Sockers or Arrows: Who Is Better? : Striking Similarities Make This Matchup Too Close to Call

It was one of those unanswerable questions, but Branko Segota was giving it serious consideration.

Indoor soccer, in its seven years of existence, has already had two dynasties. It had the New York Arrows, winners of the first four Major Indoor Soccer League championships. And it has the Sockers, who lead Baltimore, 2-0, in their quest for a fourth straight indoor title.

Which of these teams should be considered the best?

“It’d be a real good game,” Segota finally concluded, “but you can’t say who would win because you have five players who would have to play for both teams.”

Those Arrows and these Sockers have much in common. In both cases, the star was Steve Zungul. In both cases, Zungul’s teammates included Segota, Zoltan Toth, George Katakalidis and Fernando Clavijo.

Segota could not pick one team over the other. Nor could Zungul, Katakalidis or Clavijo.

Toth, however, would go with the Sockers.

“I think this team is better,” he said. “We have a combination of the old Sockers and the old Arrows.”

The Arrows won their last of four championships in 1981-82. They were 36-8 in the regular season and set a league record with a winning percentage of .818. The Sockers set a league record with 37 wins this year, but they played four more games than the 1981-82 Arrows.

New York featured a Who’s Who among the MISL with stars such as Zungul, Segota, Juli Veee, Fred Grgurev, Luis Alberto and Shep Messing. The team went downhill in 1982-83 when Zungul had to be sold because of financial difficulties. The Arrows folded after the 1983-84 season.

The Sockers began their dynasty with name players such as Veee, Alan Mayer, Gert Wieczorkowski and Martin Donnelly, all of whom were sold to Las Vegas after last season. San Diego has continued winning with old-gang members Jean Willrich, Kaz Deyna and Ade Coker in addition to their Arrow Connection.

“The blueprints for the two teams were exactly the same,” Katakalidis said of the Arrows and Sockers. “Both had forwards who could score, midfielders who created plays well and defenders who could stop you one-on- one. It’s hard to say which team was better. When either team got going on all eight cylinders, the other teams could forget about it.”

New York was traditionally the more dominant team during regular season play, the Sockers more so in the playoffs.

The Arrows had a 114-26 record in regular-season play from 1978-79 to 1981-82, compared to the Sockers’ 100-46 record in the last four years. But in four years of playoffs, the Sockers are 27-4 compared to New York’s 17-4. Both teams were offensive-oriented. The Arrows scored a league-record 302 goals in 1981-82. The Sockers scored 302 goals this season, but there’s a question of whether the Sockers should share the record since they played four more games.

In each case, Zungul was the catalyst. He had 103 goals and 60 assists for the 1981-82 Arrows and 68 goals and 68 assists for this season’s Sockers. He won the league’s triple crown (most goals, assists and total points) both seasons.

“I was a much better player when I was younger,” Zungul said. “In those years, I dominated the game. Everything comes much tougher for me now.”

However, long-time teammates say Zungul is a more complete player now.

“Now, he even gets back on defense,” Clavijo said. “He never did that before. It shows he can do it if he wants to.”

Obviously, there is the question of whether the Zungul-led Sockers could have won when the Arrows were a dynasty, or if the old-time Arrows could win the MISL today. All five of the Arrow-Socker players said either team could have won in the other team’s era--if the other team was not in the league.

The Arrows won MISL championships with fewer teams in the league. There were six teams in 1978-79, 10 teams in 1979-80, 12 teams in 1980-81 and 13 teams in 1981-82.

The Sockers won the North American Soccer League with 13 teams in 1981-82 and seven teams in 1983-84. The MISL had 14 teams in 1982-83 and 13 teams this season after the Cosmos folded in February.

“It was really hard to play in the league a few years ago because it was so physical,” Clavijo said. “We used to have wars with teams like Buffalo, Baltimore, Cleveland and Wichita. They used to have all kinds of fouls, but now you get a penalty for your sixth foul. I think that has helped let us play soccer. Right now, the quality of players is better than ever.”

The quality teams have been the Arrows of yesteryear and the Sockers of today. One could argue forever concerning which team was better, but there is no definitive answer.

TALE OF TWO TEAMS

NEW YORK ARROWS

Season Playoffs Year W L W L

1978-79 16 8 3 0 1979-80 27 5 3 0 1980-81 35 5 4 1 1981-82 36 8 7 3

SAN DIEGO SOCKERS

Season Playoffs Year W L W L

1981-82 10 8 6 0 1982-83 32 16 8 2 1983-84 21 11 5 0 1984-85 37 11 8 2

Note: The Arrows played exclusively in the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Sockers played in the North American Soccer League in 1981-82 and 1983-84 and the MISL in 1982-83 and 1984-85.

CURRENT SOCKERS’

YEARS WITH

THE ARROWS

Fernando Clavijo: 1981-83. George Katakalidis: 1980-83. Branko Segota: 1978-81. Zoltan Toth: 1980-84. Steve Zungul: 1978-82.*

* Zungul was sold to Golden Bay for the 1982-83 season.