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. 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.
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.
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
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.
Final standings
Playoff teams in bold. Eastern Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home 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
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
Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 46 34 69 97 Kai Haaskivi Cleveland Force 47 37 51 88 Craig Allen Cleveland Force 44 49 37 86 Mark Liveric New York Arrows 48 58 26 84 Fred Grgurev New York/Memphis 50 42 34 76 Andy Chapman Wichita Wings 46 53 21 74 Poli Garcia Los Angeles Lazers 48 39 33 72 Keith Furphy Cleveland Force 48 39 31 70 Gordon Hill Kansas City Comets 41 46 24 70 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 L Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 40 2336 143 3.67 22 15 Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 28 1552 104 4.02 18 8 Joe Papaleo Pittsburgh Spirit 25 1455 100 4.12 16 8 Mike Mahoney Los Angeles Lazers 42 2390 172 4.32 19 18 Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 46 2724 196 4.32 25 21 Krys Sobieski Cleveland Force 32 1716 125 4.37 19 7 John Baretta Tacoma Stars 30 1741 130 4.48 11 14 Blagoje Tamindzic Phoenix Pride 30 1486 116 4.68 9 14 Enzo DiPede Kansas City Comets 39 2180 174 4.79 18 18 Wieslaw Surlit Buffalo Stallions 35 1736 155 5.36 10 20
Playoff Player Statistics
Scoring leaders GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points Player Team GP G A Pts Stan Stamenkovic Baltimore Blast 12 13 20 33 Dave MacWilliams Baltimore Blast 12 12 14 26 Njego Pesa St. Louis Steamers 13 15 9 24 Pat Ercoli Baltimore Blast 10 16 2 18 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 L Scott Manning Baltimore Blast 9 500 31 3.72 8 0 Cris Vaccaro Cleveland Force 6 325 22 4.06 3 3 Enzo DiPede Kansas City Comets 5 286 22 4.62 2 2 Slobo Ilijevski St. Louis Steamers 10 596 48 4.83 6 4 Mike Dowler Wichita Wings 7 398 34 5.13 3 3
All-MISL Teams First Team Position Second Team Slobo Ilijevski, 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 Sr., Baltimore
Championship Series Most Valuable Player: 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
External links The Year 1983 in North American Soccer The Year 1984 in North American Soccer