1991-92 MSL Season

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

The Major Soccer League was in financial disarray heading into the 1991-92 season. Despite a new collective bargaining agreement with the players, increasing competition from the NPSL was showing its effects, and the financial losses were simply too much for the Kansas City Comets, one of the oldest teams in the league. They folded, and the league was forced back to a single division lineup. More ominiously, players were leaving in increasing numbers to join the NPSL, which, although still operating at a slightly lower level, was much stronger financially due to its lower operating budgets. For its part, the MSL had done much to cut its budgets, reducing the league salary cap to $600,000 from a high of $1,275,000.

In the regular season, the San Diego Sockers easily won the league title, and cruised through the semifinals over Baltimore, before taking their final MISL championship, 7-3, 9-7, 5-4 (OT), 6-10, 2-4, and 8-2 over the Dallas Sidekicks.

The MSL fought on right to the end. Attendance actually climbed slightly this season, and the league was already moving ahead with plans for a new Pittsburgh franchise as well as preliminary plans for European competition. Unfortunately, ownership troubles in St. Louis and Tacoma undermined the league's efforts. In the summer of 1992, Commissioner and founder Earl Foreman, unable to find a sixth team to commit to another season, pulled the plug.

"Due to the instability of league ownership during the past four years, it has been difficult to expand into new markets and attract new owners, thereby precluding the league from realizing its potential for growth," stated Foreman. "The league leaves behind a pretty good legacy. We were an exporter of soccer to Europe in recent years, and we were probably a year away from having a truly international league of U.S., Canada and Mexico. We just couldn't get everybody on the agenda in limited time. We've always called ourselves a major league, but you're not a major league with five teams."

Cleveland and Wichita then joined the rival NPSL, while San Diego and Dallas joined up with a group of arena owners to create the new Continental Indoor Soccer League, which took to the field the following season in a summer league that would avoid direct competition with the NPSL.