The MISL40 Organizing Committee, in conjunction with the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame, announced it will pay tribute to the Hall’s players, coaches, and administrators at a gathering as part of a three day celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The festivities will take place July 2-4 at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

In April the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame announced 10 new inductees, who joined the 24 existing members who had been enshrined since 2011. Many of the 28 surviving Hall of Famers are expected to be on hand as well as dozens of other players, coaches, and staff from the original MISL, which played from 1978 to 1992 and spawned several professional indoor leagues that evolved into today’s modern Major Arena Soccer League.

Among those expected to attend are San Diego Sockers greats Juli Veee and Zoltan Toth, Cleveland Force icon Kai Haaskivi, fearless goalkeeper Alan Mayer, legendary coaches Gordon Jago and Roy Turner, and MISL co-founders Ed Tepper and Doug Verb. The reunion was the brainchild of Verb, who lives is Las Vegas and runs Action Sports America.

The agenda includes a welcome reception on the evening of July 2 to get things started. On July 3 players and fans will get a chance to kick it around at Longevity Sports Club. That evening the Hall of Famers will get their tribute at McMullan’s Irish Pub. On July 4 the reunion will venture outdoors for the Las Vegas Lights game at Cashman Field.

Action Sports America also announced it will produce a documentary on the MISL, with a working title of OFF THE WALL: The Extraordinary Pioneering Adventure of the Major Indoor Soccer League. The doc became the genesis of the reunion.

“At first, while formulating the documentary, I thought it would be expedient to have the people I wanted to interview gather at one place,” said Verb, “so why not make it a party? Then, I realized I had been totally out of the Rocket Red circle since I left the Chicago Sting in 1986.



“When I started researching and seeking old colleagues, the excitement of reconnecting and all the great memories of a most important time in my life started flooding back. So it’s multi-purpose: get interviews filled with memories and viewpoints, plus rekindle old relationships from a far different viewpoint.”

The MISL began on December 22, 1978 when Pete Rose, a part-owner of the league’s Cincinnati Kids, kicked out the first Rocket Red ball in Nassau Coliseum. Verb was part of the four-man league office team who started the process of building a new sport in a new league in just 68 days and it became a sensation with several teams outdrawing their NBA counterparts for a time.

For more information on how you can join the fun in Vegas, call Doug Verb at 610-832-7500 or email MISL40Reunion@gmail.com.

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