1979 NASL players' strike

[Alberto7]

I have read a lot about the 1979 NASL players' strike over the last couple of days. It seems that the players wanted the league to recognize their union which the league refused to do. This led to a brief strike that affected the games played on April 14, 1979. The response from players was mixed. Many teams had a full complement of their regular players while others had to scrounge to field replacement players recruited from local amateur leagues. In Fort Lauderdale, coach Ron Newman, then aged 43, took to the field playing with local amateur players and his 22 year old son. The Seattle Sounders had all replacement players in their game while the Cosmos fielded pretty much their A team in theirs. The following article gives a good account of what happened.

 

http://www.funwhileitlasted.net/2013/09/15/april-14-1979-atlanta-chiefs-vs-new-york-cosmos/

 

This all made me think: What would happen if MLS players decided to strike today? Would teams scrounge around to fill their rosters with players from lower level  leagues or would they be able to use only Academy players or would the league close shop until the problem was resolved?

 

I think most teams would field several Academy players and sprinkle in some players "loaned" from USL and NASL rosters as well as a few retired players.

 

 Now that MLS is a "major league" I can imagine that the time will come when players will be upset with the impossible low salary cap and want changes (especially when one sees what the DPs are being paid).

 

I am curious to hear what you all have to say on the subject.