American soccer writing, history & data.
The USISL began in 1986 as the five-team Southwest Indoor Soccer League. The 1997-98 season would be the last for the USISL I-League. And, its final season would have the same number of teams plus a few teams which played a small number of games to fill out the schedule. The top two teams were the two-time champion Baltimore Bays and the perennial runner-up Tulsa Roughnecks. Joining them would ...
In mid-1996, the USISL incorporated in Florida as USISL, Inc. and merged with the American Professional Soccer League (A-League). Those entities created a new USISL A-League sanctioned by the USSF for Division II play beginning in 1997. The USISL also re-branded its other leagues. The United States Indoor Soccer League became simply the I-League. Seven teams played full indoors schedules for the 1...
The 1995-96 season of the US Indoor Soccer League, technically an amateur division of the USISL, was the tenth in its existence. Only 10 teams played a full schedule with eight more playing limited schedules to fill out the competition. With a lack of northeast teams, the Baltimore Bays played home games against a handful of opponents cobbled together from other USISL teams in that region. The ...
The winter meetings in Dallas in November of 1994 officially split the USISL, renamed as the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, into separate leagues. The indoor league was renamed the United States Indoor Soccer League. It continued to technically be an amateur league. The Texas Arsenal and Texas Lightning teams did not return but the Brandon Brandon Braves, Mesquite Kickers (a mix ...
The 1993-94 U.S. Interregional Soccer League season was a 14-team league split into three divisions. It also included a Challenge Division of teams that played a limited schedule of away games. Those games counted in the standings for the other teams in the league but the Challenge Division teams were not eligible for the playoffs. The Tyler Lightning moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Te...
The 1992-93 US Interregional Soccer League indoor season launched with 16 teams. The expansion of the outdoor season did not lead to a similar expansion of the indoor season as most of the 1992 outdoor expansion franchises decided to focus solely on the outdoor game. A number of the older franchises, such as the Austin Soccadillos, also began to drop their indoor teams. The Arkansas Diamonds and G...
After five years in existence, the former Southwest Indoor/Outdoor/Independent and Sunbelt Independent Soccer League shed its SISL acronym and renamed itself the United States Interregional Soccer League prior to its 1991-92 indoor season. The league was eyeing expansion for its coming outdoor season and positioning itself as the outdoor development feeder league for the USSF's planned three-tier ...
After the 1990 outdoor season the Southwest Independent Soccer League expanded to 18 teams before the 1990-91 indoor soccer season. With additions in the southern U.S., the organization again renamed itself becoming the Sunbelt Independent Soccer League. A number of franchise changes happened between the outdoor and indoor seasons. North Texas United of Duncanville dropped out. The Albuquerque ...
After the summer outdoor season, the Southwest Indoor/Outdoor Soccer League renamed itself as the Southwest Independent Soccer League. The organization almost doubled in size prior to the SISL 1989-90 indoor season. While the San Antonio Heat did not return, the other seven teams that took part in the outdoor season did along with the Amarillo Challengers and Houston Express which did not take par...
The Southwest Indoor Soccer League added three teams prior to the 1988-89 season: Houston Express; San Antonio Heat; and Wichita Tornado. In addition, the Arlington Arrows moved to Addison, Texas and become the Addison Arrows. By this time, the SISL was affiliated with the U.S. Soccer Federation as a regional indoor league for Region III. During the indoor season, the SISL also acquired affilia...
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 ...
Francisco Marcos, owner and operator of Soccer Management International, an agency representing a few Major Indoor Soccer League players, formed the Southwest Indoor Soccer League. Marcos formed the SISL to eventually serve as a developmental league for the MISL and to help local indoor soccer area owners-operators drum up interest in indoor soccer for their cities. To get the league rolling, a $2...
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