Forbes Magazine reported this amount as being only $100,000. This resulted in the available personnel being spread too thinly, among other problems. Additionally, many of these new owners were not "soccer people", and once the perceived popularity started to decline, they got out as quickly as they got in. They also spent millions on aging stars to try to match the success of the Cosmos, and lost significant amounts of money in doing so.

Also, FIFA's decision to award the hosting of the 1986 FIFA World Cup to Mexico after Colombia withdrew, rather than the U.S., is considered a factor in the NASL's demise.

On March 28, 1985, the NASL suspended operations for the 1985 season, when only the Minnesota Strikers and Toronto Blizzard were interested in playing.

The 1980s andKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan army helicopter crashed Wednesday in bad weather in the western Farah province, killing all 25 people on board, including the deputy corps commander of the western zone, a provincial spokesman said.

Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the Farah governor, said the helicopter crashed around 9:10 a.m., shortly after taking off from the mountainous Anar Dara district heading toward the nearby Herat province.

On board were the corps commander, Gen. Naimudullah Khalil, and two members of the Farah provincial council, its chairman, Farid Bakhtawar, and Jamila Amini, one of only two women on the nine-member council.

Wednesday’s was the second army helicopter crash in as many months in Farah. In September, five crew members died when their helicopter crashed. Investigators blamed the crash on a technical