San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)

Defunct American soccer club

Soccer club

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 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.^[1][2] They were owned by Bob Bell and played their indoor games at the San Diego Sports Arena.^[3]

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

Indoor

Honors

Sources

• [1] [when accessed on February 15, 2020, this link was no longer active]
• [2]

References

1. Salazar, Jo-Ryan (July 26, 2010). "The San Diego Sockers: A Legacy Renewed". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
2. Brents, Phillip (December 29, 2010). "Time to re-connect between Sockers, old and new". The Star-News. Chula Vista, California. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
3. Maffei, John (July 6, 2013). "Sports site No. 3: San Diego Sports Arena". U-T San Diego. MLIM Holdings. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
4. "The Calgary Herald - Google News Archive Search".
5. "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search".
6. "Archived copy". home.att.net. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Henderson, Jim (April 21, 1981). "For Keith Bailey, The Long Wait Is Finally Over". The Tampa Tribune. p. 5-C. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fYBXAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tjsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6819,8303699&dq=rowdies+indoor+all+star&hl=en ^{[dead link]}
9. "Record-Journal - Google News Archive Search".
10. "NASL all-stars". Chicago Tribune. April 10, 1984. p. 4; sec 4. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
11. "Hall of Famers". Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
12. "Home - Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame".
13. "Hall of Famers". indoorsoccerhall.com. September 1, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2021.