1979–80 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Major Indoor Soccer League
Season 1979–80
Champions New York Arrows
(2nd title)
Matches played 160
Top goalscorer Steve Zungul (90 goals)
Average attendance 6,009

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 double 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] The Stallions qualified due to their 3-1 head-to-head record against the Fever.[6]

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.[7] Pittsburgh would return for the 1981-82 season, however.[8]

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

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.[9]

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Atlantic Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
New York Arrows275.844--29617516-011-5
Pittsburgh Spirit1814.563918819111-57-9
Buffalo Stallions1715.5311017219710-67-9
Philadelphia Fever1715.531102011979-78-8
Hartford Hellions626.188211512404-122-14
Central Division W L Pct. GB GF GA Home Road
Houston Summit2012.625--18116014-26-10
Wichita Wings1616.500418717310-66-10
Detroit Lightning1517.46951922018-87-9
St. Louis Steamers1220.37581771848-84-12
Cleveland Force1220.37581521798-84-12

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

[10]

Scoring leaders

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows329046136
Fred Grgurev Philadelphia Fever316440104
Kai Haaskivi Houston Summit27513687
Branko Segota New York Arrows31553186
Pat Ercoli Detroit Lightning32442468
Iubo Petrovic Buffalo Stallions31462167
Graham Fyfe Pittsburgh Spirit31372865
Juli Veee New York Arrows26293564
Damir Sutevski New York Arrows30322658
Jim Ryan Wichita Wings29262955

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 GantenhammerHouston Summit14801594.4285
Alan MayerPittsburgh Spirit17952774.85134
Cliff BrownCleveland Force281130955.04810
Keith Van EronWichita Wings201050895.09108
Paul TurinSt. Louis Steamers18932805.15610
Shep MessingNew York Arrows3217541515.17155
Mick PoolePittsburgh Spirit201124995.29127
Eric DelabarSt. Louis Steamers12498445.30155
Mike IvanowWichita Wings14792705.30366
Bob RigbyPhiladelphia Fever12684655.7084

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.[11] Rosters spots were determined by peer voting, with additional spots decided by the two coaches.[12][13] 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.[14]

Central Division roster

Coach: Pat McBride, St. Louis

First Team  Position  Second TeamCoach'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 TeamCoach'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

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 Spirit6–311–3xMarch 16 • Civic Arena • 6,300
March 21 • Nassau Coliseum • 8,802
Houston Summit-Wichita Wings5–4 (OT)4–3xMarch 18 • Kansas Coliseum • 9,300
March 20 • The Summit • 2,641

Championship Game

MISL Finals
New York Arrows 7–4 Houston Summit
Zungul  8:29'
Šutevski  10:11'
Cila
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

[15]

Playoff scoring

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

Player Team GP G A Pts
Steve Zungul New York Arrows310414
Juli Veee New York Arrows3538
Steve Buttle Pittsburgh Spirit3628
Omar Gomez Wichita Wings3426
Kai Haaskivi Houston Summit3415

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 GettsBuffalo Stallions1400.0000
Shep MessingNew York Arrows3180103.3330
Chris TurnerDetroit Lightning14833.7500
Mick PooleHouston Summit3185144.5421
Keith Van EronWichita Wings3185144.5412

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

[16]

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. ↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. p. 42.
  2. ↑ "St. Louis Indoor Soccer History". Jim Fossell. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  3. ↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. p. 42.
  4. ↑ "1979-80 MISL Season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Spirit, Buffalo Meet In Playoff Matchup". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 13, 1980. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  6. ↑ 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. p. 54.
  7. ↑ Musick, Phil (August 27, 1980). "The Spirit take year off to recoup finances". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  8. ↑ Roberts, Jerry (August 29, 1980). "Fuhrer, MISL chief reveal vacation plans for Spirit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 16. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  9. ↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. pp. 48–49.
  10. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 56.
  11. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/139182798/?terms=MISL
  12. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/139192907/?terms=MISL
  13. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/139189153/?terms=MISL%2BAll%2BStar
  14. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/139191128/?terms=MISL%2BAll%2BStar
  15. ↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 83.
  16. ↑ 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.

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