New York Arrows

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New York Arrows
Full name	New York Arrows
Founded	1978
Ground	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York (Capacity 16,234)
League	Major Indoor Soccer League

The New York Arrows were an indoor soccer team that played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1978 to 1984. They won the first four MISL championships.

1 History
2 Arena
3 Coaches
4 Year-by-year
5 Honors
6 Significant players
7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Preparing for the first season

In 1978, the New York Arrows began its first season as an indoor soccer team in the newly established Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). As they began preparation for the first MISL season, Arrows management pondered how they would build a team from scratch. Management hit on an inspired concept which mirrored the creation of the National Professional Soccer League in the 1960s. The NPSL had imported professional teams from Europe as a means of quickly creating teams. The Arrows decided to revisit this concept and imported the Rochester Lancers from upstate New York. The Lancers played in the North American Soccer League which had a spring to fall schedule. After negotiating wth the Lancers front office, the Arrows signed nearly the entire roster. However, they did make one significant, and crucial, addition, they signed a virtually unknown Yugoslavian player by the name of Steve Zungul. Zungul was a seasoned outdoor player from Hajduk Split who had gained the approval of the Yugoslavia Football Federation to play outside of his native country for a few months. When he refused to return to Split Hejduk, the Yugoslavian Football Federation gained a ruling from FIFA forbidding any outdoor team from signing him. This ruled out nearly every club in the world and forced him to sign with a newly established MISL team.^[1] On December 22, 1978, the New York Arrows kicked off the first season of MISL, playing in the league's first game, on the road at the Cincinnati Kids.

[edit] Champions

The decision to import the Lancers paid off as the Arrows finished second out of six teams. Only the Houston Summit, essentially the NASL Houston Hurricanes had a better record, but it was the Arrows which took the title, defeating the Philadelphia Fever. The Arrows winning ways continued for the next three seasons as they ran to first in their division before taking the titles over the Houston Summit (1979-80), and the St. Louis Steamers (1980-81 and 1981-82).

[edit] Dominating players

While the Arrows dominated the league as a team, several Arrows players gained repeated individual recognition. In his four seasons with the Arrows, Steve Zungul, "The Lord of All Indoors", regularly scored nearly 5 goals per game and on one instance, scored seven in a game vs. the Phoenix Inferno in 1981. His scoring exploits led to his selection as League MVP four times running. He was also the four time league scoring leader and a two time assists leader. While Zungul was head and shoulders above nearly every other player in the league, he was not the only Arrows great. Shep Messing was the first championship series MVP and a perennial all star. His replacement, Zolton Toth, was the 1982-1983 Goalkeeper of the Year. Juli Veee was an outstanding midfielder while Branko Segota was a perenniall All Star. However, these are merely a handful of great Arrows players.

[edit] Decline and bankruptcy

Though a powerhouse on the field, they were not a powerhouse at the box office. Shortly after the team won its fourth and final MISL title, the team was sold. In January 1983, the team traded Steve Zungul to the San Jose Earthquakes for Gary Etherington and Gordon Hill.^[2] While billed as a move to "Americanize" the Arrows, it was largely a cost saving device. While Zungul went on to become the NASL League MVP in 1984, the Arrows collapsed and folded at the end of the season.

[edit] Arena

Their home arena was Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

[edit] Coaches

Don Popovic 1978-1983
Shep Messing 1983

[edit] Year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season	Playoffs	Open Cup
1978-1979	16-8	2nd	Champions	Did not enter
1979-1980	27-5	1st Atlantic Division	Champions	Did not enter
1980-1981	35-5	1st Atlantic Division	Champions	Did not enter
1981-1982	36-8	1st Eastern Division	Champions	Did not enter
1982-1983	24-24	4th Eastern Division	1st Round	Did not enter
1983-1984	20-28	4th Eastern Division	1st Round	Did not enter