Kansas City Comets (1979–1991)

The Kansas City Comets were a professional indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. They played in the original Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL; later the Major Soccer League) from 1979–1991, when they folded. They played their home games in Kemper Arena.

The team originated as the Detroit Lightning, which joined the MISL as an expansion team in the 1979–1980 season. After a year in Detroit the team relocated to San Francisco, California, becoming the San Francisco Fog. They moved to Kansas City in 1981, where they remained for ten years. In Kansas City the team went to the league playoffs seven times, advancing to the division finals three times.

History

In 1979 the Major Indoor Soccer League placed an expansion franchise in Detroit, Michigan. The team, then known as the Detroit Lightning, failed to make the playoffs, and at the end of the season were purchased by entrepreneur David Schoenstadt, later the founder of Discovery Zone. Schoenstadt relocated the team to San Francisco, California, where they were renamed the San Francisco Fog. They again failed to make the playoffs in the 1980–1981 season, and Schoenstadt moved the team once more, this time to Kansas City, Missouri, rebranding them the Kansas City Comets.

The Comets failed to qualify for the playoffs in the 1981–1982 season, but were thereafter consistent playoff contenders, making a total of seven playoff appearances in ten seasons. They advanced to the quarterfinals in 1985, the division semifinals in 1987, and the division finals in 1988, 1990, and 1991. They had enjoyed a strong attendance in their early years, but ticket sales declined later in their run, dropping from an average high of 15,786 in the 1983–1984 season to a low of 7,103 in the 1990–1991 season. Though they finished second in the league in their last two seasons of operations, the Comets could not withstand the drop in revenue, and folded at the end of the 1990–1991 season.

The Comets were followed the next season by the Kansas City Attack of the National Professional Soccer League; this team was known as the "Kansas City Comets" from 2001–2005. In 2010 the Missouri Comets, based in nearby Independence, joined the new Major Indoor Soccer League, carrying on the legacy of the original Comets.

Stars and fan favorites included Enzo Di Pede, Billy Gazonas, Gino Schiraldi, Greg Makowski, Victor Petroni, Jan Goossens, Damir Haramina, Kia, Dale Mitchell, Alan Mayer, Zoran Savic, Jim Schwab, Gordon Hill, Tasso Koutsoukos, Manny Schwartz, David Doyle, Barry Wallace, Tim Clark, Elson Seale, Yilmaz Orhan, and Ty Keough as well as coaches Pat McBride and Rick Benben.

Ownership

Dr. David Schoenstadt (1979–87)
Kansas City Comets, Inc. (1987–91)

Staff

Dick Berg General manager
Peter Simon Public Relations Director
Brad Jacobs Marketing Director
Tim Leiweke – General Manager (1981–84) President (1986–88)

Coaching staff

Head coaches

Terry Fisher (1979–80)
Johnny Moore (1980–81)
Luis Dabo (1981) 2 Wins 7 Losses
Pat McBride (1981–84) 63 Wins 80 Losses (Postseason: 2 Wins 5 Losses/No Series Wins, 2 Series Losses)
Rick Benben (1984–87) 47 Wins 57 Losses (Postseason: 2 Wins 3 Losses/1 Series Win, 1 Series Loss)
Niki Nikolic (1987-Interim) 1 Win 3 Losses
Dave Clements (1987–91) 124 Wins 111 Losses (Postseason: 18 wins 16 Losses/3 Series Wins, 4 Series Losses)

Assistants

Johnny Moore (1981)
Tony Simoes (1981–82)
Rick Benben (1982–84)
Billy Gazonas (1984–86)
Niki Nikolic (1986–87)
Tony Glavin (1988–89)

Year-by-year

Detroit Lightning

Year	League	Record	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1979–80	MISL	15–17	3rd Central Division	1st Round	3,520

San Francisco Fog

Year	League	Record	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1980–81	MISL	11–29	4th West	Failed to Qualify	4,588

Kansas City Comets

Year	Division	League	Reg. Season	Playoffs	Avg. Attendance
1981–82	Western	MISL	6th	Did not qualify	11,058
1982–83	Western	MISL	3rd	1st Round	14,692
1983–84	Western	MISL	4th	1st Round	15,786
1984–85	Western	MISL	4th	Quarterfinals	12,917
1985–86	Western	MISL	5th	Did not qualify	12,428
1986–87	Western	MISL	2nd	Division Semifinals	12,447
1987–88	Western	MISL	3rd	Division Finals	11,211
1988–89	N/A	MISL	7th	Did not qualify	9,228
1989–90	Eastern	MISL	2nd	Division Finals	10,475
1990–91	Eastern	MSL	2nd	Division Finals	7,103

Honors

Rookie of the Year

1986: Dave Boncek
1988: David Doyle

Coach of the Year

1983: Pat McBride

Players

San Francisco Fog Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	USA	Roy Messing
2	DF	USA	Buzz Demling
3	DF	USA	Lee Atack
4	DF	USA	Mark Demling
5	DF		Andy Stanton
6	FW	USA	Mani Hernandez
7	FW	USA	Art Welch
8	FW	USA	Johnny Moore
9	FW	USA	Geoff Davies
10	FW	ENG	Jimmy Rolland
11	FW	USA	John Smillie
12	MF	NGA	Andy Atuegbu


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
13	MF	SCO	Davie Kemp
14	DF	ENG	Brian Joy
15	DF	USA	Len Salvemini
16	FW	ENG	John Brooks
17	MF	ENG	Mike Mancini
18	DF	USA	Dirk Denkers
19	DF	ENG	Len Renery
20	GK	USA	Tom Reynolds
—	FW	ESP	Manny Cuenca
—	DF	USA	Greg Delgado
—	FW	USA	Doug Wark
—	FW	ENG	Alan Sproates