CHICAGO STING

The 'Chicago Sting' (1975-1988) was an American professional soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 to 1988. They won the Soccer Bowl in 1981 and 1984. The best player in Sting's history was German Karl-Heinz Granitza, who played for the club from 1978 to 1988.
The Sting were founded in 1975 by Lee Stern of Chicago. A few years after founding the Sting, Stern brought Willy Roy on as head coach. Roy coached the Sting for the remainder of their outdoor existence.
The team was named in reference to the popular 1973 film, ''The Sting'', whose action was set in Chicago of the 1930s.
The club played at various venues. The outdoor team spread their games around Soldier Field, Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park during their 10 years of operation. The indoor entry called both Chicago Stadium and the Rosemont Horizon home.

Contents

Outdoor year-by-year

Indoor year-by-year

Honors

Head coaches

Outdoor yearly average attendance

External links

Outdoor year-by-year

Year	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
1975	12-10	2nd, Central Division	''Did Not Qualify''
1976	15-9	1st, Northern Division, Atlantic Conference	Division Championships
1977	10-16	4th, Northern Division, Atlantic Conference	''Did Not Qualify''
1978	12-18	2nd, Central Division, American Conference	First Round
1979	16-14	2nd, Central Division, American Conference	American Conference Semifinals
1980	21-11	1st, Central Division, American Conference	First Round
1981	23-9	1st, Central Division	NASL Champions
1982	13-19	4th, Eastern Division	''Did Not Qualify''
1983	15-15	2nd, Eastern Division	Quarterfinals
1984	13-11	1st, Eastern Division	NASL Champions

Indoor year-by-year

Season	League	Record	Regular Season Finish	Playoffs
80/81	NASL	13-5	1st, Central Division	Lost Championship
81/82	NASL	12-6	1st, Central Division	First Round
82/83	MISL	28-20	3rd, Eastern Division	First Round
83/84	NASL	20-12	2nd	First Round
84/85	MISL	28-20	2nd, Eastern Division	First Round
85/86	MISL	23-25	6th, Eastern Division	''Did Not Qualify''
86/87	MISL	23-29	5th, Eastern Division	''Did Not Qualify''
87/88	MISL	24-32	5th, Eastern Division	''Did Not Qualify''

Honors

'NASL Championships'

★ 1981

★ 1984
'Division Titles'

★ 1976 Northern Division, Atlantic Conference

★ 1980 Central Division, National Conference

★ 80/81 Central Division Indoor

★ 81/82 Central Division Indoor

★ 1981 Central Division

★ 1984 Eastern Division
'Coach of the Year'

★ 1981 Willy Roy
'All-Star First Team Selections'

★ 1975 Gordon Hill

★ 1979 Bruce Wilson

★ 1980 Phil Parkes

★ 1981 Frantz Mathieu, Arno Steffenhagen

★ 1982 Arno Steffenhagen

★ 1983 Pato Margetic

★ 1984 Karl-Heinz Granitza

★ 84/85 Karl-Heinz Granitza
'All-Star Second Team Selections'

★ 1978 Bruce Wilson

★ 1979 Karl-Heinz Granitza, Arno Steffenhagen

★ 1980 Karl-Heinz Granitza

★ 1981 Karl-Heinz Granitza

★ 1982 Karl-Heinz Granitza, Pato Margetic

★ 1983 Ricardo Alonso, Young Jeung Cho, Karl-Heinz Granitza

★ 1984 Pato Margetic
'All-Star Honorable Mentions'

★ 1977 Willie Morgan

★ 1978 Karl-Heinz Granitza, Jorgen Kristensen

★ 1979 Jorgen Kristensen

★ 1980 Frantz Mathieu

★ 1981 Dave Huson, Pato Margetic

★ 82/83 Pato Margetic

★ 1983 Dave Huson

★ 84/85 Gerry Gray

★ 86/87 Batata

Head coaches

★ Bill Foulkes 1975 - 1977

★ Willy Roy 1977 - 1986

★ Malcolm Musgrove 1978

★ Erich Geyer 1986 - 1988

Outdoor yearly average attendance

★ 1975 - 4,330

★ 1976 - 5,801

★ 1977 - 5,199

★ 1978 - 4,188

★ 1979 - 8,036

★ 1980 - 11,672

★ 1981 - 12,889

★ 1982 - 9,377

★ 1983 - 10,937

★ 1984 - 8,376

External links

★ A page outlining historical facts about the NASL version of the Sting

★ Facts about the MISL