After months of whispers that pro soccer is looking westward, the North American Soccer League awards expansion franchises to Seattle and three other West Coast markets. The ownership group is all local business leaders who have been seeking to secure an NFL team, and they are swayed to consider the NASL by Lamar Hunt, a key owner in both leagues. The franchise cost is a reported $25,000, and the incubation period is brief. In just five months a 20-game schedule will commence and play begins at 13,000-seat Memorial Stadium. Los Angeles, San Jose and Vancouver will join Seattle in the new Western Division.

Youth prevails over experience in the contest to see who represents Washington in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup. The youthful Olympia Olys topple Rainier Brewers, 4-1, before several hundred at Memorial Stadium. Harold Myrhold, Greg McKeown, Bobby Hough and Doc Grundy tally for the winners, and Scott Shoemaker replies for the Brewers.

John Best, a five-time all-NASL defender and assistant coach at Dallas, is chosen to become the Seattle expansion team's first head coach. Best, 33, is a native of Liverpool, England. His hiring comes just nine days after the franchise was awarded. Best helped Dallas win the 1971 league title, and the Tornado was runner-up in 1973.

A Tony Picinich hat trick is more than enough offense for the Seattle Heidelbergs to clinch the state league first-half title with a 5-1 win over Hillwood Metro VW at Interbay Playfield. Heidelberg's win and a Seattle Pacific Falcons draw cinches the outcome with one week to go. Heidelberg will meet first-half victor Olympia Olys for the overall title in two weeks.

Mikko Niemela nets the winner as the Olympia Olys capture the state league first division first-half title by rallying past the Rainier Brewers, 2-1, at Interbay. An own goal gives the Brewers the lead but Tim Allen equalizes.

Ballan Campeau of Seattle earns a record eighth shutout as Santa Clara down California, 2-0. Behind Campeau, the Broncos are enjoying their best season since starting the program in 1967 and have improved by 11 wins over the previous year. Campeau, a senior, started the fall with four shutouts in the first five games.

For the third year in a row, Seattle Pacific's postseason ends abruptly. In a first-round game at Davis, Calif., the Falcons go down, 3-1, to Westmont. SPC is behind 2-nil early before briefly pulling a goal back through Kit Zell in the 79th minute.

Bruce Walyor of Washington scores a reported NCAA record six goals as the Huskies thrash Puget Sound, 9-1, at Baker Stadium. Walyor, a freshman from Bellevue, comes into the game with four goals. He adds another the following day at Green River as UW clinches a second straight NCSC championship.

The press conference introducing Seattle's new NASL team is full of announcements, including the management executives and ownership. Walter Daggatt, head of soft drink bottler Alpac Corporation, will serve as managing director. Other owners are David Skinner (Space Needle owner), Lamont Bean (Pay 'N' Save drug stores), Lynn Himmelman (Westin Hotels), Lloyd Nordstrom (Nordstrom Best), Herman Sarkowsky (Portland Trailblazers), Walter Schoenfeld (clothing magnate), Lester Smith (Kaye-Smith media) and Howard Wright (construction). Six of the nine are part of a group seeking and NFL team. Jack Daley, formerly of Toronto, is general manager. Former Sonics executives Dick Vertlieb and Hal Childs are also involved.

Walt Daggatt, managing general partner for Seattle's new NASL franchise, announces fans will have until Dec. 31 to send in their suggested names. Team officials will screen the list and select finalists which fans will vote on. All those voting for the winning name will receive two tickets to a home game.

An agreement reached by the Washington State Junior Soccer Association and several high school athletic leagues will enable high school players to participate in non-school tournaments. It applies to players in the Metro, Tacoma and Central Sound leagues, although in Metro it will be school by school with permission required from the principal. Two West Seattle players had been suspended in February for playing outside competition during the prep season, but they were later reinstated.

Going into the annual Five-a-Side final, the Olympia Olys couldn't lose. The Olys fielded two teams, and they both met in the tournament final at Memorial Stadium, with the Oly Bs prevailing on a tiebreaker, 0-0 (2-1). The Oly Bs, also featuring members of Mr. Pro, scored six unanswered goals to reach the final.

The largest soccer crowd of the year comes to Husky Stadium for the final night of the Husky Classic, and UCLA tops defending NAIA champion Westmont, 1-0. Before 3,460, the Bruins' Sergio Velasquez beats two defenders to drill home the lone goal. In the third-place match, San Jose State beats Washington, 3-2. The Huskies' Chris Whitworth and Ward Forrest join Seattle Pacific's Ken Covell on the all-tournament team.

Seattle Pacific becomes the state's first collegiate program to travel outside the Pacific Northwest for regular season play, competing at the Far West Classic in Riverside, Calif. The Falcons open the season with a 3-1 win over host UC Riverside. The only previous trips outside Cascadia had been postseason games for SPC and Washington in California. The Falcons fall to Calvin in FWC semifinal, 1-0, in overtime. SPC finishes third, defeating Cliff McCrath’s former Spring Arbor side, 3-0.

Eight days after Seattle Pacific is eliminated from the NCAA Division II tournament, the Falcons resume the regular season, and sophomore Ken Covell keeps scoring. Covell scores his 21st goal of the year in a 4-0 win over Puget Sound. He's the first collegian in the state to score 20 or more goals, and registers four hat tricks in the process. Covell had set the school scoring record of 18 as a freshman.

Mike Kuczi and Les Mueller score a pair of goals as the Rainier Brewers reclaim the Northwest championship for Washington state. The Brewers defeat two-time defending champion Germania of Portland, 4-1, at Delta Park. Kuczi and Mueller had both been members of the Seattle Hungarians, six-time Northwest champion. Brian Franklin and Scott Shoemaker scored the other goals.

Seattle native Ballan Campeau's record ninth shutout, a 7-0 victory over St. Mary's, helps Santa Clara remain in contention for its first NCAA tournament berth. It's the Broncos' third straight win and part of an eventual seven-game unbeaten run that clinches a postseason berth. Campeau attended Seattle Prep but his only soccer was played for the junior associations under Mike Ryan. The senior keeper finishes his season with a second straight all-Pacific Conference honor.

The Washington State Football Association begins charging a user fee in addition to spectator admission for weekly state league matches at Memorial Stadium. Finding that fans alone couldn't pay the rent, the WSFA institutes "Pay as You Play," charging each adult player, coach and manager $1 each and juniors 75 cents. West Seattle, White Center and Interbay are all virtually unplayable during the wet winter months, leaving no alternative to the artificial turf at Memorial.

NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam says the nine-team league is ready to expand, and among the cities under consideration is Seattle. Woosnam says the league could grow by as many as seven teams. In addition to Seattle, he also mentions Los Angeles, Vancouver and San Francisco/San Jose. In June, Woosnam quietly visits Seattle and meets with potential owners.

A three-hour, four-overtime match for the state league championship is finally decided by penalties, and the Rainier Brewers take the Eddie Craggs Trophy at the expense of the Seattle Heidelbergs, 2-2 (5-4) at Memorial Stadium. Goals come early and very late in regulation. Tage Christensen of Heidelberg begins in the 8th minute and is answered by Rainier's Les Mueller in the 12th. Zoltan Dolt appears to get the winner in the 84th but a Donny Wagner penalty a couple minutes later forces extra time. Scoreless after four periods, penalties ensue. Porter Tollefson wins it for Rainier when his shot hits the post and caroms off keeper Willi Lindner and into the net.

Washington remains undefeated and reaches the Husky Classic semifinals by beating California, 1-0. Ward Forrest’s first-half goal, his ninth so far, and freshman Bill Scott’s goalkeeping boost UW to 9-0-2. All nine wins have been by shutout.

A highly-anticipated state second division match for the Jack Chidgey Trophy never materializes as the Tacoma Heidelbergs fail to appear at Memorial Stadium. Consequently, Seattle Greek-Americans are awarded the division title and the trophy via forfeit, and about 800 fans are left frustrated. Tacoma's Frank Fletcher informs WSSA president Tom Webb one hour before kickoff that the Heidelbergs refuse to play because several weeks earlier the entire Greek-Americans roster was suspended for their conduct in a March 11 meeting in Tacoma. The WSSA later rescinded all but three of the suspensions. Webb states that all protests in such cases must be filed at least 48 hours in advance of the game.

San Jose's Grenadiers end the U.S. Amateur Cup bid by the Seattle Heidelbergs in the regional semifinals, 2-1, in San Jose. Manny Hernandez of the U.S. Olympic team stakes the Grenadiers to an early lead that doubles through Tony Suffle. Tage Christiansen brings the Heidelbergs within a goal with 10 minutes left.

Shorecrest keeps bragging rights in the Metro League for the fourth year in a row, winning the mythical state title over Wesco champ Blanchet, 1-1 (3-2), before 1,100 at Memorial Stadium. Mark McGuire puts the Braves ahead in regulation with a first-half free kick. The Scots' Ed DeArias converts a retaken penalty after the keeper moves early on his first attempt. Bruce Liles gets the decisive tiebreaker penalty. Kingco's Newport (7-0-0) and independent O'Dea (12-0-1) make their respective cases for No. 1 in what proves to be the final season before the WIAA sponsors a tournament.

Three late second-half goals, including two by Tom Turner, lift Bellevue Community College over South Seattle, 3-1, for the NCSC Community College Division title at Husky Stadium. Tom McDonald puts South ahead early. Bob Cullen also scores for BCC in this precursor to an NWAACC championship.

Steve Van Gaver and Seattle University pull no punches in an 11-0 beating of Puget Sound in a steady rain at Lower Woodland Park. Van Gaver, a freshman, ties the Chieftains record by scoring four goals. Scott Shoemaker, Tim Allen and Mikko Niemela each add two goals.

The Peace Arch border begins three weekends of bustling boys crossing between Washington and British Columbia for the annual Canadian Exchange. The first 310 of 574 teams from throughout the state head north to destinations such as Powell River, Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver. Another 574 boys' teams from B.C. will come south before the exchange concludes Nov. 11. A total 18,368 players spend a night with a host family before playing and returning home.

The Eastside High School League begins as a bootstrap operation of club programs aspiring for varsity status in the fall. Mercer Island, Bellevue, Juanita, Newport, Lake Washington, Issaquah and Sammamish are entered. Play will conclude with a championship game in late May. WSJSA backs league through leadership and assistance. Six Tacoma schools also organize programs. Twenty schools are in Seattle's Metro and Wesco leagues. In the absence of a WIAA tournament, the Metro and Wesco winners meet in a championship playoff.

For the first time, the University of Washington athletics budget includes scholarship aid for soccer. The funds are made possible through the cooperation of AD Joe Kearney. Among coach Mike Ryan’s first scholarship recruits are Ron Johnson, a California junior college all-American center back and Ken Garrett, a top scorer in British Columbia junior ranks from Abbotsford.

Firooz Fowzi's hat trick supplies all the offense in UCLA's 3-0 victory over Washington in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Los Angeles. The Huskies, who had won five in a row, are blanked for only the second time. The Bruins proceed to reach the NCAA championship game where they fall to St. Louis in overtime. Neither Washington nor Seattle Pacific have won a first-round NCAA tournament game, going a combined 0-6-0.

Bellevue High School is the site of the first four Washington State Junior Soccer Association girls' state cup finals. Susan Ray's four goals lead Tacoma's Sweetfoot past the Federal Way Honey Bees, 4-0, in U10. Cindy Breed's three goals and Beth Schorsch's two pace Midway Dirty Dozen's 5-0 win over Auburn Valley Theatre Flickers in U14. In other action, the U17 Finn Hill Newporters defeat the Snohomish Napa Wheels, 4-1, and the U12 Seattle Roadrunners beat the Nor-Tac Fast Steps, 2-0. Beth Schorsch of Tacoma Nick's Chicks earns the honor of Miss Junior Soccer. A total of 120 participating teams statewide make the WSJSA girls' tournament the largest in North America.

Sixth-ranked UCLA holds off a late Washington rally to advance in their Husky Classic semifinal, 3-3 (5-4), before 3,000 at Husky Stadium. Bruce Walyor sends the match to a 20-minute overtime by scoring the equalizer with 30 seconds to go. Sergio Velasquez, who scores twice for UCLA, converts the decisive penalty. The Bruins had beaten SPC, 3-0, in the first round.

Greg McKeown of Auburn, and Tacoma's Greg Dillard and Elgin Olragg are invited to Olympic development camp. Meanwhile, Seattle's Walter Schmetzer and Auburn’s Bill Logie become the first in the state to receive USSF A coaching licenses.

An important state league second division game is stopped with four minutes remaining in Tacoma after Seattle Greek-American players attack officials. Referee Al Corey, seeing fouls and physical play grow increasingly violent, halts the match with the Greeks trailing Tacoma Heidelbergs, 1-nil. Corey and linesman Doug Howard are then assaulted by Greek-American players and injured, with Howard sustaining a fractured jaw. Both he and Corey are knocked unconscious from a beating, and taken to the hospital. Five days later, three Greeks players are suspended for life and the rest of the team suspended for the remainder of the season, although a judiciary committee overturns the latter.

The Olympia Olys take the lead over San Jose Portuguese in the U.S. Open Cup second-round clash, but they are unable to hold it. The Portuguese win, 4-2, at the Police Athletic League Stadium in San Jose. The Olys go in front, 2-1, on scores by Greg McKeown and Ward Forrest before the hosts, beginning in the 79th minute, score three times in three minutes, the last two by John Franco. San Jose is later eliminated by eventual champion L.A. Maccabee in the quarterfinals.