The Canton Invaders was an

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

club based in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...

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 professional indoor soccer team from Canton, Ohio. Named by Michael George of Canton, Ohio. One of the charter members of the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA), they played their home contests in the Canton Civic Center, a municipal owned facility in the downtown area of Canton, Ohio. The Invaders and the AISA began play in 1984 with six teams ( Chicago Vultures, Canton Invaders, Columbus Capitals, Kalamazoo Kangaroos,

Louisville Thunder Louisville Thunder was an indoor soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky that was one of the founding clubs competing in the American Indoor Soccer Association. Peter Mahlock served as President and General Manager and Keith Tozer was the head c ...

, and Milwaukee Wave). The Invaders won the league championships for the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons as well as advancing to the championship series for the 1986–87 campaign only to be defeated by their opponent of the previous two championship contests, the Louisville (KY) Thunder. (Footnote: The Louisville Thunder folded following the 1986–87 season.) The following three seasons saw the Canton Invaders again capture the league championship crown but their attendance dwindled. A group of diehard fans continued to come to the home games and the seats behind one goal area became known as The Twilight Zone with spectators dressing in dark colored clothing and face painting for the Invaders’ motif. The area behind the other goal was actually the stage for the Canton Civic Center and no spectators were permitted to sit there during games. Prior to the 1990–91 season, the league set about reinventing itself as the National Profession Soccer League (NPSL). Ten teams now reached from New York to Milwaukee and south to Jacksonville. In an effort to make the games more equitable, players were traded amongst the teams and the Canton squad’s ability to win a majority of their games was eliminated. Canton never again hoisted the championship banner in the Civic Center and for the 1996–97 season, the team relocated to Columbus where they compiled a dismal 5 and 35 record finishing dead last in the Central Division of the American Conference of the NPSL. The Invaders disbanded following one season in Columbus and players were distributed to the remaining dozen teams of the league. The Invaders had a rivalry with the nearby Cleveland Crunch for their last five seasons of play. The National Professional Soccer League continued operations for ten more seasons before officially folding operations. The ten teams of the league then established a re-structured league to be known as the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Coaches

Klaas de Boer Klaas de Boer (born 6 January 1942, Kollum) is a retired U.S. soccer player and coach. He played professionally in the American Soccer League and was the 1977 NSCAA Coach of the Year and 1985 American Indoor Soccer Association Coach of the Ye ...

(1984–85) * Trevor Dawkins (1985–88) *

Steve M. Paxos ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

(1988) * Timo Liekoski 1989-1992)

Athletic trainers

* Alex Villoneuva (1993–1995) * John D Smith (1995–1996)

Yearly awards

AISA Season MVP *1985–1986 – Don Tobin *1986–1987 – Rudy Pikuzinski *1987–1988 – Rudy Pikuzinski *1988–1989 – Rudy Pikuzinski *1989–1990 –

Jamie Swanner James Swanner (born January 13, 1961, in St. Louis, Missouri) is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper (football), goalkeeper and current soccer coach. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic soccer team and earned one cap (sports), cap with the Un ...

NPSL Season MVP *1991–1992 –

AISA Coach of the Year *1984–1985 – Klass De Boer *1985–1986 – Trevor Dawkins AISA Defender of the Year *1984–1985 – Oscar Pisano *1985–1986 – Oscar Pisano *1986–1987 – Tim Tyma NPSL Defender of the Year *1990–91 – Denzil Antonio AISA Rookie of the Year *1986-1986 –

AISA Leading Goal Scorer *1986–1987 – Rudy Pikuzinski (51 Goals) *1987–1988 – Rudy Pikuzinski (24 Goals) AISA Leading Points Scorer *1986–1987 – Rudy Pikuzinski (81 Points) *1987–1988 – Rudy Pikuzinski (42 Points) AISA Goalkeeper of the Year *1986–1987 –

*1988–1989 –

*1989–1990 –

NPSL Goalkeeper of the Year *1990–1991 –

*1991–1992 –

AISA All-Star Team *1984–1985 – Kia Zolgharnain, Oscar Pisano *1985–1986 – Oscar Pisano, Kia Zolgharnain, Tim Tyma, Don Tobin *1986–1987 –

, Rudy Pikuzinski, Tim Tyma *1987–1988 – Rudy Pikuzinski *1988–1989 – Rudy Pikuzinski,

*1989–1990 –

, Rudy Pikuzinski NPSL All-Star Team *1990–1991 –

, Denzil Antonio, Gino DiFlorio *1991–1992 –

Year-by-year

References

* {{National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) Sports in Canton, Ohio Defunct indoor soccer clubs in the United States American Indoor Soccer Association teams National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) teams Soccer clubs in Ohio Defunct soccer clubs in Ohio Association football clubs established in 1984 1984 establishments in Ohio Association football clubs disestablished in 1997 1997 disestablishments in Ohio