Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) Explained

Pixels:219px
Sport:indoor soccer
Founded:1977
Inaugural:1978–79
Teams:high of 14
Country:United States
Champion:San Diego Sockers
Most Champs:San Diego Sockers (8 titles)
Folded:1992

The Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992.

History

The MISL was founded by businessmen Ed Tepper and Earl Foreman in October 1977.

The league fielded six teams for its inaugural 1978–79 season. Before folding after 14 seasons of competition, at the conclusion of the 1991–92 season, a total of 24 franchises  - under 31 team names (seven teams changed city/name)  - had played in the MISL.

Over its life, MISL teams were based in 27 different cities  - with two different teams, at different times, playing in Cleveland, Ohio; East Rutherford, New Jersey; St. Louis, Missouri; and Uniondale, New York.

The Houston Summit (1978–80)/Baltimore Blast (1980–92) franchise was the only one to compete for the entire 14 seasons of the MISL's existence. The next longest-lived franchise, and the longest in a single city, was the Wichita Wings team, which played for 13 seasons and missed only the inaugural 1978–79 season. The third longest-lived franchise was the Detroit Lightning (1979–80)/San Francisco Fog (1980–81)/Kansas City Comets (1981–91) franchise, which played for 12 seasons, missing only the first and last seasons.

The San Diego Sockers was the most successful franchise, winning eight of the MISL's 14 overall championships during the team's nine seasons in the league. The New York Arrows won the MISL's first four championships, then folded after the league's sixth season.

The most successful player in the MISL is arguably Steve Zungul, a Yugoslav American striker who was MISL Most Valuable Player six times, was the Scoring Champion six times, the Pass Master (most assists) four times, played on eight championship-winning teams (and one runner-up), and won Championship Series Most Valuable Player four times. Zungul is the MISL's all-time leader in goals (652, nearly 200 ahead of the second highest scorer), assists (471, nearly 100 ahead of second) and points (1,123, nearly 300 ahead of second).

Despite ongoing financial hardships, the MISL had some success.[1] The league averaged a respectable 7,644 fans per game over its 14 regular seasons, and averaged 9,049 fans per game over its 14 playoff runs.

The league changed its name to the Major Soccer League (MSL) in 1990, and then folded in 1992. Four of the league's seven franchises continued to operate: Cleveland Crunch and Wichita Wings joined the National Professional Soccer League; Dallas Sidekicks and San Diego Sockers helped found the Continental Indoor Soccer League.

Arena football inspiration

The concept was initially so popular that in 1981, it helped pave the way for the creation of another indoor sports league, the Arena Football League, and subsequently the entire sport of indoor "gridiron" football. During the MISL All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, National Football League promotions director Jim Foster sketched a design of what a football field would look like on the back of a 9x12 manila envelope.[2] That inspiration gave birth to the concept now known as arena football (also indoor football) and the AFL was born six years later. Foster credits the MISL for the inspiration.[1] [3] [4]

Teams

TeamCity/AreaArenaSeasons
Baltimore Blast
Houston Summit, 1978–80
Baltimore, Maryland
Houston, Texas
Baltimore Arena
The Summit
1978–92
Buffalo StallionsBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo Memorial Auditorium1979–84
Chicago HorizonsRosemont, IllinoisRosemont Horizon1980–81
Chicago StingChicagoChicago Stadium
Rosemont Horizon
1982–83*, 1984–88
Cincinnati KidsCincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum1978–79
Cleveland CrunchCleveland, OhioRichfield Coliseum1989–92
Cleveland ForceCleveland, OhioRichfield Coliseum1978–88
Dallas SidekicksDallas, TexasReunion Arena1984–92
Denver AvalancheDenver, ColoradoMcNichols Sports Arena1980–82
Golden Bay EarthquakesOakland, CaliforniaOakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena1982–83*
Kansas City Comets
San Francisco Fog, 1980–81
Detroit Lightning, 1979–80
Kansas City, Missouri
Daly City, California
Detroit, Michigan
Kemper Arena
Cow Palace
Cobo Arena
1979–91
Las Vegas Americans
Memphis Americans, 1981–84
Hartford Hellions, 1979–81
Paradise, Nevada
Memphis, Tennessee
Hartford, Connecticut
Thomas & Mack Center
Mid-South Coliseum
New Haven Coliseum, Hartford Civic Center
1979–85
Los Angeles LazersThe Forum1982–89
Minnesota StrikersBloomington, MinnesotaMet Center1984–88
New Jersey RocketsEast Rutherford, New JerseyBrendan Byrne Arena1981–82
New York ArrowsUniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum1978–84
New York ExpressUniondale, New YorkNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum1986–87
New York CosmosEast Rutherford, New JerseyBrendan Byrne Arena1984–85
Philadelphia FeverPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Spectrum1978–82
Phoenix Inferno/PridePhoenix, ArizonaArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum1980–84
Pittsburgh SpiritPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaCivic Arena1978–80, 1981–86
San Diego SockersSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego Sports Arena1982–83*, 1984–92
St. Louis SteamersSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis Arena1979–88
St. Louis StormSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis Arena1989–92
Tacoma StarsTacoma, WashingtonTacoma Dome1983–92
Wichita WingsWichita, KansasKansas Coliseum1979–92
*Three North American Soccer League (NASL) teams temporarily joined the MISL for the 1982–83 season, as the NASL did not play indoors for that season. As the NASL was folding in 1985, four of its former teams (Chicago, Minnesota, New York and San Diego) joined the MISL in late 1984.

The "Denver Avalanche" had declared bankruptcy and ceased operations after the 1981–82 season, but the franchise still existed and was purchased out of bankruptcy and moved to Tacoma after a dormant season. The MISL, however, considered the Stars a new franchise and, thus, team records did not transfer to Tacoma.

In June 1987, the MISL granted a conditional franchise to NBA Denver Nuggets owner Sidney Shlenker, to commence play in the 1988–89 season.[5] When the tentative "Denver Desperados" attracted deposits on 400 season tickets, rather than the required 5,000 within four months, the franchise was revoked in November 1987.[6]

Attendance

YearAveragePlayoffs
1978–794,4534,766
1979–806,1026,691
1980–816,83910,740
1981–828,7358,848
1982–837,89511,536
1983–848,86810,252
1984–858,6968,511
1985–868,68011,983
1986–878,71412,514
1987–888,4397,771
1988–897,7657,557
1989–907,7656,584
1990–916,5667,264
1991–927,8446,825
Overall7,6449,049

MISL and MSL Championship Series

By year

SeasonChampionsSeriesRunners-upMVPWinning coach
1978–79New York Arrows2–0Philadelphia FeverShep MessingDon Popovic
1979–80New York Arrows7–4*Houston SummitSteve ZungulDon Popovic
1980–81New York Arrows6–5*St. Louis SteamersSteve ZungulDon Popovic
1981–82New York Arrows3–2St. Louis SteamersSteve ZungulDon Popovic
1982–83San Diego Sockers3–2Baltimore BlastJuli VeeeRon Newman
1983–84Baltimore Blast4–1St. Louis SteamersScott ManningKen Cooper
1984–85San Diego Sockers4–1Baltimore BlastSteve ZungulRon Newman
1985–86San Diego Sockers4–3Minnesota StrikersBrian QuinnRon Newman
1986–87Dallas Sidekicks4–3Tacoma StarsTatuGordon Jago
1987–88San Diego Sockers4–0Cleveland ForceHugo PérezRon Newman
1988–89San Diego Sockers4–3Baltimore BlastVictor NogueiraRon Newman
1989–90San Diego Sockers4–2Baltimore BlastBrian QuinnRon Newman
1990–91San Diego Sockers4–2Cleveland CrunchBen CollinsRon Newman
1991–92San Diego Sockers4–2Dallas SidekicksThompson UsiyanRon Newman
*Single-game championship, game score rather than series results.

By club

ClubWinnerRunner-UpSeasons WonSeasons Runner-Up
80align=left 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
New York Arrows401978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82
Baltimore Blast151983–841979–80 (as Houston Summit), 1982–83, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1989–90
Dallas Sidekicks111986–871991–92
St. Louis Steamers031980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84
Philadelphia Fever011978–79
Minnesota Strikers011985–86
Tacoma Stars011986–87
Cleveland Force011987–88
Cleveland Crunch011990–91

Commissioners

All-time statistics leaders

Points

  1. 1,123 – Steve Zungul (New York Arrows, Golden Bay Earthquakes, San Diego Sockers, Tacoma Stars)
  2. 841 – Branko Šegota (New York Arrows, San Diego Sockers, St.Louis Storm)
  3. 690 – Tatu (Dallas Sidekicks)
  4. 686 – Dale Mitchell (Tacoma Stars, Kansas City Comets, Baltimore Blast)
  5. 683 – Kai Haaskivi (Houston Summit, Cleveland Force, Baltimore Blast, Cleveland Crunch)
  6. 682 – Jan Goossens (Golden Bay Earthquakes, Minnesota Strikers, Kansas City Comets, Dallas Sidekicks)
  7. 664 – Preki (Tacoma Stars, St. Louis Storm)
  8. 612 – Chico Borja (Las Vegas Americans, Wichita Wings, Los Angeles Lazers)
  9. 544 – Fred Grgurev (Philadelphia Fever, New York Arrows, New Jersey Rockets, Memphis/Las Vegas Americans, Pittsburgh Spirit, New York Express)
  10. 542 – Stan Stamenkovic (Memphis Americans, Baltimore Blast)

Goals

  1. 652 – Steve Zungul (New York Arrows, Golden Bay Earthquakes, San Diego Sockers, Tacoma Stars)
  2. 463 – Branko Šegota (New York Arrows, San Diego Sockers, St. Louis Storm)
  3. 406 – Tatu (Dallas Sidekicks)
  4. 406 – Dale Mitchell (Tacoma Stars, Kansas City Comets, Baltimore Blast)
  5. 344 – Jan Goossens (Golden Bay Earthquakes, Minnesota Strikers, Kansas City Comets, Dallas Sidekicks)
  6. 332 – Preki (Tacoma Stars, St. Louis Storm)
  7. 331 – Fred Grgurev (Philadelphia Fever, New York Arrows, New Jersey Rockets, Memphis/Las Vegas Americans, Pittsburgh Spirit, New York Express)
  8. 307 – Andy Chapman (Wichita Wings, Cleveland Force, Baltimore Blast)
  9. 297 – Craig Allen (New Jersey Rockets, Cleveland Force)
  10. 297 – Kai Haaskivi (Houston Summit, Cleveland Force, Baltimore Blast, Cleveland Crunch)

Assists

  1. 471 – Steve Zungul (New York Arrows, Golden Bay Earthquakes, San Diego Sockers, Tacoma Stars)
  2. 386 – Kai Haaskivi (Houston Summit, Cleveland Force, Baltimore Blast, Cleveland Crunch)
  3. 378 – Branko Šegota (New York Arrows, San Diego Sockers, St. Louis Storm)
  4. 338 – Chico Borja (New York Cosmos, Las Vegas Americans, Wichita Wings, Los Angeles Lazers)
  5. 338 – Jan Goossens (Golden Bay Earthquakes, Minnesota Strikers, Kansas City Comets, Dallas Sidekicks)
  6. 332 – Preki (Tacoma Stars, St. Louis Storm)
  7. 311 – Stan Stamenkovic (Memphis Americans, Baltimore Blast)
  8. 284 – Tatu (Dallas Sidekicks)
  9. 280 – Dale Mitchell (Tacoma Stars, Kansas City Comets, Baltimore Blast)
  10. 271 – Jorgen Kristensen (Wichita Wings, Kansas City Comets)

Goals against average

(9,500 minutes minimum)

  1. 4.03 – Zoltán Tóth (New York Arrows, San Diego Sockers, St. Louis Storm)
  2. 4.09 – Tino Lettieri (Minnesota Strikers)
  3. 4.14 – Krzysztof Sobieski (Pittsburgh Spirit, Cleveland Force, Dallas Sidekicks)
  4. 4.18 – Victor Nogueira (Chicago Sting, Cleveland Force, San Diego Sockers)
  5. 4.21 – David Brcic (New York Cosmos, Wichita Wings, Pittsburgh Spirit, Los Angeles Lazers, Kansas City Comets, St. Louis Storm)
  6. 4.26 – Slobo Ilijevski (St. Louis Steamers, Baltimore Blast, St. Louis Storm)
  7. 4.32 – P.J. Johns (Cleveland Force, Tacoma Stars, Cleveland Crunch)
  8. 4.35 – Jim Gorsek (San Diego Sockers, Los Angeles Lazers, Kansas City Comets, St. Louis Storm)
  9. 4.3972 – Joe Papaleo (Pittsburgh Spirit, Tacoma Stars, Dallas Sidekicks)
  10. 4.3979 – Keith Van Eron (Cincinnati Kids, Wichita Wings, Philadelphia Fever, Baltimore Blast, Las Vegas Americans)

Awards

Most Valuable Player

YearWinner
1978–79Steve Zungul, New York
1979–80Steve Zungul, New York
1980–81Steve Zungul, New York
1981–82Steve Zungul, New York and Stan Terlecki, Pittsburgh
1982–83Alan Mayer, San Diego
1983–84Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore
1984–85Steve Zungul, San Diego
1985–86Steve Zungul, San Diego
1986–87Tatu, Dallas
1987–88Erik Rasmussen, Wichita
1988–89Preki, Tacoma
1989–90Tatu, Dallas
1990–91Victor Nogueira, San Diego
1991–92Victor Nogueira, San Diego

Scoring Champion

YearWinner
1978–79Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia
1979–80Steve Zungul, New York
1980–81Steve Zungul, New York
1981–82Steve Zungul, New York
1982–83Steve Zungul, New York/Golden Bay
1983–84Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore
1984–85Steve Zungul, San Diego
1985–86Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma
1986–87Tatu, Dallas
1987–88Erik Rasmussen, Wichita
1988–89Preki, Tacoma
1989–90Tatu, Dallas
1990–91Tatu, Dallas
1991–92Zoran Karic, Cleveland

MISL Pass Master

The Pass Master award was given out to the player with the most assists during the regular season.

YearWinner
1978–79Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia
1979–80Steve Zungul, New York
1980–81Jorgen Kristiansen, Wichita
1981–82Steve Zungul, New York
1982–83Stan Stamenkovic, Memphis
1983–84Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore
1984–85Steve Zungul, San Diego
1985–86Steve Zungul, San Diego/Tacoma
1986–87Kai Haaskivi, Cleveland
1987–88Preki, Tacoma
1988–89Preki, Tacoma and Chico Borja, Wichita
1989–90Jan Goossens, Kansas City
1990–91Tatu, Dallas
1991–92Zoran Karic, Cleveland

Defender of the Year

YearWinner
1981–82Val Tuksa, New York
1982–83Bernie James, Cleveland
1983–84Kim Roentved, Wichita
1984–85Kevin Crow, San Diego
1985–86Kim Roentved, Wichita
1986–87Bruce Savage, Baltimore
1987–88Kevin Crow, San Diego
1988–89Kevin Crow, San Diego
1989–90Wes McLeod, Dallas
1990–91Kevin Crow, San Diego
1991–92Kevin Crow, San Diego

Goalkeeper of the Year

YearWinner
1978–79Paul Hammond, Houston
1979–80Sepp Gantenhammer, Houston
1980–81Enzo Di Pede, Chicago
1981–82Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis
1982–83Zoltán Tóth, New York
1983–84Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis
1984–85Scott Manning, Baltimore
1985–86Keith Van Eron, Baltimore
1986–87Tino Lettieri, Minnesota
1987–88Zoltán Tóth, San Diego
1988–89Victor Nogueira, San Diego
1989–90Joe Papaleo, Dallas
1990–91Victor Nogueira, San Diego
1991–92Victor Nogueira, San Diego

Rookie of the Year

YearWinner
1979–80Jim Sinclair, Buffalo
1980–81Don Ebert, St. Louis
1981–82Germain Iglesias, Buffalo
1982–83Kirk Shermer, Los Angeles
1983–84Kevin Maher, Pittsburgh
1984–85Ali Kazemaini, Cleveland
1985–86Dave Boncek, Kansas City
1986–87John Stollmeyer, Cleveland
1987–88David Doyle, Kansas City
1988–89Rusty Troy, Baltimore
1989–90Terry Brown, St. Louis
1990–91David Banks, San Diego
1991–92Tommy Tanner, Cleveland

Newcomer of the Year

This award was given to 'the most outstanding player in his first year of competition in the Major Indoor Soccer League'[7] in order to differentiate it from the Rookie of the Year award.

YearWinner
1986–87Steve Kinsey, Minnesota
1987–88Nenad "Ziggy" Zigante, Wichita
1988–89Domenic Mobilio, Baltimore
1989–90Claudio DeOliviera, St. Louis
1990–91Paul Peschisolido, Kansas City

Coach of the Year

YearWinner
1978–79Timo Liekoski, Houston
1979–80Len Bilous, Pittsburgh and Pat McBride, St. Louis
1980–81Don Popovic, New York
1981–82Dave Clements, Denver
1982–83Pat McBride, Kansas City
1983–84Kenny Cooper, Baltimore
1984–85Peter Wall, Los Angeles
1985–86Gordon Jago, Dallas
1986–87Dave Clements, Kansas City
1987–88Ron Newman, San Diego
1988–89Kenny Cooper, Baltimore
1989–90Billy Phillips, Dallas
1990–91Trevor Dawkins, Cleveland
1991–92Gordon Jago, Dallas

Championship Series Most Valuable Player

YearWinner
1978–79Shep Messing, New York
1979–80Steve Zungul, New York
1980–81Steve Zungul, New York
1981–82Steve Zungul, New York
1982–83Juli Veee, San Diego
1983–84Scott Manning, Baltimore
1984–85Steve Zungul, San Diego
1985–86Brian Quinn, San Diego
1986–87Tatu, Dallas
1987–88Hugo Perez, San Diego
1988–89Victor Nogueira, San Diego
1989–90Brian Quinn, San Diego
1990–91Ben Collins, San Diego
1991–92Thompson Usiyan, San Diego

Championship Series Unsung Hero

This award was given to the player 'in the Championship Series whose impact to his team's success was measured by hustle, determination and leadership.'[8]

YearWinner
1987–88George Fernandez, San Diego
1988–89Paul Dougherty, San Diego
1989–90Paul Wright, San Diego
1990–91Glenn Carbonara, San Diego
1991–92Kevin Crow, San Diego

Prominent players

Television and radio coverage

The MISL made inroads on national television in 1982–83. While the spring would see the end of the league's two-year deal with the USA Network, CBS would broadcast a playoff game live from Cleveland on May 7 that drew an estimated four million viewers. One game during the 1983–84 season was televised on CBS (Game 3 of the championship series on June 2) as well.

1984–85 would be the final year the MISL would have games aired on network television, CBS broadcast Game 4 of the championship series live on May 25.[9]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.oursportscentral.com/misl/history.html MISL History
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/09/sports/improvisation-lies-at-the-heart-of-arena-football.html?pagewanted=1 Improvisation Lies at the Heart of Arena Football
  3. News: A good idea...on paper . The Florida Times-Union . May 12, 2001 . 2009-08-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120623124017/http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/051201/spo_6156030.html . June 23, 2012 . dead .
  4. http://www.arenafan.com/news/?page=origcol&writer=23&article=3254 ArenaFan Rewriting The History Books: Test Game Date Revealed To Be Wrong
  5. News: MISL awards Denver expansion franchise. June 26, 1987. . 4C . 2012-05-31.
  6. News: MISL team folds. November 6, 1987. . 2B . 2012-05-31.
  7. Book: MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide . 1987 . 44 .
  8. Book: Official MISL Guide 1989-90 . 1989 . 44 .
  9. News: Sarni . Jim . Blast For Soccer Fans: CBS Airs MISL Game . May 25, 1985. . 2012-05-08.