San Diego Sockers (1978–1996)

The San Diego Sockers were a soccer and indoor soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team played in the indoor and outdoor editions of the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 as well as the original Major Indoor Soccer League and CISL. The franchise folded in 1996 and was the last surviving NASL franchise.

The Sockers are considered the most successful indoor soccer team. They made the playoffs in all but one of their 16 seasons of playing indoors.

History
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 as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, the team returned as the San Diego Sockers in 1978. They were owned by Bob Bell and played their indoor games at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Initially, victories came slowly for the club but mounted quickly and they experienced moderate success over their outdoor history winning several division titles. However, the San Diego Sockers won the North American Soccer League (NASL) Indoor Championships of 1981–82 and 1983–84. Success was far from over for the San Diego Sockers. When the NASL folded, the San Diego Sockers moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League and won eight championships: 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1992. The Sockers carried their success from one league to the next. They switched to the Continental Indoor Soccer League for three more years from 1993 to 1995. However, after several ownership changes, Sockers folded after the 1996 season.

There have been two subsequent revivals of the Sockers. The first was a franchise in the WISL that later joined the second MISL before folding in 2004. A second started play in the PASL-PRO in 2009.

Leagues

 * NASL 1974–1984
 * NASL indoor 1980–1982, 1983–1984
 * MISL/MSL 1982–1983, 1984–1992
 * CISL 1993–1996

Owners

 * Co-Owners included Charles T. Koval, Joe Sadowski, Ed Lewis, Bob Bell (1977–78)
 * Co-Owners Charles T. Koval, Bob Bell (1978–81)
 * Bob Bell (1981–87)
 * Ron Fowler (1987–91)
 * Oscar Ancira, Sr. (1991–94)
 * San Diego Sports Arena Management (1994–96)

Head coaches

 * 🇩🇪 Hubert Vogelsinger (1978–1980)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ron Newman (1980–1994)
 * 🇺🇸 Brian Quinn (1994–1996)

Honors
Championships (10)
 * NASL indoor: 1981–82, 1983–84
 * MISL: 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92
 * CISL: 1993 (runners-up)

Regular Season/ Division Titles (12)
 * NASL: 1978, 1981, 1984
 * NASL indoor: 1981–82, 1983–84
 * MISL: 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1991–92
 * CISL: 1996

Conference Titles
 * NASL indoor: 1981–82 (Pacific)

NASL Coach of the Year
 * 1984 Ron Newman

NASL North American Player of the Year
 * 1981 Mike Stojanović

NASL All Stars
 * 1978 Alan Mayer -Second Team
 * 1979 Alan Mayer -Honorable Mention
 * 1979 Bobby Smith -Honorable Mention
 * 1981 Volkmar Gross -Honorable Mention
 * 1981 Mike Stojanović -Honorable Mention
 * 1981 Juli Veee -Honorable Mention
 * 1982 Juli Veee -Honorable Mention
 * 1983 Kaz Deyna -Second Team
 * 1984 Kevin Crow -First Team
 * 1984 Kaz Deyna -Honorable Mention
 * 1984 Brian Quinn -Honorable Mention

NASL indoor MVP
 * 1981–82 Juli Veee

NASL indoor Scoring Champion
 * 1981–82 Juli Veee

NASL indoor Goalkeeper of the Year
 * 1983–84 Jim Gorsek

NASL indoor Championship Finals MVP
 * 1981–82 Juli Veee
 * 1983–84 Jean Willrich

NASL indoor All Stars
 * 1980–81 Julie Veee
 * 1981–82 Julie Veee
 * 1981–82 Martin Donnelly
 * 1981–82 Volkmar Gross
 * 1983–84 Kaz Deyna, Gert Wieczorkowski
 * 1983–84 (2nd team) Juli Veee, Martin Donnelly
 * 1984 Alan Mayer -All-Star Game starter
 * 1984 Julie Veee -All-Star Game starter
 * 1984 Kaz Deyna -All-Star Game starter
 * 1984 Jean Willrich -All-Star Game reserve
 * 1984 Gert Wieczorkowski -All-Star Game reserve

Hall of Fame members
 * United States: Fernando Clavijo, Ron Newman, Hugo Pérez, Bobby Smith, Alan Willey, Steve Zungul
 * Canada: Bob Iarusci, Terry Moore, Branko Šegota, Mike Stojanović
 * Indoor Soccer: Fernando Clavijo, Kevin Crow, Zoran Karić, Alan Mayer, Ron Newman, Victor Nogueira, Brian Quinn, Branko Šegota, Zoltán Tóth, Julie Veee, Steve Zungul

MISL MVP
 * 1983 Alan Mayer
 * 1985 Steve Zungul
 * 1986 Steve Zungul
 * 1991 Victor Nogueira
 * 1992 Victor Nogueira

MISL Championship MVP
 * 1983 Juli Veee
 * 1985 Steve Zungul
 * 1986 Brian Quinn
 * 1988 Hugo Pérez
 * 1989 Victor Nogueira
 * 1990 Brian Quinn
 * 1991 Ben Collins
 * 1992 Thompson Usiyan

MISL Scoring Champion
 * 1985 Steve Zungul
 * 1986 Steve Zungul

MISL Pass Master (Assists leader)
 * 1985 Steve Zungul
 * 1986 Steve Zungul

MISL Defender of the Year
 * 1985 Kevin Crow
 * 1988 Kevin Crow
 * 1989 Kevin Crow
 * 1991 Kevin Crow
 * 1992 Kevin Crow

MISL Goalkeeper of the Year
 * 1988 Zoltán Tóth
 * 1989 Victor Nogueira
 * 1991 Victor Nogueira
 * 1992 Victor Nogueira

MISL Coach of the Year
 * 1988 Ron Newman

MISL Rookie of the Year
 * 1991 David Banks

MISL First Team All Star
 * 1983 Alan Mayer, Kazimierz Deyna
 * 1985 Branko Šegota, Kevin Crow, Steve Zungul
 * 1986 Fernando Clavijo, Branko Segota
 * 1987 Kevin Crow
 * 1988 Zoltán Tóth, Fernando Clavijo, Kevin Crow, Branko Segota
 * 1990 Victor Nogueira, Kevin Crow
 * 1991 Victor Nogueira, Kevin Crow

CISL Goalkeeper of the Year
 * 1994 Antonio Cortes

CISL Rookie of the Year
 * 1994 John Olu–Molomo
 * 1995 Mark Chung
 * 1996 Carlos Farias

CISL First Team All Star
 * 1993 David Banks
 * 1995 Mark Chung