New York Cosmos

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For the South African club, see Jomo Cosmos.
New York Cosmos
Image:NewYorkCosmos71Logo.GIF
Full name New York Cosmos
Nickname(s)Cosmos
Founded 1971
Dissolved 1985
Ground Giants Stadium
(Capacity 78,000)
League North American Soccer League
Image:Kit left arm.png Image:Kit body.png Image:Kit right arm.png
Image:Kit shorts.png
Image:Kit socks.png
　
Home colours
Image:Kit left arm.png Image:Kit body.png Image:Kit right arm.png
Image:Kit shorts.png
Image:Kit socks.png
　
Away colours

The New York Cosmos (1971–1985), known simply as the Cosmos for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, was a soccer franchise based in New York City and its suburbs that operated in the North American Soccer League from 1971 to 1984. Founded by brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün as well as Warner Bros. President Steve Ross, it was one of the stronger NASL franchises, both athletically and financially. It became known around the world for signing the great Brazilian player Pelé who, though past his prime, was nonetheless one of the team's, and the league's, top gate draws during his tenure with the Cosmos. The NASL folded after the 1984 season, but the Cosmos attempted to operate as an independent team in 1985 before it ceased activity too.

Contents

[edit] Name and colors

The name was coined by Clive Toye, the club's first general manager. Taking inspiration from the New York Mets, which is essentially short for "Metropolitans," Toye took it a step further: Cosmopolitans, or Cosmos. Toye staged a "name the team" contest, choosing the entry that matched his planned team name.

For the colors, Toye chose the green and yellow of Brazil, part of his strategy to lure Pelé to the United States.[1] The club initially wore Brazil's yellow shirt, blue shorts and white socks, but this evolved to all green with a yellow stripe after about two seasons. When Pele did come on board, the kit was all white, just like Santos, while the green kit was relegated to away kit duty.

A kit designed by Ralph Lauren was used from 1979 to the end; the home kit remained all white, though with navy and yellow trims. The away kit was made navy shirts and shorts with yellow trim, and unusual socks with then yellow and navy hoops. Later, the away socks were made all navy.

[edit] History

Famous players to play for the club include Carlos Alberto, Ramón Mifflin, Franz Beckenbauer, Vladislav Bogićević, Giorgio Chinaglia, Hubert Birkenmeier, Rick Davis, Marinho Chagas, Andranik Eskandarian, Johan Neeskens, Werner Roth, Julio Cesar Romero, Roberto Cabanas, Carlos Alberto, Shep Messing, Yasin Özdenak, Jomo Sono (who later named his own soccer club in South Africa the Jomo Cosmos) and most notably Pelé. On October 1, 1977, Pelé closed out his legendary career in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium. In an exhibition match televised nationwide and worldwide, he played the first half with the Cosmos and the second half with his old team Santos.

Much of the New York Cosmos' ability to acquire big players was due to the financial resources of parent company Warner Communications. In the early 80's, Warner was the target of a hostile takeover bid by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch. His attempt did not succeed, but afterward Warner sold off several of its assets, among them Atari and Global Soccer, Inc., the subsidiary that operated the Cosmos. The club was sold to a syndicate led by their once star player Chinaglia. This group did not have the capital to continue to operate the team at the level kept by Warner Communications, resulting in a fire sale of many of the stars. By the last season, 1984, the Cosmos did not even make the playoffs. The precipitous decline of the Cosmos after the 1983 season became for many fans and the media proof positive of the grave condition of the whole NASL.

The team was also a member of the Major Indoor Soccer League during the 1984–85 season, but withdrew after 33 games due to low attendance.

In 2006 a feature-length documentary about the New York Cosmos called Once In A Lifetime was released in cinemas. The film was narrated by Matt Dillon and featured interviews with many of the players and people involved in the team.

[edit] Year-by-year season results

[edit] Outdoor

Year League W L T Pts Reg. Season Playoffs
1971 NASL 9 10 5 117 2nd, Northern Division Did not qualify
1972 NASL 7 3 4 77 1st, Northern Division Won Semifinal (Dallas)
Won Championship (St. Louis)
1973 NASL 7 5 7 91 2nd, Eastern Division Lost Semifinal (Dallas)
1974 NASL 4 14 2 58 4th, Northern Division Did not qualify
1975 NASL 10 12 — 91 3rd, Northern Division Did not qualify
1976 NASL 16 8 — 148 2nd, Atlantic Conference, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (Washington)
Lost Division Championship (Tampa Bay)
1977 NASL 15 11 — 140 2nd, Atlantic Conference, Eastern Division Won Division Championship (Tampa Bay)
Won Conference Championship (Ft. Lauderdale)
Won Soccer Bowl '77 (Seattle)
1978 NASL 24 6 — 212 1st, National Conference, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (Seattle)
Won Conference Semifinal (Minnesota)
Won Conference Championship (Portland)
Won Soccer Bowl '78 (Tampa Bay)
1979 NASL 24 6 — 216 1st, National Conference, Eastern Division Won Conference Quarterfinal (Toronto)
Won Conference Semifinal (Tulsa)
Lost Conference Championship (Vancouver)
1980 NASL 24 8 — 213 1st, National Conference, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (Tulsa)
Won Conference Semifinal (Dallas)
Won Conference Championship (Los Angeles)
Won Soccer Bowl '80 (Ft. Lauderdale)
1981 NASL 23 9 — 200 1st, Eastern Division Bye 1st Round
Won Quarterfinal (Tampa Bay)
Won Semifinal (Ft. Lauderdale)
Lost Soccer Bowl '81 (Chicago)
1982 NASL 23 9 — 203 1st, Eastern Division Won 1st Round (Tulsa)
Won Semifinal (San Diego)
Won Soccer Bowl '82 (Seattle)
1983 NASL 22 8 — 194 1st, Eastern Division Lost 1st Round (Montreal)
1984 NASL 13 11 — 115 3rd, Eastern Division Did not qualify

[edit] Indoor

Year League W L Reg. Season Playoffs
1981/82 NASL Indoor 6 12 4th, American Conference, East Division Did not qualify
1982/83 NASL Indoor Season cancelled
1983/84 NASL Indoor 20 12 2nd Won Playoff (Chicago)
Lost Championship (San Diego)
1984/85 MISL 11 22 7th, Eastern Division N/A - withdrew after 33 games

[edit] Honors

NASL Outdoor Championships

  • 1972
  • 1977
  • 1978
  • 1980
  • 1982

NASL Runners Up

  • 1981 outdoor
  • 1984 indoor

Division Titles

  • 1972 Northern Division
  • 1978 Eastern Division, National Conference
  • 1979 Eastern Division, National Conference
  • 1980 Eastern Division, National Conference
  • 1981 Eastern Division, National Conference
  • 1982 Eastern Division
  • 1983 Eastern Division

Trans-Atlantic Cup Championships

  • 1980
  • 1983
  • 1984

[edit] Head coaches

[edit] Athletic Trainers

  • John Bruno 1984-1985

[edit] 1977 Roster

No. Position Player
1 Image:Flag of the United States.svg GK Shep Messing
2 Image:Flag of Canada.svg DF Bruce Twamley
3 Image:Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg MF Vitomir Dimitrijevic
4 Image:Flag of the United States.svg DF Werner Roth
5 Image:Flag of Germany.svg DF Franz Beckenbauer
6 Image:Ulster banner.svg MF Dave Clements
7 Image:Flag of England.svg MF Tony Field
8 Image:Flag of England.svg MF Terry Garbett
9 Image:Flag of Italy.svg FW Giorgio Chinaglia
10 Image:Flag of Brazil.svg FW Pele
11 Image:Flag of England.svg FW Stephen Hunt
12 Image:Flag of the United States.svg DF Bob Smith
No. Position Player
14 Image:Flag of Brazil.svg MF Nelsi Morais
15 Image:Flag of Peru.svg MF Ramon Mifflin
17 Image:Flag of Scotland.svg DF Charlie Aitken
18 Image:Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg FW Jadranko Topic
19 Image:Flag of Turkey.svg GK Erol Yashin
20 Image:Flag of England.svg DF Mike Dillon
21 Image:Flag of the United States.svg FW Gary Etherington
22 Image:Flag of South Africa.svg FW Jomo Sono
23 Image:Flag of Brazil.svg DF Rildo
25 Image:Flag of Brazil.svg DF Carlos Alberto
26 Image:Flag of the United States.svg DF Paul Hunter
33 Image:Flag of the United States.svg MF Chris Agoliati
34 Image:Flag of the United States.svg FW Roberto De Olivera

[edit] Famous players

[edit] Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in football (soccer)

10 – Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Pele, Deep-lying forward (1975-77) (number retired on October 1977)

[edit] Yearly average attendance

  • 1971 - 4,517
  • 1972 - 4,282
  • 1973 - 5,782
  • 1974 - 3,578
  • 1975 - 10,450
  • 1976 - 18,227
  • 1977 - 34,142
  • 1978 - 47,856
  • 1979 - 46,690
  • 1980 - 42,754
  • 1981 - 34,835
  • 1982 - 28,479
  • 1983 - 27,242
  • 1984 - 12,817

[edit] Stadiums

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Toye, Clive, A Kick in the Grass, pg. 49, St. Johann Press, 2007.

[edit] External links

et:New Yorgi Cosmos fr:New York Cosmos it:New York Cosmos he:ניו יורק קוסמוס nl:New York Cosmos ja:ニューヨーク・コスモス pl:New York Cosmos pt:New York Cosmos sv:New York Cosmos zh:紐約宇宙

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