American Indoor Soccer Association (1989-1990)
Tombstone
Born: September 1989 – Re-branded from Memphis Storm
Folded: Spring 1990
First Game:
Last Game:
AISA Championships: None
Arenas
1989-1990: Mid-South Coliseum (9,069)
Opened: 1964
Closed: 2006
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners: Marty Kelman, Ron Lazarov and Chuck Welch
Attendance
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Memphis Rogues attendance ranked last in the 8-team American Indoor Soccer Association during their only season of competition in 1989-90.
Source: 1997-98 National Professional Soccer League Official Guide & Record Book
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Memphis Rogues NASL
Logo T-Shirt
The Rogues, Memphis’ first proper pro soccer team, were arguably more popular as an indoor soccer team at the Mid-South Coliseum for one glorious winter during the winter of 1979-80 than they ever were playing outdoors at the Liberty Bowl.
This was the Golden Era of dopey cartoon logos in American soccer and the Rogues really went for it with their crazy-eyed, cleat-wearing pachyderm.
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Background
Memphis, Tennessee hosted a shaky franchise in the low-budget American Indoor Soccer Association for four winters from 1986 to 1990. The team was known as the Memphis Storm for its first three seasons and had different owners every year. The Storm played most of the 1988-89 AISA season under league management after the team’s second set of owners ran out of money.
In September 1989 the league found a new set of owners for the luckless club, led by local wealth managers Marty Kelman and Ron Lazarov. The new regime tried to spark interest in the club by reviving the name and logo of city’s 1970’s North American Soccer League franchise, the Memphis Rogues.
The Rogues re-boot was a brutal misfire both on and off the field. Player-coach Don Tobin got canned after a 1-8 start, replaced by Memphis soccer mainstay Tony Carbognani, who fared no better. The team finished 6-34. The Mid-South Coliseum evicted the Rogues midway through the 1989-90 season and the team had to finish out their home schedule at a rodeo arena in Cordova.
The AISA finally euthanized the Storm/Rogues franchise in the spring of 1990.
In 2014, long-time indoor soccer broadcaster and industry observer Kenn Tomasch ranked the 1989-90 Memphis Rogues at #10 in his list of the worst indoor soccer teams of all-time.
Memphis Rogues Shop
Downloads
1989-90 American Indoor Soccer Association League Directory
1989-90 AISA League Directory
Links
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