Continental Indoor Soccer League (1994-1995)
Tombstone
Born: 1993 – CISL expansion franchise
Folded: Postseason 1995
First Game: June 11, 1994 (L 10-3 @ Anaheim Splash)
Last Game: October 9, 1995 (L 7-3 @ Sacramento Knights)
CISL Championships: None
Arena
San Jose Arena (17,190)11995 Detroit Neon Media Guide
Opened: 1993
Marketing
Team Colors: Sierra Green, Brown, Gold, Black & White21995 Detroit Neon Media Guide
Radio:
- 1995 (English): KLIV (1590 AM)
- 1995 (Spanish): KLOK (1170 AM)
Ownership
Owners: Milan Mandaric
Attendance
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Source: 1997 Continental Indoor Soccer League Official Guide
Awards
CISL Most Valuable Player
- 1995: Preki
All-CISL Selections
- 1995: Preki (M/F) – 1st Team
Background
The San Jose Grizzlies were a short-lived indoor soccer entry that competed in the summer-season Continental Indoor Soccer League in 1994 and 1995.
Twenty years earlier, Grizzlies owner Milan Mandaric founded the Bay Area’s popular San Jose Earthquakes soccer team in the North American Soccer League. The ‘Quakes went on to become one of the most enduring brands in American soccer, playing until the late 1980’s in the original form and subsequently revived twice in today’s top-flight Major League Soccer.
But Mandaric’s subsequent American soccer investments, of which there were many, revealed the Serbian-American computer component entrepreneur to be an impatient patron. The Grizzlies short two-year run was consistent with three other clubs that Mandaric formed and then swiftly jettisoned: the NASL’s Oakland Stompers (1978) and two other failed indoor soccer efforts, the St. Louis Storm (1989-1992) and the Florida Thundercats (1998-1999).
On The Carpet
San Jose was just a middling entry in the CISL. The expansion Grizzlies of 1994 finished 6th place in their division at 12-16 and missed the playoffs.
The club’s fortunes ticked up in 1995 with the arrival of indoor superstar Preki, a veteran of Mandaric’s old St. Louis Storm club in the defunct Major Indoor Soccer League. Preki finished second in the CISL in scoring in 1995 behind Tatu of the Dallas Sidekicks and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player. The club moved up to 2nd place in the Western Division at 15-13 and qualified for the playoffs.
The Sacramento Knights eliminated the Grizzlies in the best-of-three opening round series of the 1995 CISL playoffs.
Closure & Aftermath
The Grizzlies folded quietly following the 1995 season. The CISL itself went out of business after five seasons of play in December 1997.
Preki never played indoor soccer again after winning the CISL MVP award with the Grizzlies in 1995. The following year he went back outdoors, signing on for the debut season of Major League Soccer with the Kansas City Wiz. Preki went on to win MLS Most Valuable Player awards with Kansas City in 1997 and 2003.
He was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the Class of 2010.
San Jose Grizzlies Video
The Grizzlies host the Pittsburgh Stingers at San Jose Arena. Prime Network cable broadcast from August 1, 1994.
Links
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