American soccer writing, history & data.
Soon after the 1986-87 Southwest Indoor Soccer League season, the F.C. Outlaws of Albuquerque were expelled from the league. Al Valentine, the franchise's owner and co-owner of the defunct Albuquerque Indoor Soccer Arena where the team played its games, hadn't paid league dues and various other fees. F.C. Albuquerque, a newly-formed corporation headed by three local businessmen, bought the rights to the team, renamed the Gunners, which included Albuquerque and a 90-mile radius around the city.
The league grew to six teams with the addition of the Austin Sockadillos. Finally, Genesis S.C of Garland, Texas moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Arlington Arrows.
For the 1987-88 SISL season, the league played a 20-game schedule starting mid-November and running through the end of February. League rules specified team rosters could not exceed 20 players with 10 required to be Americans. A minimum of three under-19 players and not more than two players over 30 were required for each roster.
The regular season ended with the Albuquerque Gunners and Oklahoma City Warriors tied with 13-7 records and 53 points each. Oklahoma City was given the regular season title because it had defeated Albuquerque in three of their four matches.
The playoff semifinals were best-of-three series. Oklahoma City beat fourth-place Arlington Arrows two games to none in one semifinal while third-place Austin Sockadillos upset Albuquerque taking that semifinal series two games to none.
The league championship was a best-of-five series. But Oklahoma City made easy work of it winning the first three games over Austin and taking the season title.
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