The San Diego Sockers were a professional 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 the Continental Indoor Soccer League. 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

Owners

Head coaches

Year-by-year

Outdoor

Indoor

Honors

Championships (10) Regular Season/ Division Titles (12) Conference Titles NASL Coach of the Year NASL North American Player of the Year NASL All Stars NASL indoor MVP NASL indoor Scoring Champion NASL indoor Goalkeeper of the Year NASL indoor Championship Finals MVP NASL indoor All Stars Hall of Fame members MISL MVP MISL Championship MVP MISL Scoring Champion MISL Pass Master (Assists leader) MISL Defender of the Year MISL Goalkeeper of the Year MISL Coach of the Year MISL Rookie of the Year MISL First Team All Star CISL Goalkeeper of the Year CISL Rookie of the Year CISL First Team All Star

Sources