North American Soccer League (1971-1973)
Tombstone
Born: 1971 – NASL expansion franchise
Folded: January 11, 19741Moss, Marv. “Berger abandons pro soccer after losing money”. The Gazette (Montreal, QC). January 12, 1974
First Game: April 17, 1971 (L 2-0 @ Atlanta Chiefs)
Last Game: August 16, 1973 (L 4-0 vs. Torpedo Moscow)
NASL Championships: None
Stadium
1971: Autostade (33,212)21973 North American Soccer League Media Guide
1972: Universite de Montreal Stadium
1973: Autostade
Branding
Team Colors:
- 1972: White, Red & Green
- 1973: Blue, Green & Gold31973 North American Soccer League Media Guide
Ownership
Ownership: Sam Berger
Background
Montreal Olympique was a pro soccer outfit that competed briefly in the North American Soccer League in the early 1970’s. The team shared both their owner, Sam Berger, and their stadium, the 33,000-seat Autostade, built for Expo 67, with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Olympique was a bust on the field and at the box office. The team compiled a 13-30-14 record over three seasons and averaged barely 3,000 fans per match. Berger folded the club in January 1974 after working unsuccessfully for months to develop a new stadium option in more accessible area of Montreal such as Jarry Park or Pere Marquette Park.
Pro soccer and the NASL returned to Montreal in 1981 with the formation of the Montreal Manic (1981-1983).
Trivia
Future Liverpool and Scottish National Team captain Graeme Souness played 10 games for Olympique as a 19-year old during the 1972 season.
Montreal Olympique Shop
Editor's Pick
Rock n' Roll Soccer
The Short Life and Fast Times of the North American Soccer League
by Ian Plenderleith
The North American Soccer League – at its peak in the late 1970s – presented soccer as performance, played by men with a bent for flair, hair and glamour. More than just Pelé and the New York Cosmos, it lured the biggest names of the world game like Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Gerd Müller and George Best to play the sport as it was meant to be played-without inhibition, to please the fans.
The first complete look at the ambitious, star-studded NASL, Rock ‘n’ Roll Soccer reveals how this precursor to modern soccer laid the foundations for the sport’s tremendous popularity in America today.
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