San Diego Sockers

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This article is about the original San Diego Sockers. For the second team to use the name, see San Diego Sockers (2001-2004)

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The San Diego Sockers were one of the most successful indoor soccer teams in the sport's short history. The team won ten championships in both the original Major Indoor Soccer League and the North American Soccer League. The team began as the Baltimore Comets in 1974 but moved to San Diego as the San Diego Jaws in 1976. After a one year stay in Las Vegas, the team returned as the San Diego Sockers in 1978.

The Sockers played their first indoor season in 1980 and won their first indoor title in 1982. The team stopped playing outdoor soccer with the folding of the NASL in 1984. In 1992, the MISL folded, but the Sockers along with the Dallas Sidekicks were two of the founding franchises in the Continental Indoor Soccer League. After several ownership changes, the Sockers folded after the 1996 season.

The only indoor coach of the original Sockers was Ron Newman who would go onto coach in Major League Soccer for Kansas City. He was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Hugo Sánchez, former coach of the Mexico national football team, played for the San Diego Sockers during the summers of 1979 and 1980 during the Mexican Premier Division off-season. Juli Veee was one of their greatest players.

1 Leagues
2 Former Players (Outdoor)
3 Former Players (Indoor)
4 Head Coaches
5 Outdoor year-by-year
6 Indoor year-by-year
7 Honors

[edit] Leagues

NASL outdoor 1974-1984
NASL indoor 1980-1982, 1983-1984
MISL 1982-1983, 1984-1992
CISL 1993-1996

[edit] Former Players (Outdoor)

Laurie Abrahams (1984)
Peter Anderson (1978)
Steve Daley (1984)
Kazimierz Deyna (1981-87)
Ron Fearon (1983)
Gary Heale (1983)
Brian Joy (1976/1978) [1]
Walker McCall (1979-80) [2]
Brian McNeill (1983)
Derek Trevis (1976) [3]
Nigel Walker (1982)
Zoltan Toth (1984-1990)
Hugo Sanchez (1979/80)

[edit] Former Players (Indoor)

Paul Dougherty (1987-92)
Zoltan Toth (1984-1990)

[edit] Head Coaches

Hubert Vogelsinger 1978-1980
Ron Newman 1980-1993

[edit] Outdoor year-by-year

Year	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Notes
1974	2nd East, 10-8-2	Lost Quarterfinal	operated as the Baltimore Comets
1975	5th East, 9-13	Failed to qualify	operated as the Baltimore Comets
1976	5th South, 9-15	Failed to qualify	operated as the San Diego Jaws
1977	5th South. 11-15	Failed to qualify	operated as the Las Vegas Quicksilver
1978	1st American Conference West, 18-12	Lost Conference Semifinal	first season as the San Diego Sockers
1979	1st American Conference West, 15-15	Lost Conference Final
1980	3rd American Conference West, 16-16	Lost Conference final
1981	1st West, 21-11	Lost Conference final
1982	2nd West, 19-13	Lost League Semifinal
1983	4th West, 11-19	Failed to qualify
1984	1st West, 14-10	Lost Semifinal	last outdoor season

[edit] Indoor year-by-year

Year	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1980-81	NASL	4th South, 6-12	Failed to qualify
1981-82	NASL	1st West, 10-8	Won Championship
1982-83	MISL	1st West, 32-16	Won Championship	8,081
1983-84	NASL	1st NASL, 21-11	Won Championship
1984-85	MISL	1st West, 37-11	Won Championship	9,595
1985-86	MISL	1st West, 36-12	Won Championship	9,581
1986-87	MISL	3rd West, 27-25	Lost Semifinal	9,748
1987-88	MISL	1st West, 42-14	Won Championship	8,996
1988-89	MISL	2nd MISL, 27-21	Won Championship	8,383
1989-90	MISL	2nd West, 25-27	Won Championship	8,131
1990-91	MSL	1st West, 34-18	Won Championship	7,231
1991-92	MSL	1st MSL, 26-14	Won Championship	9,348
1993	CISL	2nd CISL, 20-8	Lost Championship
1994	CISL	2nd West, 18-10	Lost Quarterfinal
1995	CISL	3rd South, 17-11	Lost Quarterfinal
1996	CISL	1st West, 17-11	Lost Semifinal