Scoop Stanisic

Stanisic, born in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia, began playing soccer with Partizan Belgrade. Although he made no appearance in the Yugoslav First League, he played a total of 56 games for Partizan, two of which were in the Yugoslav Cup.[1] In 1984, Stanisic moved to the United States where he signed with the New York Cosmos. While the Cosmos had gained its reputation as a top outdoor team in the North American Soccer League, that league had folded and the Cosmos had moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). Stanisic and the Cosmos began the 1984-1985 MISL season, but the team’s finances led to its leaving the league before the end of the season and folding a few weeks later. Stanisic then moved to the Chicago Sting, another ex-NASL team now playing in MISL. He spent two seasons in Chicago before moving to the Baltimore Blast in 1988. In 1988, Stanisic moved to the Hershey Impact of the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA). On November 8, 1990, the Blast released Stanisic.[2] The San Diego Sockers expressed an interest in signing Stanisic, but he chose to return to the Hershey Impact.[3] He then moved to the Illinois Thunder of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) for the 1991-1992 season. He then moved to the Kansas City Attack (NPSL) for two seasons. However, Stanisic was plagued by injuries during the 1993-1994 season and was traded to the Harrisburg Heat during the 1994 off-season. In April 1995, he joined the Albany Alleycats for the summer outdoor season.[4] Stanisic experienced a rejuvenation with the Heat and was named a second team All Star for the 1995-1996 season. Stanisic only played four games for the Heat during the 1997-1998 season when the Attack purchased his contract on December 1, 1997 with cash and a pick in the upcoming Amateur Draft. He played out the rest of the 1997-1998 season in Kansas City, seeing time in twenty-eight games. In the 1998-1999 season, he played in only ten games and is not listed on any team’s roster for the 1999-2000 season. In 2000, Stanisic joined the Detroit Rockers where he played only eight games before retiring at the end of the 2000-2001 season. On March 31, 2005, the Chicago Storm of the Major Indoor Soccer League signed Stanisic to a fifteen-day contract after injuries had decimated the Storm’s goalkeeper corps. However, he played no games during those fifteen days before retiring permanently. Stanisic finished his NPSL career sixth on the all time goalkeeper wins list with 127. While Stanisic made his reputation in indoor soccer, he also played several seasons of outdoor soccer in the U.S. In 1989, he signed with the Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League (ASL). In 1990, he was with the Washington Diplomats of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL).[5] The APSL was formed by the merger of the ASL and the Western Soccer League in 1989. He was back with the Capitals in 1991,[6] then spent the 1992 APSL season with the Miami Freedom.[7] In 1994, Stanisic returned to outdoor soccer with the Baltimore Bays of the USISL.

Stanisic earned one cap with the U.S. national team in a 2-2 tie with El Salvador on March 23, 1993.[8] Already 30 years old at this point he was called up by head coach Bora Milutinović.