1979–80 Major Indoor Soccer League season

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.

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 Arrows	27	5	.844	--	296	175	16-0	11-5
Pittsburgh Spirit	18	14	.563	9	188	191	11-5	7-9
Buffalo Stallions	17	15	.531	10	172	197	10-6	7-9
Philadelphia Fever	17	15	.531	10	201	197	9-7	8-8
Hartford Hellions	6	26	.188	21	151	240	4-12	2-14

Central Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	GF	GA	Home	Road
Houston Summit	20	12	.625	--	181	160	14-2	6-10
Wichita Wings	16	16	.500	4	187	173	10-6	6-10
Detroit Lightning	15	17	.469	5	192	201	8-8	7-9
St. Louis Steamers	12	20	.375	8	177	184	8-8	4-12
Cleveland Force	12	20	.375	8	152	179	8-8	4-12

Playoffs

Division Semifinals

Division Finals

Championship Game

Division Semifinals

Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo
Date	Away	Home	Attendance
March 13	Buffalo 3	Pittsburgh 5	5,079

Wichita vs. Detroit
Date	Away	Home	Attendance
March 11	Detroit 5	Wichita 6	6,245

Division Finals

New York vs. Pittsburgh
Date	Away	Home	Attendance
March 16	New York 6	Pittsburgh 3	6,300
March 21	Pittsburgh 3	New York 11	8,802
New York wins series 2-0

Houston vs. Wichita
Date	Away	Home	Attendance
March 18	Houston 5	Wichita 4	9,300
	Stewart Jump scored at 5:17 of overtime
March 20	Wichita 3	Houston 4	2,641
Houston wins series 2-0

Championship Game

New York vs. Houston
Date	Away	Home	Attendance
March 23	Houston 4	New York 7	8,469

Regular Season Player Statistics

^[10]

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Steve Zungul	New York Arrows	32	90	46	136
Fred Grgurev	Philadelphia Fever	31	64	40	104
Kai Haaskivi	Houston Summit	27	51	36	87
Branko Segota	New York Arrows	31	55	31	86
Pat Ercoli	Detroit Lightning	32	44	24	68
Iubo Petrovic	Buffalo Stallions	31	46	21	67
Graham Fyfe	Pittsburgh Spirit	31	37	28	65
Juli Veee	New York Arrows	26	29	35	64
Damir Sutevski	New York Arrows	30	32	26	58
Jim Ryan	Wichita Wings	29	26	29	55

Leading goalkeepers

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 Gantenhammer	Houston Summit	14	801	59	4.42	8	5
Alan Mayer	Pittsburgh Spirit	17	952	77	4.85	13	4
Cliff Brown	Cleveland Force	28	1130	95	5.04	8	10
Keith Van Eron	Wichita Wings	20	1050	89	5.09	10	8
Paul Turin	St. Louis Steamers	18	932	80	5.15	6	10
Shep Messing	New York Arrows	32	1754	151	5.17	15	5
Mick Poole	Pittsburgh Spirit	20	1124	99	5.29	12	7
Eric Delabar	St. Louis Steamers	12	498	44	5.301	5	5
Mike Ivanow	Wichita Wings	14	792	70	5.303	6	6
Bob Rigby	Philadelphia Fever	12	684	65	5.70	8	4

Playoff Player Statistics

^[11]

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Steve Zungul	New York Arrows	3	10	4	14
Juli Veee	New York Arrows	3	5	3	8
Steve Buttle	Pittsburgh Spirit	3	6	2	8
Omar Gomez	Wichita Wings	3	4	2	6
Kai Haaskivi	Houston Summit	3	4	1	5

Leading goalkeepers

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 Getts	Buffalo Stallions	1	4	0	0.00	0	0
Shep Messing	New York Arrows	3	180	10	3.33	3	0
Chris Turner	Detroit Lightning	1	48	3	3.75	0	0
Mick Poole	Houston Summit	3	185	14	4.54	2	1
Keith Van Eron	Wichita Wings	3	185	14	4.54	1	2

All-MISL Teams

^[12]

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

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

Team Attendance Totals

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

References

↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. p. 42.
↑ "St. Louis Indoor Soccer History". Jim Fossell. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. p. 42.
↑ "1979-80 MISL Season Summary". Our Sports Central. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
↑ "Spirit, Buffalo Meet In Playoff Matchup". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 13, 1980. pp. 9–10. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
↑ 1982-83 MISL Information Guide. 1982. p. 54.
↑ Musick, Phil (August 27, 1980). "The Spirit take year off to recoup finances". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
↑ Roberts, Jerry (August 29, 1980). "Fuhrer, MISL chief reveal vacation plans for Spirit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 16. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
↑ 1979-80 Buffalo Stallions Media Guide. 1979. pp. 48–49.
↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 56.
↑ MISL Official Tenth Anniversary Guide. 1987. p. 83.
↑ 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.

External links

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

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