The 1987–88 American Indoor Soccer Association season was the fourth season for the league. Only four teams ( Canton,

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

) returned from the previous year, which made for a very brief, 24-game season that ended in early February. The 1988 All-Star game had been scheduled for Tampa Bay, but with the Rowdies leaving the league to play outdoors in the American Soccer League, and three other clubs (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Toledo and league-champion

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

) folding, the game was canceled altogether. Two expansion teams were set to join for the following season,

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

and

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Rather than have only a two-team battle in a championship playoff series, the league instead opted to stage a 12-match, unbalanced, round-robin tournament called the Challenge Cup Series to determine who took home the trophy for 1987–88. The two expansion teams were also invited to play in this unique season-ending event, despite never having previously faced AISA competition. This would also give league owners a chance to see if the two new teams were really ready for the AISA. The series commenced on February 14. As the six-week long tournament rolled on, the race for cup came down to the final game of the series on April 1, which happened to match league-leaders Canton and Fort Wayne. Both teams carried 8–3 records into match. Since the winner would secure the title by one game, it became a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' championship final. Canton held on for a 5–4 victory, and their third AISA title in four seasons.

League Standings

Challenge Cup

''de facto'' Challenge Cup final

1987–88 AISA Challenge Cup Champions:

Canton Invaders The Canton Invaders was an indoor soccer club based in Canton, Ohio that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team relocated and became the Columbus Invaders. History The Canton Invaders were a p ...

''(8–4 record)''

League Leaders

Scoring

Goalkeeping

League awards

*Most Valuable Player:

Rudy Pikuzinski Rudy Pikuzinski (born August 9, 1959) is a former U.S. soccer forward who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. He was a three time American Indoor Soccer Association MVP and served as an assistant coach his last year as a player. Yo ...

, Canton *Coach of the Year:

Terry Nicholl Terence John Nicholl (born 16 September 1952) is an English retired Association football midfielder who played professionally in both England and the United States. He later managed several indoor teams in the United States where he was the 1987 ...

, Memphis *Defender of the Year:

Tim Tyma Tim Tyma (born December 14, 1960) is a former American soccer forward, coach and referee. Tyma played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League and USISL. Player Youth Tim Tyma, younger brother of ...

, Milwaukee *Goalkeeper of the Year: Manny Sanchez, Memphis *Rookie of the Year: Rod Castro, Memphis

All-AISA Team

References

External links

Major Indoor Soccer League II (RSSSF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Professional Soccer League 1987-88 1987 in American soccer leagues 1988 in American soccer leagues 1987-88