Proud Supporter of our U.S. Men's & Women's National Teams Visit to learn more.

History Front Page

NASL: 1976-1984
Kicks
MISL: 1984-1988
Strikers
Minnesota Strikers page of the Dallas Sidekicks Historical Archive
USISL/USL:
1990-2009
Thunder
Early 1990-1994
1994-2009
Developmental
1997-2001
Twin Cities Tornado
NSC Minnesota
2010-Present
Team Ownership
Governing Sites
Fifa
Concacaf
US Soccer
MLS
WUSA
USL
Airwaves
LiveSoccerTV.com
SoccerAudio
News
Soccer By Ives
Steve Goff, Soccer Insider
BC Soccer Web
CNN/SI
ESPN
New York Times
USA Today
Minnesota Scene
Minnesota Thunder
Concordia Univ.
Univ. of Minnesota
Site Links
France '98
 
Check out USA CUP.  Largest youth Tournament in the Western Hemisphere!


 
History of Professional Soccer in Minnesota

Major Indoor Soccer League, 1978-1992
 
The Major Indoor Soccer League was the first attempt to create an indoor professional soccer league in the United States. For many years it was also the most successful, with some teams averaging close to 10,000 fans a season. However, the league engaged in a costly bidding war with the North American Soccer League, which ultimately helped lead to the NASL's demise, and weakened the MISL. Later, it engaged in a fraternal bidding war with the AISA (Later the NPSL) for indoor soccer fans, which brought both of the leagues to the brink of bankruptcy. The MISL was far worse off by 1991 with franchises folding in alarming numbers. Finally, the league folded with a few of the remaining teams joining the NPSL. Sources for this information include old newspaper articles, the Information Please Almanac, as well as Soccer Digest Magazine and Mark Pollak for some of the playoff scores.
 
Minnesota Strikers Minnesota continued it's pro soccer career joining the MISL in the fall of 1984 as the Minnesota Strikers. They would play for four seasons, before folding again. During those four seasons the Minnesota Strikers played in 204 regular season games, compiling a record of 107 Wins and 97 Losses, and earning a winning percentage of 0.524%.

MISL Indoor
Year G W L % Teams League Div.
1984-1985 48 24 24 .500 14 4 4
1985-1986 48 26 22 .542 12 2 2
1986-1987 52 26 26 .500 12 8 4
1987-1988 56 31 25 .554 11 3 1
 
Year by Year Details: 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88
 
Data Sources:

US Soccer History Archives maintained by Dave Litterer, the most complete online source of information on the NASL, MISL and the USISL.