Hey, Hey, The Gang’s All Gone : Only 3 Players Remember Socker Good Ol’ Years--New Gang Accepted Now

The old gang is gone. All but three, that is.

Forty-two players have come--and most are gone--since the Sockers won their first of three consecutive indoor soccer championships in 1981-82.

Only three players remain from that first indoor championship team, which went undefeated en route to the North American Soccer League title in the spring of 1982.

Their names are Ade Coker, Kaz Deyna and Jean Willrich. They are the survivors.

“We’re the only three left?” Coker asked in disbelief. “That’s amazing. I never realized that. Am I that old already?”

Coker is 30, Willrich 32 and Deyna 37.

Each has fond memories of the past three indoor championships. All three said their most memorable championship came against Baltimore in the 1982-83 Major Indoor Soccer League finals.

Coincidentally, Baltimore will be the Sockers’ opponent in this year’s MISL championship series that begins Friday night in the Sports Arena.

“It was a great achievement to go from the NASL and beat a team that supposedly was all-MISL,” Coker said. “It was amazing how our fans were behind us then. We need them to be the same way again.”

Not unlike Socker fans, the veteran players at times have wondered what happened to their former teammates. Much of their soccer tradition was in Las Vegas this season, with players such as Juli Veee, Alan Mayer, Gert Wieczorkowski and Martin Donnelly playing for the Americans.

Steve Zungul, Branko Segota, Fernando Clavijo and George Katakalidis? They were the newcomers who hadn’t done a thing for the previous Socker teams.

But the new gang is accepted now, mostly because it helped San Diego set a MISL record for regular-season wins. But some still long for that old gang.

“It was like going to school with the same guys for six or seven years and, all of a sudden, everyone went their own way,” Willrich said. “You don’t like that. You like to stay together. When you trade players away, it’s not nice.”

Bob Bell, Socker owner, believes he had good reason for the trades. He acquired players who were much younger, and some would argue better, at this stage of their careers. The owner had reason to feel vindicated when Las Vegas was upset by Minnesota in the MISL quarterfinals.

The remaining veterans have come to accept their new teammates, yet some still question Bell’s trades.

“I thought it wasn’t a good decision,” Deyna said. “If you have good players like we had, I wouldn’t have wanted new players if I was the coach. We had won three championships. It was very strange. I’ve been playing indoors for 4 1/2 years, and maybe the owner’s going to say he doesn’t need me anymore. That’s not a good deal.”

Deyna has reason to be concerned about his future because his contract is up in November. Contract negotiations have been unsuccessful thus far, and he has expressed his disappointment with his situation throughout the season.

However, Socker players have come to expect such circumstances.

Complaining was a way of life with the old gang, and it has remained so with the new one. Veee used to gripe about Bell, his teammates and opposing players. Zungul hasn’t said so much about Bell, but he certainly has made his feelings known about the others.

It’s not unusual to see the Sockers arguing among themselves, even over such minor items as referees’ calls at team practices. They are even more testy after their losses.

“Before and now, we have the same problem,” Willrich said. “We sometimes yell at each other and talk too much about a game, but I think it’s nice. You want everyone to be concerned about a game. If we lose and nobody cares, it’s not good. If you win 20 games and lose one, you should speak up about the one.”

Surprisingly, the outspoken veterans were somewhat hesitant to compare this year’s team to the teams of the past three years.

Willrich said he did not want to get into comparisons. Deyna said this probably wasn’t the best Socker team, but he added “it’s difficult to say.” Coker said to wait until after the championship series.

“We had an old team that was a very good team,” Deyna said. “We had experienced players then. Right now, we don’t have as much experience, but we have younger players who fight more on the field.

“I think it’s very important to have more experience. It’s easier to play and be together on the field. If we didn’t have players like myself, Steve Zungul and Jean Willrich, it would have been difficult for the Sockers to make it to the finals. We have good players, but they are young with no experience. You need guys with experience, what you call team leaders.”

The Sockers have been winning in 1984-85 with what MISL coaches regard as the league’s best talent. And much of that talent comes from the new gang of Zungul, Segota, Clavijo and Katakalidis.

“People have to understand that there was pressure on them,” Deyna said. “We received good indoor players, but it’s still difficult to make the team a success. It’s not too easy to win a division championship and go to the finals with almost a new team.”