The World Indoor Soccer League initially planned to have a European division with the Sheffield Strikers, Manchester Geordies and so forth. Was there ever any evidence that anyone played indoor soccer in England?
They used to have a Masters Football league that was almost identical to our indoor soccer. I don't know how close the Indoor Professional Football League (I think they were calling it) ever came to actually existing.
They played a variant called Soccer Six - they used bigger goals that were actually in front of the boards. The Blast v Sheff Wednesday game that Harkes played in with notable because it was the first game Eric Cantona played on English soil, and Shaka Hislop played in goal for the Blast.
Interesting. I searched and found this, which includes the tidbit that Simply Red performed wearing Blast jerseys. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-01-29/sports/1992029206_1_blast-indoor-teams-indoor-game
According to the American Soccer History Archives, the teams were supposed to be: London United, Manchester Magic, Newcastle Geordies, and Sheffield Strikers.
I wish I could find what I wrote about it at the time for USA TODAY, but I think it was all lost several site redesigns ago.
Crying a tear for the Utah Freezz. After the Freezz folded I played on an indoor team with Gaylen. The team folded six months after I moved there, but overall it was two of the best years of my life.