1978–79 Major Indoor Soccer League season

The 1978–79 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the first in league history and would end with the New York Arrows winning the first MISL title.

The league would begin with six teams and a 24-game schedule beginning in December 1978 and ending in March 1979. The top four teams would advance to a single-game semifinal and a best of three championship series. League attendance would average 4,453 per game.[1]

Signs were good that the league would have a long-time presence. The early games drew strong crowds, as Philadelphia sold out the Spectrum for their opener, leading the league in attendance. The first expansion team was announced on December 13, nine days before the first game in league history, as the Buffalo Stallions were slated to start play in the 1979-80 season. 10,386 fans were in the Nassau Coliseum to see the Cincinnati Kids play the Arrows in the league's first game.[2]

Despite finishing in a solid third place, Cincinnati folded after the season.

Teams

Team City/Area Arena
Cincinnati Kids Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
Cleveland Force Cleveland Richfield Coliseum
Houston Summit Houston The Summit
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Philadelphia Fever Philadelphia The Spectrum
Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)

Regular season schedule

The 1978–79 regular season schedule ran from December 22, 1978 to March 18, 1979. [3] Each team played a schedule of 24 games.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
Houston Summit 186.750--17511411-17-5
New York Arrows 168.66721761368-48-4
Cincinnati Kids 168.667215412910-26-6
Philadelphia Fever 1113.45871411545-76-6
Pittsburgh Spirit 618.250121231714-82-10
Cleveland Force 519.20813941594-81-11

Playoffs

Semifinals Championship Series
      
1 Houston Summit 3
4 Philadelphia Fever 6
4 Philadelphia Fever 0
2 New York Arrows 2
2 New York Arrows 9
3 Cincinnati Kids 4

Semifinals

Houston vs. Philadelphia
Date Away Home Attendance
March 20 Philadelphia 6 Houston 3 4,683
New York vs. Cincinnati
Date Away Home Attendance
March 20 Cincinnati 4 New York 9 4,411

Championship Series

New York vs. Philadelphia
Date Away Home Attendance
March 23 Philadelphia 7 New York 14 8,640
March 25 New York 9 Philadelphia 5 6,096
New York wins series 2-0

Regular Season Player Statistics

[4]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Fred Grgurev Philadelphia Fever 24 46 28 74
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 18 43 25 68
Kai Haaskivi Houston Summit 22 39 25 64
Branko Segota New York Arrows 21 25 22 47
Doug Wark Cincinnati Kids 22 29 16 45
Joe Fink Philadelphia Fever 22 30 14 44
Ian Anderson Houston Summit 21 29 13 42
Stewart Jump Houston Summit 21 21 18 39
John Stremlau Houston Summit 24 16 21 37
Alberto Alves Philadelphia Fever 24 20 16 36

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
Paul Hammond Houston Summit 17 1010 70 4.16 13 3
Keith Van Eron Cincinnati Kids 23 1237 104 5.04 15 7
Shep Messing New York Arrows 22 1236 107 5.19 14 7
Woody Hartman Philadelphia Fever 22 1237 120 5.82 10 10
Roland Skinner Houston Summit 8 453 44 5.83 5 3
Jim May Cleveland Force 12 529 53 6.01 1 6
Pete Mannos Pittsburgh Spirit 16 880 159 3.02 5 9
Rich Brands Cleveland Force 13 533 71 7.99 1 8

Playoff Player Statistics

[5]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 3 15 4 19
Branko Segota New York Arrows 3 7 3 10
Pat Ercoli New York Arrows 3 1 7 8
Alberto Alves Philadelphia Fever 3 2 5 7
Luis Alberto New York Arrows 3 1 5 6

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
Ian Anderson Houston Summit 1 1 0 0.00 0 0
Shep Messing New York Arrows 3 170 15 5.30 3 0
Enzo DiPede New York Arrows 2 10 1 5.88 0 0
Paul Hammond Houston Summit 1 59 6 6.12 0 1
Woody Hartman Philadelphia Fever 2 93 10 6.45 1 1

League Awards

Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York

Scoring Champion: Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia

Pass Master: Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia

Goalkeeper of the Year: Paul Hammond, Houston

Coach of the Year: Timo Liekoski, Houston

Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Shep Messing, New York

All-MISL Teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Shep Messing, New York G Paul Hammond, Houston
Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia D Ty Keough, Cincinnati
Ian Anderson, Houston D Tommy Mulroy, Pittsburgh
Alan Hamlyn, Cleveland
Doug Wark, Cincinnati M Joe Fink, Philadelphia
Kai Haaskivi, Houston F Stewart Jump, Houston
Steve Zungul, New York F Jim Pollihan, New York

Team Attendance Totals

Club Games Total Average
Philadelphia Fever 12 90,176 7,515
New York Arrows 12 65,350 5,446
Houston Summit 12 43,472 3,623
Cincinnati Kids 12 38,287 3,191
Cleveland Force 12 37,393 3,116
Pittsburgh Spirit 12 33,206 2,801
OVERALL 72 308,284 4,282

References

  1. ↑ "1978-79 MISL Season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved November 30, 2011.
  2. ↑ 1980-81 MISL Media Guide. 1980. p. 60.
  3. ↑ 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. p. 10.
  4. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 57.
  5. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 83.

1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. Buffalo, New York: Buffalo Stallions. 1979. 

1980-81 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1980. 

Verb, Doug; Jones-Fearnley, Alaina (1982). 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 

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

External links

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