Kenn Tomasch on the NASL Strike of 1979

Fantastic look back at the last time there was a soccer strike in the USA. Pure chaos as only a third of the league's players actually honored the strike:

Most of the rest of the league waited to take their cue from the powerhouse Cosmos. The league’s pre-eminent team voted 20-2 in favor of the strike (only midfielder Terry Garbett and the great Giorgio Chinaglia were in the minority), then hedged their bets by flying 14 players to Atlanta in a private jet ahead of their match with the Chiefs.

Before their game in Tulsa, the Rochester Lancers called the press box in Atlanta to have the Cosmos’ starting lineup read to them. “Are you certain that Franz Beckenbauer is playing?” was the question put to Atlanta’s public relations director.

While it would be great in theory to see just how MLS compares to the NASL in this regard, I'd rather not, all things being equal.

-FS