer. After winning a then-record three World Cup titles with Brazil, Pelé came to the U.S. in 1975 to play for the New York Cosmos and build domestic popularity for the sport. His last competitive match was for the NASL championship against the Seattle Sounders in 1977. Following that game, he presented his jersey to Sounders rookie Jimmy McAlister.

No officials show for the South Puget Sound League boys championship match at Curtis Stadium. So, after players fill time by kicking balls amongst themselves and off walls, the two coaches - Decatur's Jim McAlister and Tahoma's Lance Fischbach - decide the teams will split the title, and that the Bears would assume the league's No. 1 seed to the West Central District.

Adrian Webster blankets George Best and a stout Sounders defense frustrates the high-scoring Los Angeles Aztecs during a 3-1 playoff triumph at the Coliseum. The visitors go in front in the 63rd minute following a remarkable effort by Steve Buttle. After winning the ball, Buttle the ball, makes two dissecting passes on the counterattack and heads in Jimmy McAlister’s cross. Less than four minutes later Micky Cave finishes a cross from Jimmy Robertson, who had scored the opener. The Aztecs entered the match with an NASL-best 65 goals. More than 500 fans greet the team on its arrival the next morning at SeaTac Airport.

Newly-formed Seattle United prepares for its first season of forming teams by naming two former Sounders, Jimmy McAlister and Jason Farrell, to key leadership positions. McAlister was the first homegrown sensation during the NASL era and also played for the U.S. National Team and Tacoma Stars. He becomes Seattle United's first coaching director. Farrell, who had two stints with the A-League Sounders plus four years in MLS, will serve as technical director.

New Tacoma Stars coach Jimmy McAlister wins his first game in charge, 5-3 over the visiting LA Lazers, behind Peter Ward's hat trick. Steve Zungul scores one goal and assists on three before 10,191 in Tacoma Dome. At 30, McAlister is younger than both Ward (32) and Zungul (34). The Stars win their third straight and go 5-2 in McAlister's first seven games.

Sounders GM Jack Daley confirms that if the NASL plays an indoor season in 1980-81, Seattle will be part of it. Eight Seattle players are involved with MISL teams while Paul Crossley is playing for Minnesota in the NASL. Pittsburgh secured the winter services of Steve Buttle, Micky Cave and Tommy Jenkins. Frank Barton and Mike Ivanow go to Wichita. Buffalo signed Tommy Ord and Jimmy McAlister, Alan Hudson opted for Cleveland and Al Trost is at New York.

Former Sounders captain Ray Evans is the first player signed by the Tacoma Stars as they build their roster. Nine days earlier Evans played and scored in Seattle's final NASL match. Neil Megson, another Sounder, is signed the following day. By late November six more former Sounders players have signed: Frank Barton, Cliff Brown, Tony Chursky, Jimmy McAlister, Mark Peterson and Geoff Wall.

In the wake of Jimmy Gabriel’s resignation, the Sounders roster is churned, with former captain Adrian Webster released along with Cliff Brown. Webster, the only player to see action in each of the first six seasons, holds the career appearances record of 120, combining regular season and playoffs. He signs with the Pittsburgh Spirit of MISL a week later. Meanwhile, Jimmy McAlister contemplates a move to Europe, MISL or elsewhere in the NASL. Mike England's future is uncertain. He is a candidate for Seattle head coach and Wales National Team manager.

The NASL trading deadline passes, and Jimmy McAlister remains a Sounder despite going so far as undergoing a physical exam with the Cosmos. McAlister was not anxious to leave his hometown and GM Jack Daley was dissatisfied with New York’s offer of players. It closes a saga of nearly a year in which McAlister’s form slipped, he admitted his mind and spirit were not in the game and coach Jimmy Gabriel gave him a head-clearing vacation. McAlister eventually misses nine straight games before a July 18 recall.

Goals from Ian Chursky and Cam Weaver propel Seattle's Hibernian & Caledonian Saints to victory in the U.S. Amateur Cup final in Frisco, Tex. Jimmy McAlister's Hibs & Caley hold off Baltimore Allied, 2-1, to become the third Washington side to win the competition. Chursky opens the scoring in the 32nd minute, and Weaver doubles it on an assist from Pat Doran in the 63rd.

Seattle hosts a Cold War friendly which pits the United States versus Moscow for the first time on a pitch. The Soviet Union strikes twice in the first half-hour and rolls to a 3-1 win before 13,317 in the Kingdome. Vladimir Klementiev finds Valery Petrakov at 20' and captain Michael An at 31' for a 2-1 lead following Ricky Davis's 22' equalizer. An 83' breakaway by Nikolai Kolesov seals it. Sounders defenders Jimmy McAlister and Bruce Rudroff both start for the USMNT.

Seattle native Jimmy McAlister makes his Sounders debut, starting on the backline at the final regular season game, in Vancouver. At age 19, he is the first Sounders teenager to appear in an NASL match.

With an injury-depleted roster, Jimmy Gabriel goes with a lineup featuring three Americans aged 23 and under, and the Sounders beat California, 2-0, at Anaheim. David Butler scores both goals, late in each half. Eddie Krueger, at 18 years and 263 days, become the club's youngest starter. Jimmy McAlister, 21, assists on Butlers second, and draftee Bruce Rudroff, 23, aids in the first shutout in seven games.

Seattle native Jimmy McAlister, 20, is voted NASL Rookie of the Year. McAlister, who grew up in West Seattle and attended Kennedy High School, was also named to the NASL all-star third team. “I didn’t come out of college like the No. 1 draft choices. I just came out of high school. Gabriel and Bobby Howe really put me in over my head, but they had confidence in me,” said McAlister.

Jimmy McAlister becomes the first Washington native to earn a cap for the U.S. National Team. Fresh from being named NASL Rookie of the Year, McAlister, 20, comes on as a substitute in 2-1 win over El Salvador in San Salvador. He starts twice at Guatemala, Sept. 18 and 25.

In the first Sounders reunion game since 1982, the Seattle alums beat their Timbers counterparts, 1-0, behind Roger Davies goal. The game is held prior to the Seattle-Portland Western Soccer Alliance fixture. Among former NASL players returning are Davies, Tommy Hutchison, Jimmy Gabriel, Frank Barton, Steve Buttle, Tony Chursky, Ray Evans, Pepe Fernandez, Dave Gillett, Tommy Jenkins, Jimmy McAlister, Neil Megson, Tommy Ord, Mark Peterson, Roy Sinclair, Mike Ivanow, Adrian Webster, Jack Brand and Peter Ward.

After over a year of planning and fundraising, Mountlake Terrace’s Volvo Continentals departs for a 15-game tour of Holland, Switzerland and West Germany. Mike Kohary's U18 Continentals feature several state team members, including Jimmy McAlister and Mike Callan.