1987-88 MISL Season

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

The MISL entered its second decade with eleven teams and an expanded 56 game schedule, its most grueling yet. The league marked the anniversary by signing a two-year TV agreement with FNN/SCORE. This package included a Friday game of the week, as well as the all-star game, the entire championship series and a weekly highlight show. Early in the season, Steve Zungul became the first player in league and indoor history to score 1,000 points.

The regular season featured the return of San Diego to championship form as the Sockers took the West Division by 11 games. In the East, the Minnesota Strikers took the divisional title in a close race with perennial favorite Cleveland, with Dallas not far behind. Some new players made their mark in the scoring race as Wichita's Erik Rasmussen won his first scoring title, followed by Preki of Tacoma. Steve Zungul, feeling his age, continued to slide down the list. The playoffs saw few surprises, with favored teams generally prevailing until a minor upset in the divisional finals when Cleveland beat the Minnesota Strikers to set up a championship series with the San Diego Sockers. San Diego completed its triumphant return by taking the series in four straight to win yet another league title. Attendance was down slightly, to 8,439 per game, but the longer season boosted total attendance to 2,599,101.

By the end of the 1987-88 season, the protracted salary war with the AISA really began to take its toll. The league demanded that the Major indoor Soccer League Players' Association accept a plan for reducing the salary comepensation cap. Commissioner Bill Kenting offered a plan for reducing player contracts 33% across the board. By April, after marathon negotiations, the league and MISLPA reached a two-year stabilization agreement. This wasn't enough to save some franchises however. The two division winners were near death, as were several other strong teams. San Diego filed for bankruptcy and in June, Chicago, St. Louis, Tacoma and Minnesota all folded. In July, the board of directors called a special meeting to discuss the future of the league. John Kerr, head of the MISLPA was intensively involved, and by July 18, the two sides signed a four year collective bargaining agreement, which reduced the team salary cap to $850,000 per year. Cleveland dropped out shortly after this agreement, but San Diego was sold to new owners, and a new franchise was awarded to Tacoma allowing the league to continue in 1988-89 as a seven team circuit.