Indoor Soccer Hall Unveils 2019 Class

The Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame unveiled a class of 10 new inductees on the Kick This radio show today. Former NPSL Media Director and AP sportswriter Chuck Murr revealed the list that consisted of five field players, two goalkeepers, and three coaches. It’s the first class inducted by the ISHOF since 2014.

Keith Tozer, indoor soccer’s all-time winningest coach, led all voters, appearing on 24 of 28 ballots. Tozer was a first-ballot selection as voting was expanded to include the NPSL and CISL/WISL eras for the first time.

Hector Marinaro, Zoran Karic, Pato Margetic, and Daryl Doran were easy choices when their NPSL accomplishments were considered in addition to their MISL exploits.

Going all the way back to the beginning, Shep Messing, the original player signed by the MISL, also enters the ISHOF. He is joined by fellow goalkeeper Alan Mayer. Rounding out the original MISL/NASL lineup, is forward Stan Terlecki.

Joining Tozer are fellow head coaches Roy Turner and Timo Liekoski.

Voting was so fragmented that a second runoff vote was conducted to select the final three after seven nominees qualified in the first round of tallies. With so many candidates, the electorate was split. Thirty-four nominees received at least six votes.

The ISHOF Selection Committee is made up of former coaches, players, administrators, and media. Hall of Fame members become eligible to vote in future years.

With the addition of 10 new members the ISHOF roster swelled to 34. The Hall now includes two administrators, seven coaches, five goalkeepers, and 20 field players.

“This joyous announcement is tempered by the recent deaths of Ron Newman and Fernando Clavijo,” said ISHOF Founder Sydney Nusinov. “Part of the mission of the Hall is to remember those that forged a path for our sport and to keep these legends engaged in the sport and I am proud to say that Ron and Fernando were active participants on our Selection Committee, and they will both be missed terribly.”

Ron Newman died on August 27 and Fernando Clavijo, who voted on this year’s balloting, died on February 8. New inductee Stan Terlecki also recently passed away on December 28, 2017.

Daryl Doran was indoor soccer’s Mr. St. Louis. In his 22-year career Doran played in a record 828 games. Twenty-one of those seasons were spent in a St. Louis uniform, be it the Steamers, Storm, Ambush, or Illusion. Doran’s 15-year coaching career overlapped his playing career. The defender scored 415 goals and 529 assists and was named the 1996-97 NPSL Defender of the Year.

Zoran Karic (with Hector Marinaro) was the playmaking half of indoor soccer’s Dynamic Duo and led the Cleveland Crunch to three championships. In 1993-94 Karic won the NPSL MVP award and the Crunch clinched Cleveland’s first professional sports championship since 1964. Karic is the all-time leader in assists with 849.

Timo Liekoski’s success as a head coach indoors spanned across three leagues, winning an NASL championship with the Edmonton Drillers, two AISA championships with the Canton Invaders, and two division titles with the MISL’s Cleveland Force. His 308 regular season wins rank fourth all-time.

Pato Margetic was appropriately nicknamed the Magic Man and collected over 1,100 points in a 19-year career. In 1990-91 Margetic set a then-NPSL record with 80 assists and was named to the All-NPSL First Team while leading the Chicago Power to a league title, serving in a dual role as player/coach. The Argentinian was also recognized that year as Coach of the Year.

Known as a fearless goalkeeper easily recognized by his iconic helmet, Alan Mayer was one of the top net minders in the MISL. In 1982-83 Mayer became the first goalkeeper to win 30 games in a season, and the first to win the Most Valuable Player award. That year Mayer, who finished with a 139-106 career record, recorded back-to-back shutouts in the 1983 championship series.

Hector Marinaro, the goal-scoring half of the Dynamic Duo, is indoor soccer’s all-time leading goal and point scorer, amassing 1,223 goals and 1,925 points in his 19-season career. After winning the MVP award six times, the MISL renamed the award the Hector Marinaro Trophy.

Shep Messing was the first ever player signed by the MISL in 1978 and was one of the most popular American players of all-time. Messing won four championships with the New York Arrows and went 67-14 over a three year stretch during that run. After a stint as a player/owner of the short-lived New York Express, the three-time All-MISL First Team goalkeeper retired with a 107-64 record.

Stan Terlecki’s time indoors was short, but impactful. The mercurial Polish forward spent four of his six seasons with the Pittsburgh Spirit. Terlecki split the 1981-82 MISL MVP Award with Steve Zungul when he scored a career-high 117 points.

Keith Tozer played 10 years in the MISL and AISA and became player/coach of the Louisville Thunder at the age of 27. As a coach, he enjoyed success with the Thunder, the Los Angeles Lazers, and the Atlanta/Kansas City Attack, but achieved dominance with the Milwaukee Wave, winning six championships in his 22 seasons there. In all, Tozer won 689 regular season games, 273 more than the second-winningest coach, Kenny Cooper, over an incredible 30-year coaching career. Tozer, who played in the MISL’s first ever game in 1978 and remained involved in the sport as a player and then a coach until 2014, was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year a record eight times.

Roy Turner’s name was synonymous with the Wichita Wings. The long-time coach and general manager of the Wings was one of the keys to that long-running franchise’s durability. As a coach, Turner is ranked seventh all-time with 241 wins and guided the Wings to five semifinal appearances.