1979–80 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Major Indoor Soccer League
Season1979–80
ChampionsNew York Arrows
(2nd title)
Matches played160
Top goalscorerSteve Zungul (90 goals)
Average attendance6,009

The 1979–80 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the second in league history and would end with the New York Arrows repeating as MISL champions.

Recap

Expansion would increase league membership to 10 teams. There would be a split into two divisions (the Atlantic and Central).[1] The new teams were placed in Buffalo, Hartford, Wichita, Detroit and St. Louis. All but Hartford had a measure of success, as three of the new clubs would make the playoffs and St. Louis averaged over 14,000 fans despite finishing tied for the MISL's worst record.[2]

To accommodate the expanded league, the playoff format was tweaked to include the top three teams in each division. The first round would be a single game between the second and third-place finishers, while the semifinals were a two-game series between the first-place finisher and the first round winner. If the teams were tied at one win apiece, there would be a 15-minute minigame to decide the winner. If the teams remained tied, there would be a MISL-style penalty shootout to break the tie. The winner of the Atlantic Division final would host the championship game.[1]

The Pittsburgh Spirit would recover from a 5–10 start and a coaching change to finish second in the Atlantic, thanks to a league-record 13-game winning streak.[3] They would be joined in the playoffs by the Buffalo Stallions, who snuck into the postseason thanks to the Philadelphia Fever's loss in the season finale.[4] The Stallions qualified due to their 3–1 head-to-head record against the Fever.[5]

In the end, the New York Arrows repeated as champions, thanks to the goalscoring exploits of Steve Zungul. Zungul scored a combined 100 goals (90 in the regular season, 10 in the playoffs) to lead the Arrows, winning both the regular season and playoff MVP awards in the process.

After the season, the Spirit suspended operations for one year.[6] Pittsburgh would return for the 1981–82 season, however.[7]

Teams

Team City/Area Arena
Buffalo Stallions Buffalo, New York Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Cleveland Force Cleveland, Ohio Richfield Coliseum
Detroit Lightning Detroit, Michigan Cobo Arena
Hartford Hellions Hartford, Connecticut New Haven Coliseum
Hartford Civic Center
Houston Summit Houston, Texas The Summit
New York Arrows Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Philadelphia Fever Philadelphia The Spectrum
Pittsburgh Spirit Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)
St. Louis Steamers St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis Arena
Wichita Wings Wichita, Kansas Kansas Coliseum

Map of clubs

Atlantic Division Central Division

Regular season

Schedule

Main article: 1979–80 Major Indoor Soccer League regular season schedule

The 1979–80 regular season schedule ran from November 24, 1979, to March 9, 1980. The 32 games per team was an increase of eight over the 1978–79 schedule of 24 games.[8]

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Atlantic Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
New York Arrows 27 5 .844 -- 296 175 16–0 11–5
Pittsburgh Spirit 18 14 .563 9 188 191 11–5 7–9
Buffalo Stallions 17 15 .531 10 172 197 10–6 7–9
Philadelphia Fever 17 15 .531 10 201 197 9–7 8–8
Hartford Hellions 6 26 .188 21 151 240 4–12 2–14
Central Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
Houston Summit 20 12 .625 -- 181 160 14–2 6–10
Wichita Wings 16 16 .500 4 187 173 10–6 6–10
Detroit Lightning 15 17 .469 5 192 201 8–8 7–9
St. Louis Steamers 12 20 .375 8 177 184 8–8 4–12
Cleveland Force 12 20 .375 8 152 179 8–8 4–12

Team attendance

Club Games Total Average
St. Louis Steamers 16 224,959 14,060
Buffalo Stallions 16 136,892 8,556
New York Arrows 16 125,008 7,813
Philadelphia Fever 16 105,881 6,618
Hartford Hellions 16 86,203 5,388
Pittsburgh Spirit 16 81,781 5,111
Wichita Wings 16 61,618 3,851
Detroit Lightning 16 56,325 3,520
Cleveland Force 16 49,320 3,280
Houston Summit 16 33,496 2,094
OVERALL 160 961,443 6,009

Regular season statistics

[9]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 32 90 46 136
Fred Grgurev Philadelphia Fever 31 64 40 104
Kai Haaskivi Houston Summit 27 51 36 87
Branko Segota New York Arrows 31 55 31 86
Pat Ercoli Detroit Lightning 32 44 24 68
Iubo Petrovic Buffalo Stallions 31 46 21 67
Graham Fyfe Pittsburgh Spirit 31 37 28 65
Juli Veee New York Arrows 26 29 35 64
Damir Sutevski New York Arrows 30 32 26 58
Jim Ryan Wichita Wings 29 26 29 55

Goalkeeping leaders

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
Sepp Gantenhammer Houston Summit 14 801 59 4.42 8 5
Alan Mayer Pittsburgh Spirit 17 952 77 4.85 13 4
Cliff Brown Cleveland Force 28 1130 95 5.04 8 10
Keith Van Eron Wichita Wings 20 1050 89 5.09 10 8
Paul Turin St. Louis Steamers 18 932 80 5.15 6 10
Shep Messing New York Arrows 32 1754 151 5.17 15 5
Mick Poole Pittsburgh Spirit 20 1124 99 5.29 12 7
Eric Delabar St. Louis Steamers 12 498 44 5.301 5 5
Mike Ivanow Wichita Wings 14 792 70 5.303 6 6
Bob Rigby Philadelphia Fever 12 684 65 5.70 8 4

All-Star Game

The first MISL All-Star game was played at the Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri on February 27, 1980. Players were divided up by division.[10] Rosters spots were determined by peer voting, with additional spots decided by the two coaches.[11][12] A crowd of 16,892 watched the Central Division squad upset the Atlantic, 9–4. On the strength of three goals and one assist, Pat Ercoli of Detroit was named the game's MVP, with Mick Poole of Houston finishing second, and St. Louis' Steve Pecher third.[13]

Central Division roster

Coach: Pat McBride, St. Louis

First Team   Position   Second Team Coach's Additions
Mick Poole, Houston G Chris Turner, Detroit –
Ian Anderson, Houston D *Stewart Jump, Houston Carl Rose, St. Louis
Steve Pecher, St. Louis D George Ley, Wichita #Tony Bellinger, St. Louis
Kai Haaskivi, Houston F Pat Ercoli, Detroit Manny Cuenca, St. Louis
Flemming Lund, Detroit F John Stremlau, Houston Johnny Moore, Detroit
Jim Ryan, Wichita F Norman Piper, Wichita *Clyde Best, Cleveland #Poli Garcia

*injured, did not play • #replaced injured player

Atlantic Division roster

Coach: Don Popovic, New York

First Team   Position   Second Team Coach's Additions
Jim May, Buffalo G Shep Messing, New York –
David D'Errico, New York D Laszio Harsanyi, New York Bobby Smith, Philadelphia
Doc Lawson, Philadelphia D Clive Charles, Pittsburgh Paul Toomey, Hartford
Steve Zungul, New York F Juli Veee, New York Steve Buttle, Pittsburgh
Branko Šegota, New York F Steve Karasi, Buffalo Damir Šutevski, New York
Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia F *Slobodan Jankovic, Buffalo #Iubo Petrović, Buffalo

*injured, did not play • #replaced injured player

Match report

February 27, 1980 All-Star Game Central Division All-Stars 9–4 Atlantic Division All-Stars St. Louis, Missouri
7:30 PM (CST) Ercoli 8:29' (Pecher)
Ercoli 18:41' (Stremlau)
Ercoli 20:38' (Poole)
Piper 21:26' (Haaskivi)
Cuenca 21:58' (Lund)
Pecher 47:47' (Ercoli)
Ryan 53:46' (Bellinger)
Haaskivi 56:31' (Piper)
Garcia 58:25' (Anderson)		 Report Lawson 24:31' (Grgurev)
Grgurev 25:02' (Segota)
Zungul 29:14' (Veee)
Veee 39:49' (Harsanyi)		 Stadium: Checkerdome
Attendance: 16,892
Referee: Dr. Joe Machnik

Three Stars of the Match: 1. Pat Ercoli, Detroit; 2. Mick Poole, Houston; 3. Steve Pecher, St. Louis

Playoffs

Bracket

Division Semifinals
Single match 		Single match
Best-of-three 		Championship Game
Single match
         
A2 Pittsburgh Spirit 5
A3 Buffalo Stallions 3
A1 New York Arrows 2
A2 Pittsburgh Spirit 0
A1 New York Arrows 6
C2 Houston Summit 5
C2 Wichita Wings 6
C3 Detroit Lightning 5
C1 Houston Summit 2
C2 Wichita Wings 0

Division Semifinals

March 11 Wichita Wings 6–5 Detroit Lightning Kansas Coliseum • 6,245
March 13 Pittsburgh Spirit 5–3 Buffalo Stallions Civic Arena • 5,079

Division Finals

Higher seed Lower seed Game 1 Game 2 Mini-game
New York Arrows – Pittsburgh Spirit 6–3 11–3 x March 16 • Civic Arena • 6,300
March 21 • Nassau Coliseum • 8,802
Houston Summit – Wichita Wings 5–4 (OT) 4–3 x March 18 • Kansas Coliseum • 9,300
March 20 • The Summit • 2,641

Championship Game

MISL Finals
New York Arrows7–4Houston Summit
Zungul 8:29'
Šutevski 10:11'
Cila 22:14'
Zungul
Šegota
Zungul 56:09'
Vee 57:27'		 Report A
Report B
Report C		 Anderson 7:39'
Jump
Morielli
Russell 54:08'
Attendance: 8,469
  • Playoff MVP: Steve Zungul, New York Arrows (3 games, 10 goals)

Playoff statistics

[14]

Playoff scoring

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows 3 10 4 14
Juli Veee New York Arrows 3 5 3 8
Steve Buttle Pittsburgh Spirit 3 6 2 8
Omar Gomez Wichita Wings 3 4 2 6
Kai Haaskivi Houston Summit 3 4 1 5

Playoff goalkeeping

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
Tony Getts Buffalo Stallions 1 4 0 0.00 0 0
Shep Messing New York Arrows 3 180 10 3.33 3 0
Chris Turner Detroit Lightning 1 48 3 3.75 0 0
Mick Poole Houston Summit 3 185 14 4.54 2 1
Keith Van Eron Wichita Wings 3 185 14 4.54 1 2

League awards

  • Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York
  • Scoring Champion: Steve Zungul, New York
  • Pass Master: Steve Zungul, New York
  • Rookie of the Year: Jim Sinclair, Buffalo
  • Goalkeeper of the Year: Sepp Gantenhammer, Houston
  • Coach of the Year: Len Bilous, Pittsburgh and Pat McBride, St. Louis
  • Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York

All-MISL Teams

[15]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Shep Messing, New York G Alan Mayer, Pittsburgh
Kai Haaskivi, Houston D Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia
Branko Segota, New York D Steve Buttle, Pittsburgh

Juli Veee, New York

Steve Zungul, New York M Dave D'Errico, New York
Ian Anderson, Houston F Clive Charles, Pittsburgh
Flemming Lund, Detroit F Steve Pecher, St. Louis
Honorable Mention   Position  
Mick Poole, Houston G Keith Van Eron, Wichita
Jim May, Buffalo
Doc Lawson, Philadelphia D Jim Pollihan, Houston
Luis Alberto, New York M Norman Piper, Wichita
Ernie Buriano, Buffalo
Pat Ercoli, Detroit F Jim Ryan, Wichita

References

  1. ^ a b 1979–80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. p. 42.
  2. ^ "St. Louis Indoor Soccer History". Jim Fossell. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  3. ^ "1979–80 MISL Season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "Spirit, Buffalo Meet In Playoff Matchup". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 13, 1980. pp. 9–10. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  5. ^ 1982–83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. p. 54.
  6. ^ Musick, Phil (August 27, 1980). "The Spirit take year off to recoup finances". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  7. ^ Roberts, Jerry (August 29, 1980). "Fuhrer, MISL chief reveal vacation plans for Spirit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 16. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  8. ^ 1979–80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. pp. 48–49.
  9. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 56.
  10. ^ "7 Feb 1980, Page 19 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch at". Newspapers.com. February 7, 1980. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  11. ^ "14 Feb 1980, Page 21 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch at". Newspapers.com. February 14, 1980. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  12. ^ "26 Feb 1980, Page 30 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch at". Newspapers.com. February 26, 1980. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  13. ^ "28 Feb 1980, Page 41 – St. Louis Post-Dispatch at". Newspapers.com. February 28, 1980. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  14. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 83.
  15. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 89.

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.