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.

A Kingdome international double feature begins with the United States Olympic Team blanking Canada, 2-0, before the USA-USSR main event. Don Ebert and Larry Hulcer score, and Paul Coffee gets the shutout. Hermann Trophy winner Angelo DiBernardo starts and plays the first half, then is a USMNT substitute for the USSR game's final 21 minutes. Sounder defender Jeff Stock, a rookie out of Tacoma, starts and plays the first half. Canada center back Ian Bridge is signed by Seattle on Feb. 20.

Five weeks after being named Sounders coach, Alan Hinton executes a transformative, five-player trade with Tulsa, his former team. Seattle obtains striker Roger Davies, defender David Nish and goalkeeper Jack Brand in exchange for Tommy Ord, Bruce Rudroff and cash. Davies and Nish were former teammates of Hinton at Derby County.

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.

An early morning team meeting results in the Sounders players executing a work stoppage. Five decide to cross the line and travel to Dallas later in the day. NASL players' union executive director Ed Garvey announces less than 36 hours prior to the start of 12 matches that the league-wide tabulations are 252-113 (69 percent) in favor of striking. The NASLPA is demanding that the owners recognize the union.

Joe James of O’Dea High School and Jeff Durgan of Stadium are named to Parade Magazine’s High School All-America team. They become the state's first prep All-American. A week earlier Durgan was chosen by New York in the NASL draft and James went to Houston.

The NASL champion New York Cosmos select Jeff Durgan of Tacoma 's Stadium High School with the No. 4 overall draft pick. The Cosmos trade away all their draft choices but make the deal with Houston. Durgan, a center back, was a member of the famed Norpoint Royals, where he was a teammate of Sounders rookies Jeff Stock and Mark Peterson. Seattle, which had traded away its top pick a year earlier, drafts Mike Hoag of Fort Steilacoom Community College in the second round.

Western Washington opens the women's season in a reduced capacity, reverting to club status after the university undergoes financial belt tightening. The Vikings defeat Puget Sound, 3-0, behind Beth Sneeringer's two goals. The men's program also loses its varsity status just two months before fall classes begin. Coach Bruce Campbell's budget is $900.

Cliff McCrath of Seattle Pacific is voted national coach of the year for all divisions by the Intercollegiate Soccer Association of America in Atlanta. McCrath, the award's first winner from a non-Division I school, led the Falcons to their first NCAA Division II championship six weeks earlier with a huge upset of Alabama A&M. Soccer America magazine names him their winner as well. Three weeks later, McCrath is voted ISAA president.

Puget Sound begins women's varsity play by beating Whitman, 3-1, at home. The Loggers, coached by Bill Kuba, are fueled by the two goals of captain Beth Castagna. The inaugural match ends seven minutes early after the Missionaries' goalkeeper is injured. The new UPS men's coach is John Duggan whose Norpoint Royals have been a top youth side in the state and throughout the West.

An own goal opens the door to Seattle Pacific’s third straight West Region championship. Chapman heads the ball into its own net in trying to clear an Eric Benz throw-in in the sixth minute. Kit Favorite and Bruce Raney score seven minutes apart in the second half for a 3-0 win. Sergio Soriano’s scoreless postseason streak extends to 300 minutes.

For the third year in a row Seattle Pacific and Alabama A&M are pitted against one another in the NCAA Division II tournament, and the Bulldogs avenge their loss in the 1978 final. AA&M scores 42 seconds into overtime of the semifinal to win 1-0, in Miami, as Segun Areke squeezes his header past Sergio Soriano. AA&M proceeds to win its second crown in three years, and finish among the D1 top four the next two years. SPU wins the consolation final on Chris Hellenkamp's penalty kick in the second overtime vs. Southern Connecticut.

Alan Hinton is chosen from among over 30 applicants as the new coach of the Seattle Sounders. Regarded as a strong recruiter, Hinton, 37, guided the Tulsa Roughnecks to the 1979 NASL semifinals in his first season as a head coach. He was a player/assistant coach for Vancouver in 1978. Among the other finalists were Mike England and Bobby Howe. Hinton played three NASL seasons with Dallas and Vancouver, setting the league record for assists in 1978. In 14 years in England, Hinton was a star winger for Wolverhampton, Nottingham Forest and, most notably, Derby County, where he played on two championship teams.

Jeff Stock and Mark Peterson start for the U.S. U20 National Team in the Torneo Internazionale Bellizona final versus Inter Milan, a 1-0 loss in Ticino, Switzerland. Peterson scored two goals in the U.S. semifinal win, 3-1, over PSV Eindhoven. Meanwhile, Bernie James plays for the U.S. in Pan American Games qualifying in Bermuda.

Hazen High School of Renton finishes a near-perfect girls' season by beating host Cascade, 2-1, for the Cascade Invitational title at Everett and the mythical state championship. In the tournament, Hazen had trampled Mariner, 10-1, and beaten Shorecrest in the semifinal. The Highlanders go 15-0-1.

Central Washington adds the finishing touches to a perfect men's club campaign by beating Gonzaga, 3-1, to clinch its second Northwest Intercollegiate Soccer League championship in three years. Brian Jones, Bobby Storino and Bernie Holland get goals for the Wildcats, who finish the year at 14-0-0.

Derek Smethurst strikes for a record four goals, and the Sounders take out their frustrations by routing Edmonton, 9-0, at the Kingdome. It snaps Seattle's three-match losing skid, all at home, and keeps its slim playoff hopes alive. The Sounders had never before scored nor won by a margin greater than five goals. Jimmy Neighbour assists on three of them. Despite missing eight games, Smethurst's goal total ties Micky Cave's season record of 13. It's the first of four straight games that Jimmy Gabriel starts four North Americans, including local product Eddie Krueger as sweeper.

Defending NCAA Division II champion Seattle Pacific stuns Div. I power Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 2-1, at Husky Stadium before a nationwide TV audience. It is believed to be the first soccer match televised by ESPN, which became available to 618 cable companies four days earlier. Mark Metzger puts the Falcons on top of the No. 2-ranked Cougars after 23 minutes, and Mark Smith tallies 11 minutes later. SIUE star Don Ebert is sent off in the 78th. SPU goes on to reach the D2 semifinal while SIUE wins the Div. I title three months later. It's the second night of the Husky Classic. The Cougars routed host Washington, 6-0, the night before.

Following a skid of six losses in seven games, the Seattle Sounders score four in the second half to smash Portland, 5-1, before a Boeing Night crowd of 34,012. Derek Smethurst nets only the second hat trick in club history by scoring in the 52nd, 66th and 81st minutes. John Ryan converts a pair of penalties. Seattle had scored only three times in those six losses.

Jimmy Gabriel resigns as Sounders head coach after finishing 13-17 in his third year at the helm. Gabriel had told some in March that this would likely be his final season. Overall, his teams went 43-40-10 (shootouts recorded draws) in regular season and playoffs, including the club's first Soccer Bowl appearance in 1977.

Pacific Lutheran's first year of varsity men's play ends with a share of the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges title. The Lutes finish tied three ways with Whitman and Lewis & Clark following a 1-1 draw with the Missionaries. Harold Kutz scores for PLU and John Vernon answers for Whitman. Coach Dave Asher goes out on a high note after five seasons as Lutes coach.

Seattle native Tony Crudo, 20, is acquired by the California Surf from Tampa Bay in exchange for a draft choice. Crudo, who signed with the Rowdies in 1977, has earned a starting job at the outset of the season, but after returning from the Pan American Games had lost his spot. He earns an assist in his Surf debut, a 6-3 home loss to Fort Lauderdale.

Fred Hamel, 17, is the only Washington native selected in the 1980 NASL draft, going to the Sounders in the fourth round. Hamel attends Blanchet High School and plays for the Lake City Hawks. The Sounders' other two selections are collegians, including Seattle Pacific's Ric Miller in the third round.

WIAA officials indicate that sponsorship of a girls' championship could come as soon as 1981. In 1978, 67 schools fields teams. If a minimum of 80 is reached in 1980, the tournament would begin the following year.

Construction baron Vince Coluccio buys the Seattle Sounders for a reported price of $3 million. Coluccio, 49, surfaced as a potential owner just two weeks earlier. The original ownership group paid a $25,000 expansion fee in 1973. Ownership spent $500,000 on new players prior to the 1979 season, about half of NASL champion Vancouver's expenditures. Coluccio becomes the sole owner, replacing a group of 11 that featured six of the current NFL Seahawks ownership and two of the MLB Mariners'.

Seattle University picks Tom Pearson to be its new men's head coach just a few weeks before the season begins. Pearson was a student coach at Shoreline Community College and director of development for Washington Youth Soccer. He replaces Tom Goff, who was coach for two years while teaching at Enumclaw High School.

What had been a difficult season turns disastrous at the Rose Bowl, when the Los Angeles Aztecs become ruthless in the final half-hour in handing the Sounders a record 7-1 defeat. The loss assures Seattle of its first losing season. After John Ryan's penalty kick pulls the Sounders within 2-1 in the 60th minute, a potential equalizer by Ryan is waved off for a handball, and the visitors immediately unravel. Dutch star Johan Cruyff immediately scores to make it 3-1. Within 10 minutes the margin swells to 5-1. Then Cruyff scores again (he also added two assists), and Chris Dangerfield completes his hat trick for the final margin.

Four young Washingtonians plying for NASL clubs are named to the United States team for the Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Tony Crudo, 20, is a starting defender for Tampa Bay. Bernie James, 20, Mark Peterson, 19, and Jeff Stock, 18, are with the Seattle Sounders. The team finishes fifth.

Five days after players picketed club headquarters, the reunited Sounders pound the L.A. Aztecs into submission, 4-0, to post their first win of the opening three games in the Kingdome. A collision-aided goal by Paul Crossley snaps a drought of 231 scoreless minutes. Seattle doesn't allow a shot for the first 49 and puts the game away when Frank Barton and Micky Cave score six minutes apart. It's the first of six wins over seven games.

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.

In his first training session in the comeback from a compound leg fracture 11 months earlier, Sounders star center back David Gillet's left leg breaks again. Gillett, 27, had spent 11 months rehabilitating and was expected to be match-ready by June.

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.

Sammamish smashes a title game record six goals past O'Dea to claim the school's first boys state title in any sport, 6-2, at Memorial Stadium. Bill Watson and Kevin Crooks each score twice in the first half for the Totems, who were runners-up a year earlier. The Irish actually take a 1-nil lead before Watson and Crooks begin clicking. Sammamish had survived a scare from Blanchet in the quarterfinals, going four overtime periods to advance, 1-0, on a Crooks goal.

A most dismal season fittingly closes with a 2-1 Sounders home loss to Vancouver, leaving the club with a losing record (13-17) for the first time. Camelot, it is not. Teamwork, entertaining play and character, hallmarks of the first five seasons, are in short supply. A player strike, misbehavior by key veterans, trade requests and those unhappy with their roles and minutes all take their toll. Attendance sags to its lowest level since the 1976 move to the Kingdome, with an average of 18,998. that's down more than 5,000 from 1977.

Western Washington was pushed to the end but comes away with a Northwest Collegiate Conference title by smacking Washington State, 5-0, in the last match of the season. The Vikings (11-1-1) finish one point ahead of Washington, which beat Western the day before. The top four teams in the NCSC–WWU, UW, Oregon and WSU–are club programs.

Evergreen State College athletic director Peter Steilberg fires men’s soccer coach Ivan Rasnevich after he repeatedly violated orders not to play in intercollegiate games himself. Rasnevich played one game and was told not to repeat the incident. But in the very next game he again got onto the field. The Geoducks soccer program, in its first year, was 2-1-1 under Rasnevich.

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.

With the striking players watching the televised game back home, the makeshift Sounders go down to defeat, 1-0, at Dallas. Seattle GM Jack Daley signed seven new players, and coach Jimmy Gabriel and assistants Harry Redknapp and Bobby Howe all start. The Tornado's winning goal comes in the 85th minute. Despite a clear majority voting league-wide for the strike, only 135 (27 percent) players carry out the threat. Seven teams account for 91 percent of the striking players.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in Seattle for the USA-USSR friendly, expresses confidence in America's soccer promise and has a chance meeting with Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping on the morning of the match. Kissinger, a self-described "soccer nut" since boyhood in Germany, tells local reporters he believes the USMNT will qualify for the 1982 World Cup and become both a contender to win and host the tournament by 1990. Kissinger is attending the game in his role as NASL honorary chairman, along with USSF president Gene Edwards and NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam.

Cindy Breed scores four goals as Des Moines-Midway Dirty Dozen win their fifth state championship, 7-2, over New East Arsenal in the girls' U19 final at Renton Stadium. The Dirty Dozen repeat in the age division. Breed is named the tournament’s outstanding player. The Tacoma Sounderettes claim their fourth straight state cup, this time at U17, beating Highline Pontius Truckers, 4-1.

Rick Cochran stops two penalty attempts to enable the Lake City Hawks to win a sixth state cup, 1-1 (4-3), over the Lake Hills Sting in the U19 boys’ final at Renton Stadium. Walter Schmetzer’s Hawks have been playing up for two years since winning the U16 title in 1977. The Mountlake Terrace Bullets claim their fourth straight state cup, downing Pan Am Eagles, 5-4, in the U17 final.

Bruce Raney figures in all three goals as Seattle Pacific regains the Sounders Cup by beating Washington, 3-1, at Memorial Stadium. Raney’s second goal, an intercepted back pass, proves to be the winner in the 51st minute. He also scores the game’s first goal and is brought down to set-up Mark Metzger’s late penalty. The Huskies, who get a first-half goal from Skip Jinneman, had held the cup since 1977.

A fan favorite since becoming the starting goalkeeper three years earlier, Tony Chursky is traded by the Seattle Sounders to the California Surf in exchange for U.S. National Team star midfielder Al Trost and the rights to Ray Evans. Chursky is also the team's union representative. In another move in a roster rebuild, John Ryan and Frank Barton come in from Norwich City and Bournemouth, respectively, and John Impey and Jimmy Neighbour arrive on loan. They join newcomer Alan Hudson and the return of veteran goalkeeper Mike Ivanow.

An eight-game road trip stretching across all four domestic time zones ends with Seattle Pacific capturing the Far West Classic title in Santa Barbara, 6-2, over San Francisco State. Tourney MVP Bruce Raney scores twice. The Falcons' trip lasts 17 days. It began at Harvard, then Yale before swinging through Texas, Nevada and onto southern California. They go 5-3-0 with six of the games against Div. I programs.

Three young, homegrown Sounders arrive in London to begin a three-month experience abroad. Eddie Krueger, Mark Peterson and Jeff Stock are training with West Ham United and playing for non-league Woodford Town. Making the arrangements are Harry Redknapp, once a fixture in the West Ham team and former Seattle assistant coach. The players will return to Seattle by Jan. 31, 1980.