Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–92)
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|
| Sport | indoor soccer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1977 |
| Ceased | 1992 |
| No. of teams | high of 14 |
| Country | United States |
| Last champion(s) |
San Diego Sockers |
| Most titles | San Diego Sockers (8 titles) |
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 from fall 1978 to spring 1992. After the folding of the North American Soccer League (NASL) following the 1984 season, the MISL was the Division I soccer league for the United States.
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 (seven teams would change city/name) – 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 (1978–80)/Baltimore Blast (1980–92) 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 (1979–80)/San Francisco Fog (1980–81)/Kansas City Comets (1981–91) franchise, which missed the first and last seasons.
The San Diego Sockers was the most successful franchise on the soccer pitch, winning 8 of the MISL's 14 championships (57%) – which also equates to 8 championships during the team's 9 seasons in the league (89%). The New York Arrows won the MISL's first 4 championships, then folded after the league's sixth season.
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