1983–84 Major Indoor Soccer League season

The 1983–84 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the sixth in league history and ended with the Baltimore Blast winning their first MISL championship. The Blast would beat the St. Louis Steamers in the championship series, the third time in five seasons the Steamers would lose in the MISL championship round. This would be the first time the MISL finals would be a best-of-seven series, part of the league's expanded playoff format.

Major Indoor Soccer League
Season1983–84
ChampionsBaltimore Blast
Matches played288
Top goalscorerMark Liveric (58 goals)
Average attendance8,707

Recap

With the North American Soccer League restarting their indoor league in the fall of 1983, the defending champion San Diego Sockers, Chicago Sting and Golden Bay Earthquakes would not rejoin the MISL for the upcoming season. To replace the teams, the Tacoma Stars (actually the reactivated Denver Avalanche) began play this season.

While there were some franchises who would begin a run of respectability at the box office, the Cleveland Force chief among them, others would see the end of their run. The New York Arrows, Buffalo Stallions and Phoenix Pride would all go out of business at the end of the season. Despite winning the first four MISL titles, the Arrows never gained a foothold in the New York market. Changing the name of the Phoenix franchise (GM Ted Podleski hated the Inferno name, and wanted a name more in tune with his Christian beliefs) would not bring about an improved record and new owner Bruce Merrill was ready to fold after losing $2 million in less than a year.[1] The Stallions, in particular, would be caught trying to move out of their Buffalo Memorial Auditorium offices without paying back rent, similar to what had happened with the NFL's Baltimore Colts a few months earlier.[2]

Not all news was bad. The Force and Blast routinely drew strong crowds, and the new franchise in Tacoma nearly made the playoffs. The MISL drew 2.5 million to their games, and another 300,000 attended the playoff games. One game was televised on CBS (Game 3 of the championship series on June 2), as well.

After the season, the Memphis Americans would move to Las Vegas.[3]

Teams
Team City/Area Arena
Baltimore Blast Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena
Buffalo Stallions Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Cleveland Force Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
Kansas City Comets Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena
Los Angeles Lazers Inglewood, California The Forum
Memphis Americans Memphis, Tennessee Mid-South Coliseum
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Phoenix Pride Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)
St. Louis Steamers St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena
Tacoma Stars Tacoma, Washington Tacoma Dome
Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum

Regular season schedule

The 1983–84 regular season schedule ran from November 4, 1983, to April 21, 1984. It would be the first time in MISL history that the length of the schedule stayed the same as the previous year. In this case, each team continued to play 48 games apiece.[4]

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home[5] Road[5]
Baltimore Blast3414.708--28020320-414-10
Pittsburgh Spirit3216.667224520419-513-11
Cleveland Force3117.646326922918-613-11
New York Arrows2028.4171423228012-128-16
Memphis Americans1830.3751621628414-104-20
Buffalo Stallions1533.3131922627912-123-21
Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home[5] Road[5]
St. Louis Steamers2622.542--22020216-810-14
Wichita Wings2523.521123722817-78-16
Los Angeles Lazers2424.500222323913-1111-13
Kansas City Comets2325.479323224615-98-16
Tacoma Stars2226.458422623214-108-16
Phoenix Pride1830.375822124912-126-18

Playoffs
Division Semifinals Division Finals Championship Series
         
E1 Baltimore Blast 3
E4 New York Arrows 1
E1 Baltimore Blast 3
E3 Cleveland Force 0
E2 Pittsburgh Spirit 1
E3 Cleveland Force 3
E1 Baltimore Blast 4
W1 St. Louis Steamers 1
W1 St. Louis Steamers 3
W4 Kansas City Comets 2
W1 St. Louis Steamers 3
W2 Wichita Wings 0
W2 Wichita Wings 3
W3 Los Angeles Lazers 1

Quarterfinals
Baltimore vs. New York
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 27New York 5Baltimore 1111,220
April 29New York 9Baltimore 810,606
Mark Liveric scored at :17 of overtime
May 4Baltimore 4New York 32,353
May 9Baltimore 14New York 51,779
Baltimore wins series 3-1
Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 26Cleveland 6Pittsburgh 47,002
April 27Cleveland 1Pittsburgh 411,739
May 1Pittsburgh 5Cleveland 610,383
Alex Tarnoczi scored at 11:46 of overtime
May 4Pittsburgh 3Cleveland 518,630
Cleveland wins series 3-1
St. Louis vs. Kansas City
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 24Kansas City 4St. Louis 67,445
April 27Kansas City 6St. Louis 712,235
May 5St. Louis 1Kansas City 215,007
May 9St. Louis 3Kansas City 513,127
May 13Kansas City 5St. Louis 613,273
St. Louis wins series 3-2
Wichita vs. Los Angeles
DateAwayHomeAttendance
April 24Los Angeles 7Wichita 108,782
May 1Los Angeles 6Wichita 49,586
May 4Wichita 5Los Angeles 44,522
May 7Wichita 6Los Angeles 53,392
Wichita wins series 3-1

Semifinals
Baltimore vs. Cleveland
DateAwayHomeAttendance
May 12Cleveland 4Baltimore 511,034
May 16Cleveland 5Baltimore 69,110
May 17Baltimore 7Cleveland 210,591
Baltimore wins series 3-0
St. Louis vs. Wichita
DateAwayHomeAttendance
May 16Wichita 3St. Louis 48,695
May 19Wichita 6St. Louis 713,112
May 22St. Louis 5Wichita 49,681
Tony Bellinger scored at 1:55 of overtime
St. Louis wins series 3-0

Championship Series
Baltimore vs. St. Louis
DateAwayHomeAttendance
May 27St. Louis 7Baltimore 311,546
May 31St. Louis 3Baltimore 510,778
June 2Baltimore 5St. Louis 214,114
June 6Baltimore 5St. Louis 415,302
Stan Stamenkovic scored at 1:59 of overtime
June 8St. Louis 3Baltimore 1012,007
Baltimore wins series 4-1

Regular Season Player Statistics

[6]

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast46346997
Kai Haaskivi Cleveland Force47375188
Craig Allen Cleveland Force44493786
Mark Liveric New York Arrows48582684
Fred Grgurev New York/Memphis50423476
Andy Chapman Wichita Wings46532174
Poli Garcia Los Angeles Lazers48393372
Keith Furphy Cleveland Force48393170
Gordon Hill Kansas City Comets41462470
Louie Nanchoff Cleveland Force42363369

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player Team GP Min GA GAA W L
Slobo IlijevskiSt. Louis Steamers4023361433.672215
Scott ManningBaltimore Blast2815521044.02188
Joe PapaleoPittsburgh Spirit2514551004.12168
Mike MahoneyLos Angeles Lazers4223901724.321918
Mike DowlerWichita Wings4627241964.322521
Krys SobieskiCleveland Force3217161254.37197
John BarettaTacoma Stars3017411304.481114
Blagoje TamindzicPhoenix Pride3014861164.68914
Enzo DiPedeKansas City Comets3921801744.791818
Wieslaw SurlitBuffalo Stallions3517361555.361020

Playoff Player Statistics

[7]

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast12132033
Dave MacWilliams Baltimore Blast12121426
Njego Pesa St. Louis Steamers1315924
Pat Ercoli Baltimore Blast1016218
Don Ebert St. Louis Steamers129716

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses

Player Team GP Min GA GAA W L
Scott ManningBaltimore Blast9500313.7280
Chris VaccaroCleveland Force6325224.0633
Enzo DiPedeKansas City Comets5286224.6222
Slobo IllijevskiSt. Louis Steamers10596484.8364
Mike DowlerWichita Wings7398345.1333

All-MISL Teams
First Team  Position  Second Team
Slobo Illijevski, St. Louis G Mike Dowler, Wichita
Sam Bick, St. Louis D Tony Bellinger, St. Louis
Kim Roentved, Wichita D Greg Makowski, Kansas City
Kai Haaskivi, Cleveland M Craig Allen, Cleveland
Art Hughes, Memphis M Greg Makowski, Kansas City
Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore F Gordon Hill, Kansas City
Andy Chapman, Wichita F Mark Liveric, New York
Honorable Mention  Position  
Scott Manning, Baltimore G
Helmut Dudek, Memphis D
Ray Evans, Tacoma D
Batata, Los Angeles F
Poli Garcia, Los Angeles F

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore

Scoring Champion: Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore

Pass Master: Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore

Defender of the Year: Kim Roentved, Wichita

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Maher, Pittsburgh

Goalkeeper of the Year: Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis

Coach of the Year: Kenny Cooper, Baltimore

Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Scott Manning, Baltimore

Team Attendance Totals
Club Games Total Average
Kansas City Comets 24 378,864 15,786
St. Louis Steamers 24 335,805 13,992
Cleveland Force 24 328,619 13,692
Baltimore Blast 24 268,534 11,189
Wichita Wings 24 216,824 9,034
Pittsburgh Spirit 24 198,668 8,278
Memphis Americans 24 157,361 6,557
Phoenix Pride 24 142,157 5,923
New York Arrows 24 131,472 5,478
Tacoma Stars 24 127,728 5,322
Buffalo Stallions 24 116,020 4,834
Los Angeles Lazers 24 105,720 4,405
OVERALL 288 2,507,722 8,707

References
  1. "Phoenix Inferno/Phoenix Pride". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  2. "Buffalo Stallions". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
  3. "Memphis Americans Move to Vegas". Palm Beach Post. April 20, 1984. p. D4. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  4. 1983-84 MISL Media Guide. 1983. pp. 46–47.
  5. 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide. 1984. pp. 36–37.
  6. MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 53.
  7. MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 81.

1983-84 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1983.

1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide. Dallas, Texas: Dallas Sidekicks. 1984.

Leary, Dan; Griffin, John (1987). MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. New York: Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.