Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992)


The Major Indoor Soccer League, 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 - had played in the MISL.
Over its life, MISL teams would be based in 27 different cities - with two different teams, at different times, playing in Cleveland, East Rutherford, New Jersey, St. Louis and Uniondale, New York.
The Houston Summit /Baltimore Blast 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, were the 13 seasons of the Wichita Wings team, which missed only the inaugural 1978–79 season. The third longest-lived franchise was the 12 seasons of the Detroit Lightning /San Francisco Fog /Kansas City Comets franchise, which missed only the first and last seasons.
The San Diego Sockers was the most successful franchise, winning eight of the MISL's 14 overall championships - which also equates to eight 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 four times, played on eight championship-winning teams, and won Championship Series Most Valuable Player four times. Zungul is the MISL's all-time leader in goals, assists and points.
Despite ongoing financial hardships, the MISL was a huge success. The league averaged 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 in 1990, and then folded in 1992. Four of the league's seven franchises would continue 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.

MISL inspires Arena Football

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. That inspiration gave birth to the concept now known as arena football and the AFL was born six years later. Foster credits the MISL for the inspiration.

MISL 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 LazersInglewood, CaliforniaThe 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 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 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 owner Sidney Shlenker, to commence play in the 1988–89 season. 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.

Attendance

MISL/MSL Championship Series

By year

*Single-game championship, game score rather than series results.

By club

Commissioners

Points

  1. 1,123 – Steve Zungul
  2. 841 – Branko Šegota
  3. 690 – Tatu
  4. 686 – Dale Mitchell
  5. 683 – Kai Haaskivi
  6. 682 – Jan Goossens
  7. 664 – Preki
  8. 612 – Chico Borja
  9. 544 – Fred Grgurev
  10. 542 – Stan Stamenkovic

    Goals

  11. 652 – Steve Zungul
  12. 463 – Branko Šegota
  13. 406 – Tatu
  14. 406 – Dale Mitchell
  15. 344 – Jan Goossens
  16. 332 – Preki
  17. 331 – Fred Grgurev
  18. 307 – Andy Chapman
  19. 297 – Craig Allen
  20. 297 – Kai Haaskivi

    Assists

  21. 471 – Steve Zungul
  22. 386 – Kai Haaskivi
  23. 378 – Branko Šegota
  24. 338 – Chico Borja
  25. 338 – Jan Goossens
  26. 332 – Preki
  27. 311 – Stan Stamenkovic
  28. 284 – Tatu
  29. 280 – Dale Mitchell
  30. 271 – Jorgen Kristensen

    Goals against average

  31. 4.03 – Zoltán Tóth
  32. 4.09 – Tino Lettieri
  33. 4.14 – Krzysztof Sobieski
  34. 4.18 – Victor Nogueira
  35. 4.21 – David Brcic
  36. 4.26 – Slobo Ilijevski
  37. 4.32 – P.J. Johns
  38. 4.35 – Jim Gorsek
  39. 4.3972 – Joe Papaleo
  40. 4.3979 – Keith Van Eron

    Awards

Most Valuable Player

Scoring Champion

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

Goalkeeper of the Year

Rookie of the Year

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' 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

Championship Series Most Valuable Player

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.'
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

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 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.