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
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Reg. season
!Playoffs
!Notes
!Attendance
|-
|1974
|2nd East, 10–8–2
|Lost Quarterfinal
|rowspan=2 | operated as the Baltimore Comets
|4,139
|-
|1975
|5th East, 9–13
|Did not qualify
|2,641
|-
|1976
|5th South, 9–15
|Did not qualify
|operated as the San Diego Jaws
|6,152
|-
|1977
|5th South. 11–15
|Did not qualify
|operated as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers
|7,079
|-
|1978
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st American Conference West, 18–12
|Lost Conference Semifinal
|first season as the San Diego Sockers
|5,146
|-
|1979
|2nd American Conference West, 15–15
|Lost Conference Final
|
|11,271
|-
|1980
|3rd American Conference West, 16–16
|Lost Conference Final
|
|12,753
|-
|1981
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 21–11
|Lost Conference Final
|
|14,802
|-
|1982
|2nd West, 19–13
|Lost League Semifinal
|
|8,532
|-
|1983
|4th West, 11–19
|Did not qualify
|
|4,685
|-
|1984
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 14–10
|Lost Semifinal
|last outdoor season
|5,702
|}
Indoor
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!League
!Reg. season
!Playoffs
! Attendance
|-
|1976
|NASL
|3rd West Regional, 0–2
|Out of playoffs
|6,055
|-
|1978
|NASL
|3rd, 1–1
|N/A
|N/A
|-
|1980–81
|NASL
|4th South, 6–12
|Out of playoffs
|4,912
|-
|1981–82
|NASL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 10–8
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|7,047
|-
|1982–83
|MISL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 32–16
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|8,081
|-
|1983–84
|NASL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st NASL, 21–11
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|11,415
|-
|1984–85
|MISL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 37–11
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|9,595
|-
|1985–86
|MISL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 36–12
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|9,581
|-
|1986–87
|MISL
|3rd West, 27–25
|Lost Semifinal
|9,748
|-
|1987–88
|MISL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 42–14
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|8,996
|-
|1988–89
|MISL
|2nd MISL, 27–21
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|8,383
|-
|1989–90
|MISL
|2nd West, 25–27
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|8,131
|-
|1990–91
|MSL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 34–18
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|7,231
|-
|1991–92
|MSL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st MSL, 26–14
| style="background:#ffcbcb;"|Won Championship
|9,348
|-
|1993
|CISL
|2nd CISL, 20–8
| style="background:#ffebad;"|Runners-up
|5,583
|-
|1994
|CISL
|2nd West, 18–10
|Lost Quarterfinal
|5,032
|-
|1995
|CISL
|3rd South, 17–11
|Lost Quarterfinal
|5,366
|-
|1996
|CISL
| style="background:#b3b7ff;"|1st West, 17–11
|Lost Semifinal
|4,830
|}
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 Gross
- 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
thumb|150px|Jersey worn by Polish star Kazimierz Deyna during his run on team
Sources
- [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/] <small>[when accessed on February 15, 2020, this link was no longer active]</small>
- [http://www.kicksfan.com/opponents/sandiego/misl/index.htm]