1983–84 Major Indoor Soccer League season

Football league season

Major Indoor Soccer LeagueSeason| 1983–84

|

Champions| Baltimore Blast
Matches played| 288
Top goalscorer| Mark Liveric (58 goals)
Average attendance| 8,707

← 1982–83

1984–85 →

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

[edit]

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.[1] 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.[2]

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.[3]

## Teams

[edit]

Team  | City/Area  | Arena

|
|

Baltimore Blast | Baltimore, Maryland | Baltimore Arena
Buffalo Stallions | Buffalo, New York | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Cleveland Force | Cleveland, Ohio | Richfield Coliseum
Kansas City Comets | Kansas City, Missouri | Kemper Arena
Los Angeles Lazers | Inglewood, California | The Forum
Memphis Americans | Memphis, Tennessee | Mid-South Coliseum
New York Arrows | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Phoenix Pride | Phoenix, Arizona | Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Pittsburgh Spirit | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Civic Arena (Pittsburgh)
St. Louis Steamers | St. Louis, Missouri | St. Louis Arena
Tacoma Stars | Tacoma, Washington | Tacoma Dome
Wichita Wings | Wichita, Kansas | Kansas Coliseum

## Map of clubs

[edit]

Blast

Stallions

Force

Americans

Arrows

Spirit

Comets

Lazers

Pride

Steamers

Stars

Wings

Eastern Division  Western Division

## Regular season schedule

[edit]

Main article: 1983–84 Major Indoor Soccer League 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.[4]

## Final standings

[edit]

Playoff teams in bold.

Eastern Division  | W  | L  | Pct.  | GB  | GF  | GA  | Home[5] | Road[5]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Baltimore Blast | 34 | 14 | .708 | \-- | 280 | 203 | 20-4 | 14-10
Pittsburgh Spirit | 32 | 16 | .667 | 2 | 245 | 204 | 19-5 | 13-11
Cleveland Force | 31 | 17 | .646 | 3 | 269 | 229 | 18-6 | 13-11
New York Arrows | 20 | 28 | .417 | 14 | 232 | 280 | 12-12 | 8-16
Memphis Americans | 18 | 30 | .375 | 16 | 216 | 284 | 14-10 | 4-20
Buffalo Stallions | 15 | 33 | .313 | 19 | 226 | 279 | 12-12 | 3-21
Western Division  | W  | L  | Pct.  | GB  | GF  | GA  | Home[5] | Road[5]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

St. Louis Steamers | 26 | 22 | .542 | \-- | 220 | 202 | 16-8 | 10-14
Wichita Wings | 25 | 23 | .521 | 1 | 237 | 228 | 17-7 | 8-16
Los Angeles Lazers | 24 | 24 | .500 | 2 | 223 | 239 | 13-11 | 11-13
Kansas City Comets | 23 | 25 | .479 | 3 | 232 | 246 | 15-9 | 8-16
Tacoma Stars | 22 | 26 | .458 | 4 | 226 | 232 | 14-10 | 8-16
Phoenix Pride | 18 | 30 | .375 | 8 | 221 | 249 | 12-12 | 6-18

## Playoffs

[edit]

| Division Semifinals | | | Division Finals | | | Championship Series |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| E1 | Baltimore Blast | 3 | | |
| E4 | New York Arrows | 1 |
| | E1 | Baltimore Blast | 3 |
|  |
| | | E3 | Cleveland Force | 0 |
| E2 | Pittsburgh Spirit | 1 |

| E3 | Cleveland Force | 3 |
| | E1 | Baltimore Blast | 4 |
|  |
| | | W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 1 |
| W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 3 | |

| W4 | Kansas City Comets | 2 |
| | W1 | St. Louis Steamers | 3 |
|  |
| | | W2 | Wichita Wings | 0 |
| W2 | Wichita Wings | 3 |

| W3 | Los Angeles Lazers | 1 |

### Quarterfinals

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

| 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 overtime
St. Louis wins series 3-0

### Championship Series

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

[6]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

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
Louie Nanchoff  | Cleveland Force | 42 | 36 | 33 | 69

### Leading goalkeepers

[edit]

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

[edit]

[7]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

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

[edit]

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
Chris Vaccaro | Cleveland Force | 6 | 325 | 22 | 4.06 | 3 | 3
Enzo DiPede | Kansas City Comets | 5 | 286 | 22 | 4.62 | 2 | 2
Slobo Illijevski | St. Louis Steamers | 10 | 596 | 48 | 4.83 | 6 | 4
Mike Dowler | Wichita Wings | 7 | 398 | 34 | 5.13 | 3 | 3

## All-MISL Teams

[edit]

First Team |   Position   | Second Team

|
|

Slobo Illijevski, 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

[edit]

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, Baltimore

Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Scott Manning, Baltimore

## Team Attendance Totals

[edit]

Club  | Games  | Total  | Average

|
|
|

Kansas City Comets | 24  | 378,864  | 15,786
St. Louis Steamers | 24  | 335,805  | 13,992
Cleveland Force | 24  | 328,619  | 13,692
Baltimore Blast | 24  | 268,534  | 11,189
Wichita Wings | 24  | 216,824  | 9,034
Pittsburgh Spirit | 24  | 198,668  | 8,278
Memphis Americans | 24  | 157,361  | 6,557
Phoenix Pride | 24  | 142,157  | 5,923
New York Arrows | 24  | 131,472  | 5,478
Tacoma Stars | 24  | 127,728  | 5,322
Buffalo Stallions | 24  | 116,020  | 4,834
Los Angeles Lazers | 24  | 105,720  | 4,405
OVERALL | 288 | 2,507,722 | 8,707

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Phoenix Inferno/Phoenix Pride". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
2. ^ "Buffalo Stallions". Fun While It Lasted. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
3. ^ "Memphis Americans Move to Vegas". Palm Beach Post. April 20, 1984. p. D4. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
4. ^ 1983-84 MISL Media Guide. 1983. pp. 46–47.
5. ^ a b c d 1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide. 1984. pp. 36–37.
6. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 53.
7. ^ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 81.

1983-84 MISL Media Guide. Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania: Major Indoor Soccer League. 1983.

1984-85 Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide. Dallas, Texas: Dallas Sidekicks. 1984.

Leary, Dan; Griffin, John (1987). MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. New York: Major Indoor Soccer League Communications Department.

## External links

[edit]

* The Year 1983 in North American Soccer
* The Year 1984 in North American Soccer Archived 2015-05-18 at the Wayback Machine

* v
* t
* e

Major Indoor Soccer League/Major Soccer League seasons

* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92

* v
* t
* e

Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992)

* Broadcasters
* history
* Category

Seasons|

* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92

Clubs|

* Baltimore Blast
* Houston Summit
* Buffalo Stallions
* Chicago Horizons
* Chicago Sting
* Cincinnati Kids
* Cleveland Crunch
* Cleveland Force
* Dallas Sidekicks
* Denver Avalanche
* Golden Bay Earthquakes
* Kansas City Comets
* San Francisco Fog
* Detroit Lightning
* Las Vegas Americans
* Memphis Americans
* Hartford Hellions
* Los Angeles Lazers
* Minnesota Strikers
* New Jersey Rockets
* New York Arrows
* New York Express
* New York Cosmos
* Philadelphia Fever
* Phoenix Inferno/Pride
* Pittsburgh Spirit
* San Diego Sockers
* St. Louis Steamers
* St. Louis Storm
* Tacoma Stars
* Wichita Wings

Commissioners|

* Earl Foreman (1978–1985; 1989–1992)
* Francis Dale (1985–1986)
* Bill Kentling (1986–1989)

All-Star Game|

* 1989

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template