San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)

San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)
The San Diego Sockers were a 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 and 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 (1994–96)
Year-by-year
Outdoor
Indoor
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
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
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
Sources
[when accessed on February 15, 2020, this link was no longer active]
References
San Diego Sockers 1978
Defunct soccer clubs in California
Soccer clubs in California
Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) teams
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) teams
Continental Indoor Soccer League teams
1978 establishments in California
1996 disestablishments in California
Association football clubs established in 1978
Association football clubs disestablished in 1996