USIndoor's Official Magazine is a quarterly publication, dedicated to owners, managers, program administrators and other professionals, startups and providers involved with indoor recreational sports facilities.
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The Early Days of US Indoor Soccer Birth of size that point, they required at least 10 of the 14 roster spots to be held by the Indoor Americans. The North American Soccer League By Dave Litterer Leagues Part II of II The Exhibition Tournaments Indoor soccer in the United States can trace its roots back to the 19th century. It is not until recent years, however, that it became an established sport. The dawn of the modern era of indoor soccer can be traced to 1971, when the North American Soccer League (NASL) began toying with the idea of indoor soccer. That year, the league held an indoor exhibition tournament, won by the Dallas Tornado. This event was low-key and not much noticed, but it did mark the first of many indoor championship crowns won by coach Ron Newman, who would figure so prominently in the early days of the pro indoor game. Perhaps the true birth of modern indoor soccer occurred in February 1974, when the NASL staged two indoor exhibitions against the touring Red Army of Moscow club. This series was one of cold-war era sports exhibitions engaged in as a form of "sports diplomacy" to maintain cultural contacts between the two dueling superpowers during these challenging political times. Recently, the USA Hockey team had scored some surprising results against the USSR, and this soccer series was seen as a logical extension of the diplomatic initiatives. The stakes were surprisingly high: The Red Army team was one of the top clubs in the Soviet Union, which boasted one of the stronger leagues in the world. The first match was played on February 7, where Red Army easily beat a NASL All-Star team that had been haphazardly thrown together. The real event was the second game against the NASL defending champion Philadelphia Atoms. The Atoms had achieved distinction for winning the league title primarily with a roster of American players, a notable achievement in a league where rosters were dominated by foreign stars and journeymen. The Atoms met Red Army on February 11 in front of 11,790 enthusiastic fans at the Spectrum. The match was played "hockey-style" in three 20minute periods with free substitution, inside a rink covered with Astroturf, and with six man rosters (5 fielders and a goalie). The Atoms took an early 1-0 lead, lost it, and rallied to tie the game 3-3 with 17 minutes remaining. Alas, the Atoms faltered at that point and Red Army scored three quick goals for a 6-3 victory. Despite the disappointing results, the performance was impressive, and clearly demonstrated the potential of native American players – little recognized at the time. The NASL was more than satisfied with the results and soon made plans to stage a full-fledged tournament in 1975. The league sought to test indoor soccer's potential as an organized game and to increase fan interest with more action and scoring. Meanwhile, a pair of businessmen, Rick Ragione and Norm Sutherland attempted to launch a professional indoor league, to be called Major League Soccer, which died on the drawing board. But the NASL persevered, launching its indoor tournament in early 1975, with sixteen teams taking part, first in regional tournaments, and then a final four held in San Francisco, a la the NCAA Basketball tournament. That final four commenced March 14, with Tampa Bay Rowdies crushing the New York Cosmos 13-5 and the San Jose Earthquakes dispatching Dallas Tornado 8-5. The final, broadcast by CBS, saw San Jose cruise to the title, 85, with teammates Paul Child and Gabbo Gavric sharing MVP honors. Child also led the tournament scoring with 7 goals and 3 assists. The tournament was a surprising success, averaging 9,000 fans per game. Inspired by its success, the NASL revived the tournament in 1976, this time with 12 teams in three regional competitions. The final four was held in St. Petersburg, with the Rochester Lancers upsetting San Jose 6-4 and Tampa Bay defeating Dallas 6-2. On March 27, before a sellout crowd, the Rowdies defeated Rochester 6-4, avenging the previous year's loss and taking the tournament. The NASL did not continue the indoor tournament, but several of its teams played exhibition games outside of the regular season. Tampa Bay in particular caught the bug, playing 7 indoor matches in 1978 and averaging 6,400 per game. But at the time, the NASL saw its future in the outdoor game. GOAL Indoor • Aug.-Sept. 2002• 8 The launch of indoor league soccer in the US bore an uncanny resemblance to the birth of the outdoor pro leagues. Back then, following the success of the 1966 World Cup, three groups of businessmen formulated rival plans for the launch of pro soccer in 1967, seeing an opportunity to fill their stadiums with lucrative ventures. Now, in 1978, spurred by the increasing interest brought by Pele in the NASL, three groups of investors developed rival plans for launching indoor leagues. The first effort was audaciously named the Super Soccer League. Its investors were headed by Jerry Saperstein, the son of Harlem Globetrotters founder Abe Saperstein, who had previously launched the American Basketball Association and the World Hockey Association. Frustrated by his inability to land a hockey team in southern Florida, Jerry teamed up with Rick Ragione and Norm Sutherland, whose 1975 indoor league had lost steam. They announced 12 cities, primarily on the east and west coasts, that would field teams, beginning play in April 1978. As a gimmick, they announced they would draft the first pro female player. They would also focus recruiting efforts on drafting American players out of college and supplementing rosters with a limited number of imported foreigners. The second effort was launched by National Lacrosse League team owner Ed Tepper, who, inspired by the 1974 exhibition matches, declared that the future of American Soccer was indoor. He showed videotapes of the matches to his friend, Washington Lawyer Earl Foreman, who became equally enthused. They agreed to form a league and quickly aroused interest from arena owners, anxious to find additional entertainment to fill dark days at their facilities. With seed money provided by the arena owners, Foreman and Tepper announced in October 1977 the launch of the six-team Major Indoor Soccer League, concentrated on the East Coast and Midwest. The MISL would launch in December 1978 and play a 24 game season ending in mid-March. The league declared its intentions to provide an opportunity for American players, who were being left on the bench in the NASL. To empha- launched the third effort. Not wanting to be left behind, the NASL belatedly announced they would begin an indoor season in late 1978 with 18 teams. Its rationale was to provide additional experience for their established players, with commissioner Phil Woosnam declaring US players needed at least 60 games per year to give them the experience necessary to compete on the world stage. So as 1978 dawned, suddenly there were three leagues ready to launch. But there was a still lot of work ahead. Initially major challenges were gaining capital and credibility. The SSL announced a $2.5 million TV contract with 20th Century Fox television. The MISL had secured strong ownership groups as well as leases with most of the premier arenas in the country. The MISL also landed national team star Shep Messing, the goalkeeper for the 1977 NASL Champion Cosmos, and a top star for the New York Arrows. The NASL, despite its late start, already enjoyed name recognition and established teams. The SSL was first out of the starting gate but faltered as it struggled to find ownership and investors. After losing potential franchises and repeatedly delaying the start of its season, the SSL delayed its start to 1979, giving itself time to pull its finances together. The NASL also decided to wait a year, giving it more time to find out how many teams would actually take part. This left the MISL standing alone for the 1978 season, and with their ownership (continued on page 22) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dave Litterer been an active has researcher into the history of American Soccer since high school. His American Soccer History Archives is the largest repository of American soccer history and statistics on the Internet (sover.net/~spectrum), and his Encyclopedia of American Soccer History (co-authored) is available at scarecrowpress.com. Thanks to Stephen Holroydfor a portion of the account