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25-819: In February 1980, the Major Indoor Soccer League awarded a franchise to Ron Maierhofer , to be named the Denver Avalanche. The team's first three players, all signed the same day were Tony Graham , Chris Cattaneo and Adrian Brooks . The team's first draft pick Erhardt Kapp passed on the Avalanche and signed with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League instead. The team's first game, an exhibition match, took place on November 3, 1980,

50-524: A 10–4 loss to the St. Louis Steamers . Coached by Dave Clements , the Avalanche finished the regular season out of playoff contention, but in 1982, they made the playoffs only to fall to the St. Louis Steamers in the first round. Clements was named the 1982 MISL Coach of the Year. The team entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1983. The Avalanche's assets were purchased by a group led by George Best and moved to form

75-667: A 14–32 record the previous three years with the club as backup to P.J. Johns. Before switching leagues, Miller had signed four-time NPSL goalkeeper of the year Jamie Swanner from the Canton Invaders. That contract was voided when the Crunch entered the NPSL. Swanner and several ex-Invaders signed as free agents with another expansion team, the Buffalo Blizzard . New Crunch coach Gary Hindley wanted Orf as his starter, citing

100-567: A football field would look like on the back of a 9x12 manila envelope. That inspiration gave birth to the concept now known as arena football (also indoor football ) and the AFL was born six years later. Foster credits the MISL for the inspiration. *Three North American Soccer League (NASL) teams temporarily joined the MISL for the 1982–83 season, as the NASL did not play indoors for that season. As

125-677: A new ownership group announced it was reviving the Cleveland Crunch brand, after the team's 18-year hiatus, and returning professional indoor soccer to Cleveland. The team joined the Major Arena Soccer League 2 ( MASL 2 ) for the 2021 season. In its first season back, the team earned the Cleveland Crunch's fourth league title, defeating the Wichita Wings 11-6 to win the MASL 2 Championship. For year three,

150-630: The Continental Indoor Soccer League . The concept was initially so popular that in 1981, it helped pave the way for the creation of another indoor sports league, the Arena Football League , and subsequently the entire sport of indoor "gridiron" football. During the MISL All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, National Football League promotions director Jim Foster sketched a design of what

175-567: The Major Soccer League (MSL), before joining the rival National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1992. After nine seasons in the NPSL, the team joined a second incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) in 2001. In 2002, the team was rebranded the Cleveland Force in honor of the former team of the same name . After four seasons in the second MISL, the team folded in 2005. The Cleveland Crunch franchise

200-799: The Tacoma Stars . All Star Game MVP Coach of the Year Major Indoor Soccer League (1978%E2%80%931992) The Major Indoor Soccer League ( MISL ), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League , was an indoor soccer league in the United States that played matches from fall 1978 to spring 1992. The MISL was founded by businessmen Ed Tepper and Earl Foreman in October 1977. The league fielded six teams for its inaugural 1978–79 season. Before folding after 14 seasons of competition, at

225-558: The "Dynamic Duo" and together rewrote the scoring record books for the next decade. In 1992 the Crunch joined the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) where it made a name for itself as a dominating soccer club, winning three championships in five seasons. When the original MISL ceased operation in the summer of 1992, the Crunch, Baltimore and Wichita joined the rival NPSL as "expansion teams". All were permitted to keep only six players, then fill

250-475: The 1995-96 and 1998-99 seasons. Lichter faded from view when the MISL folded and Hoffman became even more active as owner during the Crunch's almost yearly run to the finals. Hoffman eventually sold his interest to a Cleveland group headed by Richard Dietrich. Soon after, the NPSL reorganized itself as the new Major Indoor Soccer League in 2001. The team took on the old Cleveland Force name in 2002. In 2020,

275-654: The Force's height of popularity in the mid-1980s. The Crunch's home arena was originally the Richfield Coliseum . Near the end of the Crunch's first season, Miller engineered a trade that would help Cleveland make the championship finals in seven of the next 10 years. He sent veteran forward Paul Wright to the San Diego Sockers for Zoran Karic , a feisty forward who immediately hit it off with Cleveland star Hector Marinaro . Within weeks, they were dubbed

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300-526: The Kansas City Attack, three games to two. A year later, the Crunch finally broke through to win Cleveland's first championship in any pro sport in 30 years. Marinaro scored the dramatic game-winner in double overtime as Cleveland overcame a 15–10 deficit to defeat the visiting St. Louis Ambush, 17–15, to take the series, three games to one. The team went on to win two more championships, in

325-484: The MISL granted a conditional franchise to NBA Denver Nuggets owner Sidney Shlenker , to commence play in the 1988–89 season. When the tentative "Denver Desperados" attracted deposits on 400 season tickets, rather than the required 5,000 within four months, the franchise was revoked in November 1987. * Single-game championship, game score rather than series results. (9,500 minutes minimum) The Pass Master award

350-630: The MISL had some success. The league averaged a respectable 7,644 fans per game over its 14 regular seasons, and averaged 9,049 fans per game over its 14 playoff runs. The league changed its name to the Major Soccer League (MSL) in 1990, and then folded in 1992. Four of the league's seven franchises continued to operate: Cleveland Crunch and Wichita Wings joined the National Professional Soccer League ; Dallas Sidekicks and San Diego Sockers helped found

375-515: The NASL was folding in 1985, four of its former teams (Chicago, Minnesota, New York and San Diego) joined the MISL in late 1984. The "Denver Avalanche" had declared bankruptcy and ceased operations after the 1981–82 season, but the franchise still existed and was purchased out of bankruptcy and moved to Tacoma after a dormant season. The MISL, however, considered the Stars a new franchise and, thus, team records did not transfer to Tacoma. In June 1987,

400-555: The big keeper's strong throwing arm as an offensive weapon. He wanted Orf getting the ball to Marinaro and Karic with outlet passes at the team's new home, the CSU Convocation Center , where the playing surface was considerably smaller than at the Richfield Coliseum. Orf became a 25-game winner, Marinaro and Karic shattered all scoring records, and Cleveland advanced to the league finals, where it lost to

425-470: The championship series live on May 25. Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland , Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues under two different names. The team played three seasons in the original MISL, later known as

450-454: The conclusion of the 1991–92 season, a total of 24 franchises – under 31 team names (seven teams changed city/name) – had played in the MISL. Over its life, MISL teams were based in 27 different cities – with two different teams, at different times, playing in Cleveland, Ohio ; East Rutherford, New Jersey ; St. Louis, Missouri ; and Uniondale, New York . The Houston Summit (1978–80)/ Baltimore Blast (1980–92) franchise

475-400: The first and last seasons. The San Diego Sockers was the most successful franchise, winning eight of the MISL's 14 overall championships during the team's nine seasons in the league. The New York Arrows won the MISL's first four championships, then folded after the league's sixth season. The most successful player in the MISL is arguably Steve Zungul , a Yugoslav American striker who

500-536: The rest of their rosters in an expansion draft of players made available by other NPSL teams. The NPSL, in an effort to promote the sport in the United States, had a cap of two non-Americans allowed on a roster. Canadian-born Marinaro and Serbia native Karic filled that quota immediately. Besides Marinaro and Karic, holdovers from the MISL Crunch were midfielders Tommy Tanner and Andy Schmetzer, defender George Fernandez and young goalkeeper Otto Orf . Orf had only

525-478: The spring would see the end of the league's two-year deal with the USA Network , CBS would broadcast a playoff game live from Cleveland on May 7 that drew an estimated four million viewers. One game during the 1983–84 season was televised on CBS (Game 3 of the championship series on June 2) as well. 1984–85 would be the final year the MISL would have games aired on network television, CBS broadcast Game 4 of

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550-601: Was MISL Most Valuable Player six times, was the Scoring Champion six times, the Pass Master (most assists) four times, played on eight championship-winning teams (and one runner-up), and won Championship Series Most Valuable Player four times. Zungul is the MISL's all-time leader in goals (652, nearly 200 ahead of the second highest scorer), assists (471, nearly 100 ahead of second) and points (1,123, nearly 300 ahead of second). Despite ongoing financial hardships,

575-693: Was given out to the player with the most assists during the regular season. This award was given to 'the most outstanding player in his first year of competition in the Major Indoor Soccer League' in order to differentiate it from the Rookie of the Year award. This award was given to the player 'in the Championship Series whose impact to his team's success was measured by hustle, determination and leadership.' The MISL made inroads on national television in 1982–83 . While

600-570: Was revived in 2020. The team joined Major Arena Soccer League 2 for the 2021 season and then joined Major League Indoor Soccer for its 2023 season. This iteration of the Cleveland Crunch has won two league championships since returning to play. The original Cleveland Force team had folded on July 22, 1988. Akron businessmen George S. Hoffman and Stuart Lichter formed an ownership group; named Al Miller general manager; and named former Force star Kai Haaskivi player-coach. Miller and Haaskivi brought back many players who had been fan favorites during

625-503: Was the only one to compete for the entire 14 seasons of the MISL's existence. The next longest-lived franchise, and the longest in a single city, was the Wichita Wings team, which played for 13 seasons and missed only the inaugural 1978–79 season. The third longest-lived franchise was the Detroit Lightning (1979–80)/ San Francisco Fog (1980–81)/ Kansas City Comets (1981–91) franchise, which played for 12 seasons, missing only

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