Los Angeles Aztecs

Los Angeles Aztecs

Full name	Los Angeles Aztecs
Founded	1974-1981
Stadium	Weingart Stadium, East Los Angeles College (1974) Murdock Stadium, El Camino Junior College(1975-76) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum(1977, 1981) Rose Bowl (1978-80) (Capacity: 20,355 (East LA) 12,127 (El Camino) 92,594 (Coliseum) 92,542 (Rose Bowl))
Chairman	defunct
Manager	defunct
League	NASL
Home colors Away colors

History

The Aztecs are remembered for their mixed success and were sometimes compared to the New York Cosmos as the Cosmos of the West Coast. However, they did not draw nearly as well as the Cosmos, or even the Seattle Sounders, who were consistently the attendance leaders among the Western N.A.S.L. teams. They won the 1974 NASL Championship over the Miami Toros. In 1976, a fading George Best signed with the team and played from 1976 to 1978. In 1979 attendance peaked (with an average attendance of around 14,000) as Rinus Michels signed the Dutch superstar Johan Cruyff who went on to win the NASL Most Valuable Player Award in his one year with the Aztecs.

Ownership

• Dr. Jack Gregory - Founder / Co-Owner
• Elton John - Co-Owner
• Alan Rothenberg - Owner (1977-80)

Staff

• Dick White - General Manager

Honors

Champions

• 1974

Rookie of the Year

• 1976 Doug McMillan
• 1979 Larry Hulcer

League MVP

• 1979 Johan Cruyff

Notable players

• Alan Kelley (1976)[1]
• Ane Mihailovich (1977)
• Bob Rigby (1977-1979)
• Bobby McAlinden (1976-78)
• Charlie Cooke (1976-78)
• Chris Dangerfield (1979-81)
• Colin Boulton (1979) [2]
• Colin Clarke (1978) [3]
• Dave Smith (1976)
• Dave Morrison
• Doug McMillan (1974-1976)
• Dragan Simic (1980-1981)
• Edgar Sorlino (1978)[4]
• Franciszek Smuda (1978)
• George Best (1977-1978)
• Graham Horn (1976)
• Hugo Perez
• Richard Deeb
• Javier Aguirre
• Jimmy Kelly (1978)
• Johan Cruyff
• György Kottán (1979)
• Larry Hulcer (1979)
• Luis Fernando
• Phil Beal (1977)
• Poli Garcia (1980-1981)
• Ruvein Klein (1976)
• Rich D'Sa (1980)
• Steve David (1977-1978)
• Teófilo Cubillas
• Terry Mancini (1977)
• Thomas Rongen (1979-1980)
• Tommy Smith (1978)

Year-by-year

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1974	1	NASL	1st, Western	Champions	Did not enter
1975	1	NASL	3rd, Western	Quarterfinals	Did not enter
1976	1	NASL	3rd, Pacific Southern	1st Round	Did not enter
1977	1	NASL	3rd, Pacific Southern	Semifinals	Did not enter
1978	1	NASL	4th, National Western	Did not qulaify	Did not enter
1979	1	NASL	2nd, National Western	Conference Semifinals	Did not enter
1979/80	N/A	NASL Indoor	5th, Western	Did not qualify	N/A
1980	1	NASL	2nd, National Western	Conference Championships	Did not enter
1980/81	N/A	NASL Indoor	1st, Western	1st Round	N/A
1981	1	NASL	2nd, Western	1st Round	Did not enter

Average Attendance

• 1974: 5,098
• 1975: 8,307
• 1976: 8,051
• 1977: 9,638
• 1978: 9,301
• 1979: 14,334
• 1980: 12,057
• 1981: 5,814