The 1978–79 Major Indoor Soccer League season was the first in league history and would end with the

New York Arrows The New York Arrows were an indoor soccer team that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1978 to 1984. They were the MISL's first dynasty, winning the first four championships. H ...

winning the first MISL title.

Recap

The league would begin with six teams and a 24-game schedule beginning in December 1978 and ending in March 1979. The top four teams would advance to a single-game semifinal and a best of three championship series. League attendance would average 4,453 per game. Signs were good that the league would have a long-time presence. The early games drew strong crowds, as Philadelphia sold out the

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

for their opener, leading the league in attendance. The first expansion team was announced on December 13, nine days before the first game in league history, as the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portu ...

were slated to start play in the 1979-80 season. 10,386 fans were in the

Nassau Coliseum Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (or simply the Nassau Coliseum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, on Long Island. The venue is situated approximately east of the eastern limits of the Borough (New York City), borough of Q ...

to see the Cincinnati Kids play the Arrows in the league's first game. Despite finishing in a solid third place, Cincinnati folded after the season.

Teams

Map of clubs

Regular season

Schedule

The 1978–79 regular season schedule ran from December 22, 1978, to March 18, 1979. Each team played a schedule of 24 games.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold.

Team attendance

Regular season statistics

Scoring leaders

''GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points''

Goalkeeping leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses''

Playoffs

Bracket

Semifinals

----

Championship Series

Playoff statistics

Playoff scoring

''GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points''

Playoff goalkeeping

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses''

League awards

*Most Valuable Player: Steve Zungul, New York *Scoring Champion: Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia *Pass Master: Fred Grgurev, Philadelphia *Goalkeeper of the Year: Paul Hammond, Houston *Coach of the Year: Timo Liekoski, Houston *Championship Series Most Valuable Player: Shep Messing, New York

All-MISL team

References

External links

The Year in American Soccer – 1978

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 Major Indoor Soccer League season Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) seasons

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...