The Comets rebrand as Kansas City Comets, will play in MASL Eastern Conference in 2016-17

The Missouri Comets are returning to their roots.

The indoor soccer team will rebrand themselves as the Kansas City Comets, adopting the franchise’s original name from 1981.

“Although we have enjoyed being the Missouri Comets and experienced tremendous success, we are thrilled to have ‘Kansas City’ in front of our name going forward,” said Scott Levinson, the Comets vice president of business operations. “The Kansas City Comets have a long history in this town, and the name really resonates with longtime fans who attended Comets games at Kemper years ago.”

The original Kansas City Comets folded in 1991 before re-emerging from 2001-2005. The team took on the Missouri Comets name when it was restarted again in 2010.

The Comets are currently without a head coach after Vlatko Andonovoski announced in August he would not return for the 2016-17 season in the Major Arena Soccer League, which starts in October. They will announce a replacement in the coming weeks, according to a team release.

The Comets will be placed into the MASL Eastern Conference for the 2016-17 campaign, the league announced Friday. They will play in a five-team Central Division, along with the Cedar Rapids Rampage, Chicago Mustangs, Milwaukee Wave and St. Louis Ambush.

Four teams — Brownsville, Texas; Detroit; Las Vegas; and Saltillo (Mexico) — have suspended operations for the 2016-17. Sacramento has ceased its business operations, leaving the league with 17 teams.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 3:01 PM with the headline "The Comets rebrand as Kansas City Comets, will play in MASL Eastern Conference in 2016-17."