The Harrisburg Heat were an indoor soccer franchise in central Pennsylvania that played from 1991 until 2003. During the Heat’s late 1990’s heyday, the team attracted crowds in excess of 5,000 per match at Farm Show Arena. The team’s finest season came in 1994-95. Harrisburg advanced to the 1995 National Professional Soccer League Championship Series, where they were swept in four games by the St. Louis Ambush.
The Sidekicks won championships in the Major Indoor Soccer League (1987), Continental Indoor Soccer League (1993), Premier Soccer Alliance (1998) and World Indoor Soccer League (2001). At the peak of their popularity in the late 1980’s, the Sidekicks attracted nearly 10,000 fans per match to Reunion Arena for a 28-game home calendar. The team’s success and community goodwill was inextricably tied to the talents of resident superstar Tatu, the Brazilian scoring wizard who led the Sidekicks on the field for 19 of their 20 seasons. By the time that the Sidekicks finally closed their doors in 2004, they were the longest continuously operating professional soccer franchise in the United States.
The Crunch were Cleveland’s indoor soccer team of the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Led by standout forwards Hector Marinaro and Zoran Karic, the Crunch won National Professional Soccer League titles in 1994, 1996 and 1999. Between 1993 and 2001, either Marinaro or Karic led the NPSL in scoring for nine consecutive seasons. Off the field, the Crunch never managed to rekindle the passionate following enjoyed by their local predecessor, the Cleveland Force, who packed the Richfield Coliseum for Major Indoor Soccer League matches during the mid-1980’s. The Crunch era came to an end in 2002, as new owners switched back to the old “Force” name and colors in an unsuccessful bid to juice the team’s financial fortunes.
The Detroit Ignition played three seasons of indoor soccer at the 3,800-seat Compuware Arena in suburban Plymouth, Michigan between 2006 and 2009. The Ignition originated as an expansion franchise in the wobbly Major Indoor Soccer League in April 2006 and finished their run in the winter of 2008-09 as champions of a silly “lifestyle brand” called the Xtreme Soccer League.
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