Seattle Sounders sign England '66 hero Geoff Hurst, scorer of the first hat trick in a World Cup final. Hurst, 34, comes from West Bromwich Albion after scoring 180 goals for West Ham and 24 more for England, including three in the 1966 World Cup final, a 4-2 extra-time win over West Germany at Wembley Stadium.

Boris Bandov makes the most of his first start, scoring two second-half goals in 3-0 Sounders win at Portland. It’s the fourth straight shutout for rookie Tony Chursky. Seattle extends unbeaten streak to six matches (five wins, one tiebreaker win) and clinches second place in the Western Division.

Steve Allen, a senior forward, is named interim head coach for Seattle University. Allen will fill-in for Hugh McArdle, who is granted a leave of absence. Allen was the Chieftains' most valuable and inspirational as a sophomore. Seattle U. also moves home games from Lower Woodland to nearby Broadway Playfield which has a new Cintrex surface. The team goes 7-7-2.

Dan Larson nets two goals and Danny Vaughn adds a third as Washington shocks defending NCAA champion and No. 1-ranked San Francisco, 3-1, before 4,500 fans at Husky Stadium. Cliff Brown makes seven saves for the Huskies (3-0-2).

Just days after folding the ASL Tacoma Tides, co-owner Booth Gardner looks to the NASL. Gardner and Jim Guercio, manager of the rock band Chicago, apply for a 1978 expansion franchise in Denver.

After five years of frustration, Washington finally wins its own Husky Classic, edging Seattle Pacific, 2-1, in the final. Danny Vaughn – from 30 yards – and Dale Larson score. Midfielder Paul Mendes is voted the tournament MVP.

Booth Gardner and Baseball Club Tacoma are approved as owners for an American Soccer League team after paying a $70,000 franchise fee. The team, later named the Tides, will share Cheney Stadium with the Twins of the Pacific Coast League. Because the Tides did not participate in the college draft, commissioner Bob Cousy will allow 11 foreign players rather than the normal limit of seven.

A crowd of 3,429 welcomes the Tacoma Tides to Cheney Stadium for their first home ASL match. Bernard Hartze's second goal, in the 67th minute, breaks the tie and beats the New York Apollo, 3-2. Pepe Fernandez, the Sounders fan favorite signed just two days earlier, scores the other Tides goal.

Although there are encouraging signs, the Seattle Sounders simply can't buy a win. They take their fifth straight loss (two via shootout), 2-1 to San Jose in the Kingdome. Debut winger Jimmy Robertson is active and effective against an entrenched Quakes defense, and Geoff Hurst heads home Harry Redknapp's corner kick for a 31' lead, the first Seattle goal in three games. But Paul Child quickly knots it at 1-1, and in the 60th minute all-time NASL scoring king Ilija Mitic curls a free kick over the wall for the win.

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.

Gordon Wallace scores his second goal in the 85th minute as Seattle comes from a goal down to beat Philadelphia, 3-2. It’s a costly win, with star winger Jimmy Robertson suffering a broken right leg after being intentionally kicked by defenders. After the foul, two Philadelphia players are sent off for the final 23 minutes and the Atoms (25 fouls) finish with nine men. Robertson’s free kick to Mike England equalized 13 seconds before halftime. Harry Redknapp sets up both Wallace scores, his soft cross being volleyed home by Wallace from 10 yards for the Sounders' third straight win.

A late-winter storm dumps snow on Burien's Highline Stadium turf for the final two cup finals of the Washington State Junior Soccer Association championships. Still, some 2,500 family and fans see the tournament's final match, with U19 Newport Hill Huskies winning a seventh straight boys' title on penalties, 3-3 (6-5), over Lake Hills Sammamish. Federal Way teams, led by the U13 boys Totem Tornado's fourth cup in a row, win five of the 20 finals.

Sixty days after being granted an ASL expansion franchise, the Tacoma Tides open play, winning at Sacramento. They win, 1-0, behind former Sounder Roy Sinclair’s 74th-minute goal on assist from Windsor Del Llano.

The Washington State Women's Soccer Association elects Debbie Barlow as president. Barlow first played soccer for Mike Ryan, at the University of Washington in 1973. She is now considered one of best midfielders in the state. Barlow succeeds Janet Judd as president. In its third year, the WSWSA counts over 1,300 players and more than 100 teams.

John Best resigns as Sounders head coach after three successful seasons, and Jimmy Gabriel is chosen to succeed him. Gabriel, 36, served as both assistant coach and captain for the club’s first three years. Best, who desires a move into management, had guided Seattle to three winning seasons and two playoff berths.

Portuguese legend Eusebio connects on a first-half free kick and the unfashionable Toronto Metros-Croatia upset the Minnesota Kicks, 3-0, before 25,765 in Soccer Bowl ’76 at the Kingdome. The game starts at 11:30 a.m. in order to be televised nationally by CBS. The Kicks had won their previous four games by a combined 13-3, including a second-round elimination of the Sounders, 3-0. Toronto, whose ethnic nickname drew the ire of NASL officials, had posted gutty road wins at Chicago and defending champion Tampa Bay.

Professional soccer arrives in Spokane. The Sounders play San Antonio in a preseason match before 4,400 at Joe Albi Stadium. Pepe Fernandez lashes a free kick from 25 yards but Seattle falls, 2-1. It's one of seven preseason matches played around the state. Games in Renton, Everett, Tacoma and Yakima each attracting 3,000 or more.

Few teams are struggling more than Seattle, but fortunately this night's foe is division cellar- dweller St. Louis. The Sounders (4-6) earn their first win in five weeks and their first maximum, nine-point win of the year, 3-1 over the Stars, losers of nine straight. Al Trost brings the visitors level in the 74th minute. Just three minutes later David Butler, who had been benched for four weeks, fires Seattle back in front from 20 yards. Geoff Hurst eases any anxiety with an insurance goal in the final five minutes.

Without an absent Pelé and George Best, Team America is no threat to mighty Brazil in a Bicentennial Cup match in the Kingdome. Pelé patriotically declines to face his own country while Best bolted the squad and returned to train with the LA Aztecs. Consequently, the crowd is just 20,245. Brazil, featuring greats Zico, Rivelino and Marinho, wins, 2-0. Seattle's Mike England starts for Team America, a select team of NASL stars. Over 200 media members from Brazil are accredited and the match is televised to an estimated audience of 100 million.

The Tacoma Tides are done. The owners, Tacoma Baseball, Inc. and Booth Gardner Associates, cease operations of their ASL team after one season, citing losses of $100,000 and no adequate playing facility. General manager Stan Naccarato says the club would need to average 7,000 in 1977 to break even. The attendance average in 1976 was just over 2,800.

Beginning in 1977 the NASL will use a new tiebreaker format. If the score is still tied after 15 minutes of sudden-death overtime, each team will take five attempts to score from the 35-yard offside line, with the goalkeeper allowed free movement. There will be five seconds for the offensive player to shoot. Studies show this method will be successful 39 percent of the time, compared to 80 percent for penalty kicks.

For the first time in three years, the Sounders turn in a truly embarrassing display in being eliminated by Minnesota, 3-0, before 41,405 in Bloomington. Ron Futcher and Ade Coker put the visitors in a 2- nil hole after 15 minutes, and Coker adds another 46 seconds before halftime. When captain Mike England sees his penalty kick saved by Geoff Barnett, he and others quickly unravel in the 90-degree midday heat. John McLaughlin kicks out at Coker, then England punches him and is immediately sent off. It proves to be the final game for John Best as coach, and Geoff Hurst indicates he won't return.

Dan Wood is named head coach the Tacoma Tides on the same day the new ASL team holds tryouts at Assumption School. Wood had coached at Cornell where he was 52-20-6 and took the Big Red to five NCAA tournaments in as many years.

A soggy artificial surface slows the Sounders at first, but they eventually hit their stride and get their sixth straight win, 3-0 at Portland, behind two Boris Bandov goals. The victory clinches the second playoff seed in the West with one game remaining. Over an inch of rain fell on the Civic Stadium turf during the day. Eric Skeels puts the visitors in front a minute before halftime. Bandov, making only his third appearance and first start, doubles the lead at 47' and adds another at 80'. Tony Chursky makes five saves, extending his record scoreless streak to 360 minutes.

Seattle Pacific punches two goals past a stingy Chico State defense, but the Wildcats score out of a scramble in the fourth overtime period to eliminate the Falcons from the first round of the NCAA Division II tournament at Memorial Stadium. Chico State had allowed only five goals in 15 previous games, but Terry White opened the scoring in the 58th minute and Steve Newman sent it into extra time in the 81st.

Seattle Sounders host their first international friendly, falling to Glasgow’s Rangers, 1-0, before 11,356 in the Kingdome. Rangers are coming off the Scottish treble and feature captain John Greig, later voted the club’s greatest all-time player, and winger Tommy McLean. It’s a McLean free kick that finds Alex McDonald for the game’s lone goal in the 73rd minute, a header past Paul Gizzi. Seattle had dominated the second half otherwise.

Pepe Fernandez scores in his fourth straight home game, and the Tacoma Tides advance to the second round of the ASL playoffs after eliminating Utah, 2-1, at Cheney Stadium.

Fred Connor’s Newport Huskies win their eighth consecutive boys’ state championship, 4-3, over Lake Hills in the U18 final at Highline Stadium. Bryan Smallman’s penalty is the decisive goal. Ron Dorn, Steve Moore and Stan Stawhill scored earlier for Newport while Brian Hottinger, David Barry and Ian Keenan answered for Lake Hills. Newport’s 8-year record goes to 145-5-6.

Phil Gauglitz’s penalty kick with 37 seconds left in the first half proves the difference as Shorecrest beats Seattle Prep, 1-0, for the state high school championship at Memorial Stadium. Kit Favorite is tripped in the box and, later, a red card forces Shorecrest to play shorthanded for the final 21 minutes. Prep had beaten the Highlanders, 2-1, in the Metro League title game a week earlier. Tacoma’s Stadium defeats Seattle Christian, 3-1, for third place.

For the first time players from Washington are selected in the annual NASL college draft. Ward Forrest (UW) and Kit Zell (SPU) are picked in the second round by Seattle and Portland, respectively. Chris Whitworth (UW) is chosen by Tampa Bay in third round, and Tim Allen (SU) goes to Sounders in fourth.

Seattle is the scene of the first FIFA World Cup qualifying match played indoors as 17,675 turn out to see the U.S. defeat Canada, 2-0, to remain alive in first-round play. Sounders David D’Errico and Boris Bandov start for the USMNT while Tony Chursky is in goal for the visitors. Julie Veee and 19-year-old Miro Rys score goals. Coach Walter Chyzowych is sent off after entering the field to hug Veee following his goal.

A group seeks to move the Philadelphia Atoms to Spokane before the 1977 NASL season. Jerry Overton tells the city's chamber of commerce that 5,000 season ticket deposits must be sold by Jan. 1, 1977. Deposits are $10 per ticket on season packages for games at Joe Albi Stadium start at $48. The franchise ultimately goes into receivership. A Sounders preseason game attracted 4,400 earlier in the year.

With expanded capacity of their new home, the Seattle Sounders establish a new NASL season attendance record with three home dates still remaining. Nearly 26,000 see a 1-0 victory over San Antonio. Seattle has approximately 10,000 season ticket holders and eventually totals 285,941 for the season, an average of 23,828. Both shatter records set by San Jose (17,927 average) in 1975.

Sounders forward Boris Bandov scores in his international debut, a 1-1 tie with Canada at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium. Bandov gives the USMNT a first-half lead by chipping over Seattle teammate Tony Chursky in the World Cup qualifier.

Steve Newman scores both goals as Seattle Pacific earns a 2-1 Sounders Cup win over Washington at Memorial Stadium. Newman, a junior from Newport High School, scores in the 2nd minute and fires home the winner in the 46th for the Falcons. The win atones for a loss to UW three days later.

By a vote of 18-1, Washington State Junior Soccer Association votes to join the U.S. Youth Soccer Association during meetings at president Karl Grosch's home. WSJSA will issue a check for $14,250 for its 29,000 registered players' national dues.

San Jose State get a pair of goals from Steve Swadley to defeat Washington, 4-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division I tournament in San Francisco. It’s only the second loss for the Huskies, who had won seven in a row to finish the regular season. Jano Baghdanian had brought UW within 2-1 in the 39th minute.

General manager Stan Naccarato announces that Tacoma’s new ASL team will be called the Tides. The team received six nominations for the name from the community.

Sixty teams begin play across eight divisions of the state men's league, however one is unique. Mike Ryan enters his Camp Brotherhood staff team, which is the first genuine coed club in league history. Whereas past teams had one female, several women are included on Ryan's roster in Division 6.

Brooks Cryder and Windsor Del Llano each score a hat trick as the Tacoma Tides reward a near-capacity crowd of 8,203 with a 9-0 rout of Golden Bay. It's the Tides' fourth win in a row and all but clinches a playoff berth.

A record North American soccer crowd of 58,128 watches Pelé score the first goal in the Kingdome's first sporting event and then add another in New York's 3-1 exhibition win over the Sounders. Pelé needs just 2 minutes, 14 seconds to ripple the net, and David Clements makes it 2-nil after six minutes. Jimmy Gabriel's header tightened the score but Pelé scored again in the 88th minute. The attendance broke a 50-year-old record of 46,000, however not all of the new stadium's seats had yet been installed.

Demographic studies by NASL marketing show that nearly half of American soccer crowds are female, most fans are in the 18-35 age bracket and many are students. Meanwhile, general managers are discussing problems with televising games, namely inserting commercial advertisements when there are few natural breaks in play. Among the options considered are 15-second spots before goal kicks.

Paul Mendes scores early and Denny Buck preserves the lead with five saves so Washington can overtake Seattle Pacific in the NCSC race at Husky Stadium. Washington proceeds to reclaim the conference trophy for the first time since 1973, by one point over the Falcons.

Geoff Hurst sends the Sounders to their first playoff win, 1-0 over Vancouver, before 30,406 in the Kingdome. Hurst's goal in the 39th minute comes on a rebound after David Butler's shot can only be parried by Whitecaps keeper Phil Parkes. Sounders rookie Tony Chursky makes six stops.

Pepe Fernandez scores three goals and David Chadwick assists on each as the Tacoma Tides win their fifth in a row, 3-2, over the Cleveland Cobras at Cheney Stadium. Fernandez Scores in his third straight game to open the scoring in the 42nd minute. Vito Colonna twice ties it for the visitors before Fernandez's winner at 87', lifting Tacoma into a first-place tie with the L.A. Skyhawks with one game remaining.

For the first time the Sounders will televise a package of road matches. KSTW Channel 11 will air six games on simulcast with Bob Robertson’s KVI radio call, beginning with the season opener at St. Louis. The only previous local telecast was the 1975 playoff game at Portland on KOMO.