The New York Arrows were an indoor soccer team that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. They won the first four MISL championships.
History
Preparing for the first season
In 1978, the New York Arrows began their first season as an indoor soccer team in the newly-established Major Indoor Soccer League. They were owned by Bernie Rodin, and John Luciani who also owned the Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League. While preparing for the MISL's inaugural season, the Arrows' imported nearly the entire roster of the Lancers, which played a spring-to-fall schedule. However, the Arrows did make one significant, and crucial, addition: they signed Steve Zungul, a virtually unknown Yugoslavian player. Zungul was a seasoned outdoor player from HNK Hajduk Split who had gained the approval of the Yugoslavia Football Federation to play outside of his native country for a few months. When he refused to return to Hajduk, the Yugoslavia Football Federation obtained a ruling from FIFA forbidding any outdoor team from signing him. This ruled out nearly every club in the world, and forced Zungul to sign with a team in the newly established MISL. On December 22, 1978, the New York Arrows kicked off the first season of MISL, playing in the league's first game, at home versus the Cincinnati Kids.
Champions
The decision to import the Lancers paid off, as the Arrows finished second out of six teams. Only the Houston Summit had a better record, but it was the Arrows who took the title, defeating the Philadelphia Fever. The Arrows finished first in their division the next three years, before taking the titles over the Houston Summit and the St. Louis Steamers.
Dominating players
While the Arrows dominated the league as a team, several Arrows players gained repeated individual recognition. In his four seasons with the Arrows, Steve Zungul, "The Lord of All Indoors", regularly scored nearly five goals per game and in one instance, scored seven in a game versus the Chicago Horizons in 1981. His scoring exploits led to his selection as League MVP four times running. He was also the four time league scoring leader and a two time assists leader. While Zungul was head and shoulders above nearly every other player in the league, he was not the only Arrows great. Shep Messing was the first championship series MVP and a perennial all star. His replacement, Zoltan Toth, was the 1982–1983 Goalkeeper of the Year. Juli Veee was an outstanding midfielder while Branko Šegota was a perennial All Star. However, these are merely a handful of great Arrows players.
Decline and bankruptcy
Though a powerhouse on the field, they were not a powerhouse at the box office. Shortly after the team won its fourth and final MISL title, the team was sold. In January 1983, the team traded Steve Zungul to the San Jose Earthquakes for Gary Etherington and Gordon Hill. While billed as a move to "Americanize" the Arrows, it was largely a cost saving device. While Zungul went on to become the NASL League MVP in 1984, the Arrows collapsed and folded at the end of the season. The six seasons in the MISL the Arrows avg. 6,440 per game.
