The Illinois Thunder were a short-lived, sparsely attended indoor soccer promotion based at the Rockford MetroCentre for two seasons from 1990 to 1992. The Thunder shared the MetroCentre during the winter months with the more popular Rockford Lightning of the Continental Basketball Association.
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 Florida Thundercats were an indoor soccer team from Sunrise, Florida that folded after one season of play in the National Professional Soccer League during the winter of 1998-99. The Thundercats failed despite a deeply experienced management team of pro soccer investors, operators and coaches.
The Tampa Bay Terror were a short-lived indoor soccer team that sought to revive the glory days of indoor soccer in the Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg area. From 1979 to 1982 the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League routinely sold out the 5,000-seat Bayfront Center for indoor matches. By the time the Terror arrived in late 1995, national interest in indoor soccer had plummeted and the more captivating story on the local soccer scene was the impending arrival of Major League Soccer’s Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996.
Ohio’s Canton Invaders won five American Indoor Soccer Association championships in the span of six seasons between 1985 and 1990 in what amounted to the 2nd division of professional indoor soccer in the United States at the time. The club would fall on hard times in the 1990’s both on and off the field and moved to Columbus in 1996.
Publisher receives compensation for affiliate advertising on this website.
*Like our new look? Next up: site speed. You can help with a tip for our Speed Fund today. Thank you!
