1983–84 Major Indoor Soccer League season

August 2023 Major Indoor Soccer League 1983–84 Baltimore Blast USA Mark Liveric (58 goals) 288 2827 8,707 1982–83 1984–85 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. 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.http://www.funwhileitlasted.net/2011/10/29/50-phoenix-inferno-phoenix-pride/ Phoenix Inferno/Phoenix Pride Fun While It Lasted March 10, 2012 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.http://www.funwhileitlasted.net/2011/05/15/15-buffalo-stallions/ Buffalo Stallions Fun While It Lasted March 10, 2012 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.Memphis Americans Move to Vegas April 20, 1984 Palm Beach Post https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sAAtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OM0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2353,8423110&dq=memphis+soccer&hl=en https://archive.today/20120717035007/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sAAtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OM0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2353,8423110&dq=memphis+soccer&hl=en dead July 17, 2012 D4 2012-03-10 Teams TeamCity/AreaArenaBaltimore BlastBaltimore, Maryland Baltimore ArenaBuffalo StallionsBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo Memorial Auditorium Cleveland ForceCleveland, Ohio Richfield ColiseumKansas City CometsKansas City, Missouri Kemper ArenaLos Angeles LazersInglewood, California The ForumMemphis AmericansMemphis, Tennessee Mid-South ColiseumNew York ArrowsUniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumPhoenix Pride Phoenix, Arizona Arizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumPittsburgh SpiritPittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena (Pittsburgh) St. Louis SteamersSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis ArenaTacoma Stars Tacoma, Washington Tacoma DomeWichita WingsWichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum Map of clubs left 10px Eastern Division 10px Western Division 1090 500 300 425 355 North America 870 North America 39.29 -76.62 Blue pog.svg 80 right Blast North America 42.88 -78.88 Blue pog.svg 80 top Stallions North America 41.25 -81.59 Blue pog.svg 80 top Force North America 35.12 -89.98 Blue pog.svg 80 right Americans North America 40.72 -73.59 Blue pog.svg 80 right Arrows North America 40.44 -79.99 Blue pog.svg 80 bottom Spirit North America 39.09 -94.61 Red pog.svg 80 top Comets North America 33.96 -118.34 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Lazers North America 33.47 -112.10 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Pride North America 38.63 -90.28 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Steamers North America 47.24 -122.43 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Stars North America 37.84 -97.32 Red pog.svg 80 bottom Wings 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.1983-84 MISL Media Guide 1983 46–47 Final standings Playoff teams in bold. Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide 1984 36–37 Road Baltimore Blast 3414.708 --28020320-414-10 Pittsburgh Spirit 3216.667224520419-513-11 Cleveland Force 3117.646326922918-613-11 New York Arrows 2028.4171423228012-128-16 Memphis Americans 1830.3751621628414-104-20 Buffalo Stallions 1533.3131922627912-123-21 Western Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road St. Louis Steamers 2622.542--22020216-810-14 Wichita Wings 2523.521123722817-78-16 Los Angeles Lazers 2424.500222323913-1111-13 Kansas City Comets 2325.479323224615-98-16 Tacoma Stars 2226.458422623214-108-16 Phoenix Pride 1830.375822124912-126-18 Playoffs Division Semifinals Division Finals Championship Series E1 Baltimore Blast 3 E4 New York Arrows 1 E2 Pittsburgh Spirit 1 E3 Cleveland Force 3 W1 St. Louis Steamers 3 W4 Kansas City Comets 2 W2 Wichita Wings 3 W3 Los Angeles Lazers 1 E1 Baltimore Blast 3 E3 Cleveland Force 0 W1 St. Louis Steamers 3 W2 Wichita Wings 0 E1 Baltimore Blast 4 W1 St. Louis Steamers 1 Quarterfinals Baltimore vs. New York Date Away Home Attendance April 27 New York 5 Baltimore 11 11,220 April 29 New York 9 Baltimore 8 10,606 Mark Liveric scored at :17 of overtime May 4 Baltimore 4 New York 3 2,353 May 9 Baltimore 14 New York 5 1,779 Baltimore wins series 3-1 Pittsburgh vs. Cleveland Date Away Home Attendance April 26 Cleveland 6 Pittsburgh 4 7,002 April 27 Cleveland 1 Pittsburgh 4 11,739 May 1 Pittsburgh 5 Cleveland 6 10,383 Alex Tarnoczi scored at 11:46 of overtime May 4 Pittsburgh 3 Cleveland 5 18,630 Cleveland wins series 3-1 St. Louis vs. Kansas City Date Away Home Attendance April 24 Kansas City 4 St. Louis 6 7,445 April 27 Kansas City 6 St. Louis 7 12,235 May 5 St. Louis 1 Kansas City 2 15,007 May 9 St. Louis 3 Kansas City 5 13,127 May 13 Kansas City 5 St. Louis 6 13,273 St. Louis wins series 3-2 Wichita vs. Los Angeles Date Away Home Attendance April 24 Los Angeles 7 Wichita 10 8,782 May 1 Los Angeles 6 Wichita 4 9,586 May 4 Wichita 5 Los Angeles 4 4,522 May 7 Wichita 6 Los Angeles 5 3,392 Wichita wins series 3-1 Semifinals Baltimore vs. Cleveland Date Away Home Attendance May 12 Cleveland 4 Baltimore 5 11,034 May 16 Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6 9,110 May 17 Baltimore 7 Cleveland 2 10,591 Baltimore wins series 3-0 St. Louis vs. Wichita Date Away Home Attendance May 16 Wichita 3 St. Louis 4 8,695 May 19 Wichita 6 St. Louis 7 13,112 May 22 St. Louis 5 Wichita 4 9,681 Tony Bellinger scored at 1:55 of overtimeSt. Louis wins series 3-0 Championship Series Baltimore vs. St. Louis Date Away Home Attendance May 27 St. Louis 7 Baltimore 3 11,546 May 31 St. Louis 3 Baltimore 5 10,778 June 2 Baltimore 5 St. Louis 2 14,114 June 6 Baltimore 5 St. Louis 4 15,302 Stan Stamenkovic scored at 1:59 of overtime June 8 St. Louis 3 Baltimore 10 12,007 Baltimore wins series 4-1 Regular Season Player Statistics MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide 1987 53 Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts YUG Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 46 34 69 97 FIN Kai Haaskivi Cleveland Force 47 37 51 88 GUE Craig Allen Cleveland Force 44 49 37 86 USA Mark Liveric New York Arrows 48 58 26 84 USA Fred Grgurev New York/Memphis 50 42 34 76 ENG Andy Chapman Wichita Wings 46 53 21 74 USA Poli Garcia Los Angeles Lazers 48 39 33 72 ENG Keith Furphy Cleveland Force 48 39 31 70 ENG Gordon Hill Kansas City Comets 41 46 24 70 USA Louis Nanchoff Cleveland Force 42 36 33 69 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 LYUG Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 40 2336 143 3.67 22 15USA Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 28 1552 104 4.02 18 8USA Joe Papaleo Pittsburgh Spirit 25 1455 100 4.12 16 8 ENG Mike Mahoney Los Angeles Lazers 42 2390 172 4.32 19 18WAL Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 46 2724 196 4.32 25 21POL Krys Sobieski Cleveland Force 32 1716 125 4.37 19 7CAN John Baretta Tacoma Stars 30 1741 130 4.48 11 14 YUG Blagoje Tamindzic Phoenix Pride 30 1486 116 4.68 9 14ITA Enzo DiPede Kansas City Comets 39 2180 174 4.79 18 18POL Wieslaw Surlit Buffalo Stallions 35 1736 155 5.36 10 20 Playoff Player Statistics MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide 1987 81 Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Player Team GP G A PtsYUG Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 12 13 20 33USA Dave MacWilliams Baltimore Blast 12 12 14 26 USA Njego Pesa St. Louis Steamers 13 15 9 24 CAN Pat Ercoli Baltimore Blast 10 16 2 18 USA Don Ebert St. Louis Steamers 12 9 7 16 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 LUSA Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 9 500 31 3.72 8 0PUR Cris Vaccaro Cleveland Force 6 325 22 4.06 3 3ITA Enzo DiPede Kansas City Comets 5 286 22 4.62 2 2YUG Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 10 596 48 4.83 6 4WAL Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 7 398 34 5.13 3 3 All-MISL Teams First Team   Position   Second Team YUG Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis GWAL Mike Dowler, WichitaUSA Sam Bick, St. Louis DUSA Tony Bellinger, St. LouisDEN Kim Roentved, Wichita DUSA Greg Makowski, Kansas CityFIN Kai Haaskivi, Cleveland MGUE Craig Allen, ClevelandUSA Art Hughes, Memphis MUSA Greg Makowski, Kansas CityYUG Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore FENG Gordon Hill, Kansas CityENG Andy Chapman, Wichita FUSA Mark Liveric, New York Honorable Mention   Position  USA Scott Manning, Baltimore GPOL Helmut Dudek, Memphis DENG Ray Evans, Tacoma DBRA Batata, Los Angeles FUSA Poli Garcia, Los Angeles F League awards Most Valuable Player: YUG Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore Scoring Champion: YUG Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore Pass Master: YUG Stan Stamenkovic, Baltimore Defender of the Year: DEN Kim Roentved, Wichita Rookie of the Year: IRL Kevin Maher, Pittsburgh Goalkeeper of the Year: YUG Slobo Ilijevski, St. Louis Coach of the Year: ENG Kenny Cooper Sr., Baltimore Championship Series Most Valuable Player: USA Scott Manning, Baltimore Team Attendance Totals ClubGamesTotalAverageKansas City Comets24378,86415,786St. Louis Steamers24335,80513,992Cleveland Force24328,61913,692Baltimore Blast24268,53411,189Wichita Wings24216,8249,034Pittsburgh Spirit24198,6688,278Memphis Americans24157,3616,557Phoenix Pride24142,1575,923New York Arrows24131,4725,478Tacoma Stars24127,7285,322Buffalo Stallions24116,0204,834Los Angeles Lazers24105,7204,405OVERALL2882,507,7228,707 References 1983-84 MISL Media Guide Major Indoor Soccer League 1983 Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide Dallas Sidekicks 1984 Dallas, Texas MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide Leary Dan Griffin John Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department 1987 New York External links The Year 1983 in North American Soccer The Year 1984 in North American Soccer https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083804/http://www.northamericansoccerarchives.com/year/1984.html#MISL 2015-05-18 Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) seasons Major Major