Alexi Lalas (right), pictured with former Red Bulls head coach Mo Johnston at the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, was selected by the same National Professional Soccer League team (indoor soccer) in consecutive seasons. (Andy Mead/YCJ Photo)

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

The last draft of the original incarnation North American Soccer League draft took place more than three decades ago, which is more than a generation in the past.

Due to the process of Americanization of the league, in which teams originally were required to have at least one U.S. player — native or naturalized — in the lineup at all times, it certainly made for some, ahem, interesting drafts.

Here are some of the tastier morsels of one of the more colorful periods in American soccer history.

The first man

Defender Alain Maca, son of Joe Maca, who played for the U.S. in its 1-0 upset of England in the 1950 World Cup, was the NASL’s first draft choice ever — on Feb. 9, 1972 — by the Miami Gatos, the forerunners of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. His NASL career was an undistinguished one, scoring one goal in 41 games over three seasons. Maca, a Brockport State graduate, also played two seasons in the American Soccer League. The Gatos, incidentally, took Maca over Kyle Rote and Shep Messing.

“It was flattering being drafted first,” Maca said years later. “It was a nice feeling at the time. I didn’t get rich from it. But I guess being No. 1 was my reward.”

In 1979, Maca had some advice for players: “If you seriously consider being a soccer player, forget college. You lose four years. When you’re 21 or 22, you should be ready to play. It took some players nearly five years to develop. Others never did.”

The first woman

The Chicago Sting selected Marilyn Lange, Playboy’s 1975 Playmate of the Year, in the fourth and final round of the 1976 draft. Lange, who played soccer in her native Hawaii, never played a minute for the Sting.

“I wouldn’t want to play against the guys the Sting play,” she said. “They’re too rough.”

Lost in the publicity for Lange was the fact the Tampa Bay Rowdies also selected a woman — B.J. Woodard of the University of North Carolina in the fourth round.

Because of her name — B.J. Woodard — was not given immediate recognition of the second woman taken in the NASL draft. Woodard played basketball for the Tar Heels. “I had never played soccer before, so they taught me some of the skills,” Woodard told The Daily Tar Heel in 1976 after a trip the Rowdies training camp. “I was able to pick up soccer pretty quickly.”

The shadow

On Jan. 14, 1976, the Rochester Lancers (NASL) drafted Jim Pollihan, Dale Rothe, Terry Lippman and Steve Cacciatore in that order. A week later, the Los Angeles Skyhawks picked these players in the same order in the American Soccer League draft: Pollihan, Rothe, Lippman and Cacciatore. Hmmm, coincidence or a plot by then Skyhawks coach Ron Newman?

“That’s a compliment to the Lancers,” he said. “I always draft good ones . . . Let’s face it. They have a better chance to play here.”

The Lancers signed Pollihan, who enjoyed a long career in pro soccer (he wound up as the general manager of the now-defunct Harrisburg Heat) and Lippman, while the fate of Rothe and Cacciatore was not known.

The trade

How much is a draft pick worth? Well, to the 1974 NASL champion Los Angeles Aztecs, it was worth seven players. That’s right, the Aztecs dealt away seven players from their championship team to the expansion San Antonio Thunder for the team’s first pick — second overall — in the 1975 draft and two future first-round draft choices. Aztecs coach Alex Perolli moved to the Thunder after that championship season.

Was it worth it?

UCLA forward Sergio Velasquez, the pick, had a rather disappointing career, scoring two goals and setting up four others over 21 games in three seasons with the Aztecs and Seattle Sounders. The Thunder finished at 6-16, and Perolli was eventually fired. Five players wound up on the Thunder roster. For the record, the seven players for which he was traded: Luis Marotte, Pedro Martinez, Renato Costa, Julio Cesar Cortez, Ricardo de Rienzo, Mario Zanotti and Blas Sanchez. They came in exchange for Velasquez and the Thunder’s 1976 and 1977 first round draft picks

Cloak and dagger

The hottest player at the 1980 draft could have been forward Darryl Gee of Oakland Mills High School in Baltimore, who scored 52 goals in 31 games over his final two high school seasons. The University of Tampa brought Gee into town (ironically, the site of the draft) for a visit and hid him from the press. The New York Cosmos were so sure that no one would know about Gee and were ready to draft him early. But the Minnesota Kicks threw the Cosmos a curve and drafted Gee.

Before Project 40

Almost a generation before Project 40, NASL clubs were allowed to draft high school players, although only a handful of them ever made an impact. A total of 21 high school players were selected among the first 95 picks. In fact, the youngest player taken in the 1980 draft was David James, a defender from Richardson High School in suburban Dallas. He was 16 years and four months old on draft day in December 1979.

Some things never change

With all that wheeling and dealing of draft picks for the MLS SuperDraft, well, the league is following a tradition leftover from NASL days. For the 1980 draft, 13 of the 24 first-round picks were either dealt or sold before the draft. Fort Lauderdale originally owned the 18th selection in the first round. They dealt it to the Aztecs, who traded it to the Tulsa Roughnecks, who sent it to the California Surf, which dealt it to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Double coverage

OK, OK, it’s not the NASL, but rather the National Professional Soccer League. Yet, this item was too good to ignore. Former U.S. international and MLS defender and Fox Sports commentator Alexi Lalas was drafted by the same NPSL team in consecutive seasons. The Detroit Rockers selected the Birmingham, Michigan, native in the 1992 amateur territorial draft. He didn’t sign, so the Rockers again drafted Lalas in the territorial round of the 1993 draft. He didn’t sign that time, either.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.