Dallas Sidekicks Players: Wes McLeod

Dallas Sidekicks Players

#8 Wes McLeod

	Position:	Midfielder/Defender
	Height:	5'9"
	Weight:	152
	Birthdate:	October 24, 1957
	Birthplace:	Vancouver, British Columbia
	Citizenship:	Canada
	Previous Club:	Cosmos (New York)
	Nicknames:	"Mackey" and "Wild and Wooley Wes"
	Seasons Pro:	15
	Seasons with the Sidekicks:	7

Escape From New York

Joined the Sidekicks after the Cosmos folded on February 25, 1985.

McLeod Through the Years

Pictures of McLeod as they appeared in Dallas Sidekicks Media Guide's for the appropriate season:


1985-86	1986-87	1987-88

1988-89	1989-90	1990-91

Wes McLeod, 1991-92 media guide photo

1991-92

It's Bad Luck to Be Superstitious

McLeod always wore white tassles on his socks for good luck.

Number Retired

McLeod's #8 jersey was retired by the Sidekicks on January 24, 2004.

Answered the Call

McLeod played for Team Canada in 1978 and 1982 World Cup Qualifying. He is listed as the youngest player, at age 17, to play for Canada (a match against the United States in December, 1976)

Record Book

McLeod set the final MISL record for most blocked shots in a season (154) during the 1989-90 season.
McLeod also set the MISL record for most blocked shots in a Regular Season Game (14) on April 21, 1990.

Honor Roll

MISL Defender of the Year, 1989-90
First Team, All-MISL 1989-90
MISL All-Star, 1989 (all Sidekick players were granted all-star credit for this match)
MISL Western Division All-Star, 1991
Sidekicks Met-Life Defensive Player of the Month, February 1989
Offensive Star of the Game twice, 1985-86
1. January 21, 1986 vs Wichita
2. January 30, 1986 vs Minnesota

Defensive Star of the Game twice, 1987 MISL Playoffs

Game 4 vs Baltimore May 17, 1987
Game 3 vs Tacoma June 13, 1987

Defensive Star of the Game twice, 1989 Playoffs
1. May 6, 1989 (Game 2 vs San Diego)
2. May 16, 1989 (Game 5 vs San Diego)

Leading the Team

Wes McLeod led the Sidekicks in the following statistical catagories during the appropriate season:

Season	Catagory
1987-88	Shorthanded Goals (2)
	Hat Tricks, tied with Mark Karpun (1)
	Playoff Assists (4)
1988-89	Playoff Blocked Shots (28)
1989-90	Blocked Shots (154)
1989-90	Playoff Blocked Shots (10)
1990-91	Blocked Shots (128)
1991-92	Blocked Shots (91)

Top 10

McLeod's statistics were good enough to rank among the Top 10 players in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the appropriate catagory during the following years:

Season	Catagory	Number	Rank
1984-85	Penalty Minutes¹	21	9th
1987-88	Blocked Shots	113	5th
1989-90	Blocked Shots	154	1st
1990-91	Blocked Shots	128	1st

¹- only 4 of these minutes were while McLeod played for Dallas. The remainder were with the Cosmos.

Sidekicks Highlights

1985-86

Intregal part of the "No-Score 4" penalty killing team that had a 69.9% effectivness that season.
Recorded a 5 point game (2 goals, 3 assists) vs Minnesota on January 30, 1986
Recorded a 3 game multiple point (goal or assist) streak
1. January 10 at Cleveland
2. Janaury 12 at Minnesota
3. January 18 vs Pittsburgh

Also recorded two-4 game point scoring streaks (dates unknown) along with one-3 game streak and two-2 game streaks of the same.
Scored the Game Winning Goal vs Wichita on January 21, 1986.

1986-87

Blocked Dave MacWiliams point-blank range shot in Game 4 of the Eastern Division Semifinals (vs Baltimore) with less than one minute to go that kept the score tied and sent the match to Overtime.

Scored the Game Winning Goal on Opening Day (November 13, 1986) vs Chicago.
Scored one goal vs. Los Angeles on December 12.
Scored one goal vs. Tacoma on December 14.
Scored his only Powerplay goal of the season on December 27, 1986 at Wichita.
Scored the Sidekicks first goal of the game on March 6, 1987 at Baltimore.
Scored an empty net-unassisted goal on April 4 at Wichita.
Scored the final goal of the 1986-87 Regular Season for the the Sidekicks on May 2 at Los Angeles.
Assisted on Tatu's goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Division Semifinals on May 7.
Scored a Shorthanded Goal in Game 5 of the Eastern Division Semifinals (May 21, 1987)

1987-88

Blocked Shot toal rose 230% (from 49 to 113) from last season.
One of 3 Sidekicks to play all 56 Regular Season Games
Recorded a Hat Trick on February 19, 1988
Assisted on Tatu's goal on Opening Day (November 4, 1987)
Scored a Shorthanded Goal vs Tacoma on March 1, 1988.

1988-89

Led team in Blocked Shots during MISL Semifinal series vs San Diego (27)
Scored the Game Winning Goal vs Wichita on March 7, 1989.

1989-90

Passed Joe Waters on the All-Time MISL Blocked Shots leaders list.
Anchored the '89-90 version of the "No Score Four" that killed 26 of the last 32 penalties the Sidekicks faced this season.

1990-91

Scored (2) Game Winning Goals
1. March 8 at St. Louis
2. March 30 vs Kansas City (Overtime Game Winner)

Regular Season Statistics

with Dallas

Note: personal fouls were not an offical MISL statistic until the 1990-91 season.

	GP	G	A	PTS	SH	PIM	F	BL	PPG	SHG	GWG	OTG
1984-85	13	4	3	7	36	4	0	3	1	0	0	0
1985-86	43	12	19	31	125	16	56	33	0	0	1	0
1986-87	46	13	11	24	121	10	88	49	1	0	1	0
1987-88	56	13	8	21	128	12	86	113	0	2	4	0
1988-89	29	6	4	10	50	6	0	59	0	0	1	0
1989-90	52	10	8	18	113	16	0	154	0	0	0	0
1990-91	49	10	8	18	70	12	81	128	0	0	2	1
1991-92	33	6	8	14	41	6	38	91	0	0	0	0
Dallas Totals	321	74	69	143	684	82	349	630	2	2	9	1
All-Time Ranking	4	11	9	10	6	6	4	2	25	5	10	11

Playoff Statistics

	GP	G	A	PTS	SH	PIM	F	BL	SHG
1985-86	4	2	1	3	15	0	8	4	0
1986-87	13	2	4	6	49	8	23	31	1
1987-88	4	1	4	5	5	2	0	7	0
1988-89	7	1	1	2	8	4	0	28	0
1989-90	6	0	0	0	12	4	0	10	0
1991-92	12	4	3	7	13	8	15	37	1
Dallas Totals	46	10	13	23	102	26	46	117	2

Where Did He Go?

Wes McLeod announced his retirement at the Sidekicks final home playoff game in May of 1992 and returned to Tampa. He is currently a mortgage broker for Harborside Mortgage of Florida.