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North American Soccer League
1983–84 indoor season

Season	1983–84
Champions	San Diego Sockers (2nd Title)
Premiers	San Diego Sockers
Matches played	112
Goals scored	1,377 (12.29 per match)
Top goalscorer	Steve Zungul (63 goals)
← 1983 Final season →

The 1983–84 North American Soccer League indoor season was the fourth and last in league history. The San Diego Sockers defeated the New York Cosmos for their third straight indoor title, having won the NASL Indoor title in 1981–82 and the MISL title in 1982–83.

Season recap

The NASL was struggling for life at this point, and finding teams to play the indoor season would be difficult. While San Diego, the Chicago Sting and the Golden Bay Earthquakes were committed to the league, filling out the ranks would be problematic. With the league making plain their desire to have both an indoor and outdoor element going forward, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers decided to move to Minnesota for the 1984 NASL season due to a lack of suitable arenas in the local area.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies were unsure whether or not they would be able to play, as the previous owners had committed to play in the indoor season and then sold the team. This left the new owners in the lurch. The lack of a suitable arena was also an issue, eventually forcing Rowdies' home games to be split among three sites. The Tulsa Roughnecks were only in the league thanks to a fundraiser that put $65,000 in the team's coffers, even though the team had won the outdoor Soccer Bowl just weeks earlier.

Despite the uncertainty, this would be the largest NASL indoor season ever as a 32-game regular season, a best-of-three semifinal round and a best-of-five championship series were on the schedule. Also, the first (and only) All-Star Game in NASL history took place on February 8 at Chicago Stadium. The hometown Chicago Sting took on an All-Star team of the six other squads. Despite four goals from Chicago's Karl-Heinz Granitza, the All-Stars won 9–8.

Not surprisingly, the teams with steady management performed best through the season. The Sockers averaged over 11,000 for their home games and finished first, overcoming a slow 8-8 start. The hot streak continued in the playoffs as the team won all five of their postseason games en route to the NASL title.

The NASL confirmed plans for 40-game indoor seasons in 1985 and 1986 near the end of the season, but folded for good in March 1985. By then, San Diego, Minnesota, New York and Chicago had joined the MISL. While the Sockers, Strikers and Sting experienced success in the MISL, the Cosmos would start the season but drop out on February 22, 1985.

Teams

Map of clubs

Regular season

The 1983–84 regular season schedule ran from November 11, 1983, to March 25, 1984. The 32 games per team was almost double the length of previous NASL Indoor seasons.

W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind 1st Place, Pct. = Winning Percentage, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Regular season statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Leading goalkeepers

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses

1984 NASL All-Star Game

On February 8, the city of Chicago hosted what turned out to be the only All-Star game in NASL history. The Chicago Sting battled a team of All-Stars from the other six teams for the benefit of Chicago Tribune Charities. The starters were voted on by the players, while San Diego coach Ron Newman selected the reserves. The All-Stars outdueled the Sting 9–8 before 14,328 fans at Chicago Stadium, despite an MVP performance by Chicago's Karl-Heinz Granitza. Granitza scored four goals on the night.

*Alan Mayer of San Diego was originally selected as a starter but due to a broken finger was unable to play. Tino Lettieri of Vancouver was named as his replacement.^Stan Terlecki of New York was originally selected as a reserve but due to injury was unable to play. Zequinha of Tulsa was named as his replacement.

Match report

February 8, 1984 All-Star Game	Chicago Sting	8–9	NASL All-Stars	Chicago, Illinois
8:00 PM (CST)	Margetic 00:48' (Fajkus) Granitza 3:23' (Fajkus) Weiner 7:00' (Simanton) Granitza 23:27' (Fajkus) Granitza 27:32' (pen.) Granitza 29:19' (Margetic) Margetic 45:32' (Fajkus) Margetic 56:33' (Fajkus)	Report	Zungul 00:48' (Clavijo) Zequinha 3:23' (Ward) Ward 7:00' (Valentine) Ward 23:27' (Willrich) Valentine 27:32' (Mathieu) Zungul 29:19' (Wieczorkowski) Veee 37:50' (Zungul) Deyna 54:08' (Zungul) Wieczorkowski 57:16' (Willrich)	Stadium: Chicago Stadium Attendance: 14,328 Referee: Feliks Fuksman & Julio Salas

NASL All-Stars

During the finals the NASL announced the traditional All-NASL team of All-Stars, as voted on by the players at the end of the regular season.

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals

Best of three series

Championship Series

Best of five series

Championship match reports

April 5, 1984 Game 1	San Diego Sockers	5–2	New York Cosmos	San Diego, California
8:00 P.M. (PST)	Willrich 12:17' (Crow) Donnelly 17:12' (Quinn) Willrich 25:17' (Veee) Deyna 26' (Veee) Deyna 44:17' (Donnelly)	Report A Report B	Borja 4:06' (Kozić) Parkinson 56'	Stadium: San Diego Sports Arena Attendance: 12,006

April 8, 1984 Game 2	San Diego Sockers	10–4	New York Cosmos	San Diego, California
6:30 P.M. (PST)	Deyna 6:52' (Veee) Pérez 14:01' Coker 19:02' O'Kane 20:29' Quinn 21:36' (Newman) Willrich 3rd Qtr' (Hilkes) Coker 3rd Qtr' (Hilkes) Pérez 4th Qtr' (Coker) Pérez 4th Qtr' Skouras 4th Qtr'	Report A Report B	Moyers 11:46' Moyers 4th Qtr' De Matthaeis 4th Qtr' De Matthaeis 4th Qtr'	Stadium: San Diego Sports Arena Attendance: 12,696

April 11, 1984 Game 3	New York Cosmos	3–7	San Diego Sockers	East Rutherford, New Jersey
8:00 P.M. (EST)	DiBernardo 3:15' Parkinson 6:47' (Borja) Borja 29:29' (Gray)	Report A Report B	Namdar 17:37' (Willrich) Willrich 20:16' (Gorsek) Crow 21:25' (Pérez) Crow 33:23' (Pérez) Deyna 43:04' (Veee) Veee 44:32' (Quinn) Pérez 52:37' (Willrich)	Stadium: Brendan Byrne Arena Attendance: 4,717 Referee: Gordon Arrowsmith (Canada) and Peter Johnson

1983–84 NASL Indoor Champions: San Diego Sockers

Post-season awards

• Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, Golden Bay
• Coach of the Year: Eddie Firmani, New York
• Finals MVP: Jean Willrich, San Diego

Team attendance totals

References

1. Marmor, Jon (December 1, 1983). "Strikers' Departure Is Official". Palm Beach Post. p. D1. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
2. Beard, Randy (November 1, 1983). "Rowdies scrub the indoor season". The Evening Independent. p. 1-C. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
3. Beard, Randy (November 5, 1983). "Don't hold your breath as Rowdies unveil schedule". The Evening Independent. p. 4-C. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
4. "NASL results: 1 team lost, 1 team saved". Milwaukee Journal. November 5, 1983. p. 12. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
5. "Hey Now, You're An All-Star". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
6. Beard, Randy (March 1, 1984). "Frustration continues for Rowdies: Sockers' spurt means season winding down". The Evening Independent. p. 6-C. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
7. "San Diego soccer champs". Ottawa Citizen. April 12, 1984. p. 54. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
8. "Must Play in '84, Sting Is Told". New York Times. February 10, 1984. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via nytimes.com.
9. "NASL down to two teams, won't play this season". Eugene Register-Guard. March 29, 1985. p. 2D. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
10. "MISL takes four NASL teams". Boca Raton News. August 31, 1984. p. 2C. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
11. "Cosmos pull out of MISL, NASL". Ellensburg Daily Record. February 23, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved June 2, 2012 – via Google News Archive Search.
12. Yannis, Pat (March 8, 1984). "Hartford Shift Seen For Indoor Cosmos". New York Times. Retrieved December 22, 2016 – via newyorktimes.com.
13. Beard, Randy (February 3, 1984). "All-star picks baffle Rowdies Connell, Mathieu". The Evening Independent. p. 6-C. Retrieved May 3, 2013 – via Google News Archive Search.
14. "Hey Now, You're An All-Star". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 8, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. "Hey Now, You're An All-Star". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
17. "Hey Now, You're An All-Star". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
18. Miranda, Randy (February 2, 1984). "Coach Marsh should know verdict soon". Lakeland Ledger. p. 5D. Retrieved October 24, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
19. "stat sheet; Moves; SOCCER". The Spokesman-Review. February 8, 1984. p. 20. Retrieved October 24, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
20. "NASL all-stars". Chicago Tribune. April 10, 1984. p. 4; sec 4. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
21. "NASL: Cosmos get serious". Record-Journal. April 5, 1984. p. 20. Retrieved October 24, 2016 – via Google News Archive Search.
22. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "San Diego Sockers vs New York Cosmos, 1984 NASL Indoor Finals, Game 3". YouTube.
23. "Attendance Project: NASL Indoor". Kenn Tomasch. Retrieved July 13, 2013.

External links

• The Year in American Soccer – 1984

• NASL Indoor seasons
• 1983 in American soccer leagues
• 1984 in American soccer leagues