1985-86 MISL Season

By Dave Litterer of The US Soccer History Archives, with supplemental materials by Steve Holroyd and Paul Reeths

Twelve teams were in the MISL for its eighth season. This year the league saw another infusion of fresh talent as more players from the defunct NASL came looking for jobs. The result was the league's best year ever as far as quality of play was concerned. Average attendance climbed to 8,696, nearly matching the all-time record of 8,735 set in 1981-82. The total was just over 2,500,000, and Cleveland set a single game record with 20,176 watching the Force clinch the Eastern Division after the closest divisional race in league history. The league inaugurated a 15-game broadcasting schedule on ESPN this year for its best television exposure yet. With little competition in the outdoor game and the National Team in disarray, the MISL was the main source of soccer activity in the country this year.

Although San Diego repeated as the class of the league, dashing any hopes of exciting races in the West, the Eastern Division was a cauldron of shifting fortunes and nailbiting comebacks, as the entire division finished within four games in the standings. The Cleveland Force finally emerged the victor in the East after the toughest and most exciting divisional race in league history. The Force finished a single game ahead of Minnesota, who finished a game ahead of Dallas. Likewise, Baltimore trailed Dallas by a single game, and Pittsburgh and Chicago ended the regular season a game behind the Blast. This was in marked contrast to the west where Wichita was nine games behind the titleist Sockers. Steve Zungul again finished as the top scorer in the league, closely followed by Erik Rasmussen and Branko Segota. A new scoring star, who would become a longtime indoor scorer and then make significant headway in the MLS and with the National team in World Cup 1998, was Preki Radislogevic.

Although the race in the East was tight, this did not lead to upsets in the playoffs. Only Tacoma's four game defeat of Wichita could fall into that category, and that was a close one. Otherwise, all the higher ranked teams advanced, although the formidable San Diego Sockers were taken to four games by the lowly St. Louis Steamers, a below .500 club. In the semifinals, Minnesota edged a feisty Cleveland side, while San Diego had a somewhat easier time of it downing Tacoma in four. The championship series went all the way, and at first it looked like the teams were fielding alternating lineups. After trouncing Minnesota 7-2 in the opener, San Diego was nearly shut out as they were humiliated 6-1 in the rejoinder. Minnesota went for the upset, embarrassing the Sockers again 2-7, and taking the fourth game 3-4, to leave them only one game from the title. As this point, the Sockers found their nerve, and took the next three games to earn their most hard fought championship ever, the first time an MISL team had rebounded from a 1-3 deficit to take the league championship.

After the season, the MISL announced its return to New York City by awarding an expansion franchise, the New York Express. In June, the league sponsored the Budweiser Classic, a new indoor tournament to showcase top collegiate players, which was held in Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland on June 1. A month later, the league entered a new three-year agreement with the players, ending a two-week lockout.