Pittsburgh Spirit

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The Pittsburgh Spirit were an indoor soccer team based out of Pittsburgh and were one of the original six teams that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League.

The Spirit began operations in 1978 but suspended operations after the '79-'80 season. They did return one year later and played in Pittsburgh until 1986. Their best season occurred in '83-'84, when the team went 32-16. Indoor soccer reached its peak around this time. Proof of this was the Pittsburgh Spirit averaged around 8,000 fans per game while the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL only averaged around 6,000 fans per game. Their home arena was the Pittsburgh Civic Arena — also known as the Igloo — now called Mellon Arena. There was an attempt to revive the Spirit for the final MSL (as it was then called) season, but it did not come to be. Some of their more notable players were Stan Terlecki and MISL's 1984 rookie of the year Kevin Maher.

[edit] Former Players

• Clive Charles (1982)
• Paul Child (1981-86)
• Tommy Jenkins (1976-79)
• Alfie Conn (1979-80)
• Graham Fyfe (1979-80) [1]
• Pat McCluskey (1982-83)[2]

[edit] Former Coaches

• Don Popovic (1985-1986)