The San Diego Sockers were a professional soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 as well as the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). The franchise folded in 1996 and was the last surviving NASL franchise.
The Sockers are considered the most successful indoor soccer team. They made the playoffs in all but one of their 16 seasons of playing indoors.
History The team began as the "Baltimore Comets" in 1974 but moved to San Diego as the "San Diego Jaws" in 1976. After a one-year stay in Las Vegas as the "Las Vegas Quicksilvers", the team returned as the San Diego Sockers in 1978. They were owned by Bob Bell and played their indoor games at the San Diego Sports Arena.
Initially, victories came slowly for the club but mounted quickly and they experienced moderate success over their outdoor history winning several division titles. However, the San Diego Sockers won the North American Soccer League (NASL) Indoor Championships of 1981–82 and 1983–84. Success was far from over for the San Diego Sockers. When the NASL folded, the San Diego Sockers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League and won eight championships: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The Sockers carried their success from one league to the next. They switched to the Continental Indoor Soccer League for three more years from 1993 to 1995. However, after several ownership changes, Sockers folded after the 1996 season.
There have been two subsequent revivals of the Sockers. The first was a franchise in the WISL that later joined the second MISL before folding in 2004. A second started play in the PASL-PRO in 2009.
Leagues NASL 1974–1984 NASL indoor 1980–1982, 1983–1984 MISL/MSL 1982–1983, 1984–1992 CISL 1993–1996
Owners Co-Owners included Charles T. Koval, Joe Sadowski, Ed Lewis, Bob Bell (1977–78) Co-Owners Charles T. Koval, Bob Bell (1978–81) Bob Bell (1981–87) Ron Fowler (1987–91) Oscar Ancira, Sr. (1991–94) San Diego Sports Arena Management (1994–96)
Head coaches Hubert Vogelsinger (1978–1980) Ron Newman (1980–1994) Brian Quinn (1994–1996)
Year-by-year
Outdoor YearReg. seasonPlayoffsNotesAttendance19742nd East, 10–8–2Lost Quarterfinal operated as the Baltimore Comets4,13919755th East, 9–13Did not qualify2,64119765th South, 9–15Did not qualifyoperated as the San Diego Jaws6,15219775th South. 11–15Did not qualifyoperated as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers7,07919781st American Conference West, 18–12Lost Conference Semifinalfirst season as the San Diego Sockers5,14619792nd American Conference West, 15–15Lost Conference Final11,27119803rd American Conference West, 16–16Lost Conference Final12,75319811st West, 21–11Lost Conference Final14,80219822nd West, 19–13Lost League Semifinal8,53219834th West, 11–19Did not qualify4,68519841st West, 14–10Lost Semifinallast outdoor season5,702
Indoor YearLeagueReg. seasonPlayoffs Attendance1976NASL3rd West Regional, 0–2Out of playoffs6,0551978NASL3rd, 1–1N/AN/A1980–81NASL4th South, 6–12Out of playoffs4,9121981–82NASL1st West, 10–8Won Championship7,0471982–83MISL1st West, 32–16Won Championship8,0811983–84NASL1st NASL, 21–11Won Championship11,4151984–85MISL1st West, 37–11Won Championship9,5951985–86MISL1st West, 36–12Won Championship9,5811986–87MISL3rd West, 27–25Lost Semifinal9,7481987–88MISL1st West, 42–14Won Championship8,9961988–89MISL2nd MISL, 27–21Won Championship8,3831989–90MISL2nd West, 25–27Won Championship8,1311990–91MSL1st West, 34–18Won Championship7,2311991–92MSL1st MSL, 26–14Won Championship9,3481993CISL2nd CISL, 20–8Runners-up5,5831994CISL2nd West, 18–10Lost Quarterfinal5,0321995CISL3rd South, 17–11Lost Quarterfinal5,3661996CISL1st West, 17–11Lost Semifinal4,830
Honors
Championships (10) NASL indoor: 1981–82, 1983–84 MISL: 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92 CISL: 1993 (runners-up)
Regular Season/ Division Titles (12) NASL: 1978, 1981, 1984 NASL indoor: 1981–82, 1983–84 MISL: 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1991–92 CISL: 1996
Conference Titles NASL indoor: 1981–82 (Pacific)
NASL Coach of the Year 1984 Ron Newman
NASL North American Player of the Year 1981 Mike Stojanović
NASL All Stars 1978 Alan Mayer -Second Team 1979 Alan Mayer -Honorable Mention 1979 Bobby Smith -Honorable Mention 1981 Volkmar Gross -Honorable Mention 1981 Mike Stojanović -Honorable Mention 1981 Juli Veee -Honorable Mention 1982 Juli Veee -Honorable Mention 1983 Kaz Deyna -Second Team 1984 Kevin Crow -First Team 1984 Kaz Deyna -Honorable Mention 1984 Brian Quinn -Honorable Mention
NASL indoor MVP 1981–82 Juli Veee
NASL indoor Scoring Champion 1978 Peter Anderson 1981–82 Juli Veee
NASL indoor Goalkeeper of the Year 1983–84 Jim Gorsek
NASL indoor Championship Finals MVP 1981–82 Juli Veee 1983–84 Jean Willrich
NASL indoor All Stars 1980–81 Julie Veee 1981–82 Julie Veee 1981–82 Martin Donnelly 1981–82 Volkmar Grosshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699&dq=rowdies+indoor+all+star&hl=en 1983–84 Kaz Deyna, Gert Wieczorkowski 1983–84 (2nd team) Juli Veee, Martin Donnelly 1984 Alan Mayer -All-Star Game starter 1984 Julie Veee -All-Star Game starter 1984 Kaz Deyna -All-Star Game starter 1984 Jean Willrich -All-Star Game reserve 1984 Gert Wieczorkowski -All-Star Game reserve
Hall of Fame members United States: Fernando Clavijo, Ron Newman, Hugo Pérez, Bobby Smith, Alan Willey, Steve Zungul Canada: Bob Iarusci, Terry Moore, Branko Šegota, Mike Stojanović Indoor Soccer: Fernando Clavijo, Kevin Crow, Zoran Karić, Alan Mayer, Ron Newman, Victor Nogueira, Brian Quinn, Branko Šegota, Zoltán Tóth, Julie Veee, Steve Zungul
MISL MVP 1983 Alan Mayer 1985 Steve Zungul 1986 Steve Zungul 1991 Victor Nogueira 1992 Victor Nogueira
MISL Championship MVP 1983 Juli Veee 1985 Steve Zungul 1986 Brian Quinn 1988 Hugo Pérez 1989 Victor Nogueira 1990 Brian Quinn 1991 Ben Collins 1992 Thompson Usiyan
MISL Scoring Champion 1985 Steve Zungul 1986 Steve Zungul
MISL Pass Master (Assists leader) 1985 Steve Zungul 1986 Steve Zungul
MISL Defender of the Year 1985 Kevin Crow 1988 Kevin Crow 1989 Kevin Crow 1991 Kevin Crow 1992 Kevin Crow
MISL Goalkeeper of the Year 1988 Zoltán Tóth 1989 Victor Nogueira 1991 Victor Nogueira 1992 Victor Nogueira
MISL Coach of the Year 1988 Ron Newman
MISL Rookie of the Year 1991 David Banks
MISL First Team All Star 1983 Alan Mayer, Kazimierz Deyna 1985 Branko Šegota, Kevin Crow, Steve Zungul 1986 Fernando Clavijo, Branko Segota 1987 Kevin Crow 1988 Zoltán Tóth, Fernando Clavijo, Kevin Crow, Branko Segota 1990 Victor Nogueira, Kevin Crow 1991 Victor Nogueira, Kevin Crow
CISL Goalkeeper of the Year 1994 Antonio Cortes
CISL Rookie of the Year 1994 John Olu–Molomo 1995 Mark Chung 1996 Carlos Farias
CISL First Team All Star 1993 David Banks 1995 Mark Chung
Sources [when accessed on February 15, 2020, this link was no longer active]
References