Major Indoor Soccer League

Dallas Sidekicks halt operations after two decades.

Tatu has been with the Dallas Sidekicks for all 19 years as a player and a coach.

WESTPORT, Conn (Tuesday, September 14, 2004) -- The Dallas Sidekicks will not play in the Major Indoor Soccer League's 2004-05 season after a search for a new owner came up empty.

The MISL hopes to revive the club for the 2005-06 season by working with community leaders to find a new owner\operator in the league's single-entity structure. The Sidekicks, an original MISL member, were expected to start their 20th season in late October.

"The MISL strongly believes in the viability of the Dallas marketplace and will continue its efforts to bring our great game back to the fans of Dallas\Fort Worth," MISL commissioner Steve Ryan said in a league press release yesterday. "We are in discussions and negotiations with a promising investor\operator group who recognizes both the potential of the market and the tremendous support of the Dallas Sidekicks' loyal fans over the past two decades."

The MISL will conduct a dispersal draft September 22 with the Sidekicks' roster made available to the league's other nine teams. Dallas will be allowed to retain rights to four of its players should it resume play in 2005-06.

"It's pretty sad because a lot of people in this franchise made a lot of sacrifices over the last 20 years to make sure we never got to this point," Sidekicks coach Tatu told the Dallas Morning News. "I don't want to see it die and I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

The Chicago Storm will join the league this season with the existing franchises: the Baltimore Blast, Cleveland Force, Kansas City Comets, Milwaukee Wave, Monterrey Fury, Philadelphia Kixx, St. Louis Steamers and San Diego Sockers.

The MISL has granted expansion franchises to Stockton, Calif., to begin play in 2005-06, and Newark, N.J., to commence competition in 2007-08.

Dallas compiled a 21-15 record to finish first in the Western Division last season. The Sidekicks defeated Cleveland Force in the quarterfinals, but fell in the semifinals to the eventual repeat champion, the Blast.

J.L. (Sonny) Williams, an investor-operator of the Sidekicks since 1996 and its sole investor since 2002, said in April he would leave the league. The franchise has struggled financially in recent years with attendance sagging the past season to its lowest level since 1985, according to the Morning News.

The Dallas front-office staff, including coaches, either resigned or was laid off after the season ended in April.

In the MISL single-entity structure, each team owner\operator invests as a partner in the league which holds all player contracts. A new owner in Dallas would assume Williams' management agreement.

Tatu spent his entire indoor career in Dallas, scoring a league-record 736 goals while holding numerous other MISL marks. He became head Sidekicks head coach in 1998, replacing Gordon Jago. Though he is not being paid by the league, Tatu will assist trying to find a new owner and hopes to continue the club's community involvement through youth camps and tournaments.

Dallas won the MISL title in 1986-87, the Continental Indoor Soccer League crown in 1993, the Premier Soccer Alliance championship in 1998 and the 2001 World Indoor Soccer League title as indoor soccer went through various identities over the years. Dallas returned to play under the MISL mantle in the 2002-03 season.