NEW YORK COSMOS

The 'New York Cosmos' (1971–1985), known simply as the 'Cosmos' for the 1977 and 1978 seasons, were 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 they ceased activity too.

Contents

Name and colors

History

Year-by-year season results

Outdoor

Indoor

Honors

Head coaches

Athletic Trainers

Famous players

Retired numbers

Yearly average attendance

Stadiums

Notes

External links

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]

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 Carlos, Shep Messing, 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.

Year-by-year season results

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''

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''

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

Head coaches

★ Gordon Bradley 1971-75

★ Ken Furphy 1976

★ Gordon Bradley 1976-77

★ Eddie Firmani 1977-79

★ Ray Klivecka 1979

★ Julio Mazzei 1980

★ Hennes Weisweiler - Yasin Özdenak 1980-81

★ Julio Mazzei 1982-83

★ Eddie Firmani 1984

Athletic Trainers

★ John Bruno 1984-1985

Famous players

★ Carlos Alberto 1977-80, 1982

★ Franz Beckenbauer 1977-80, 1983

★ Vladislav Bogićević 1978-84

★ Ivan Buljan 1981-82

★ Roberto Cabañas 1980-84

★ Marinho Chagas 1979

★ Giorgio Chinaglia 1976-83

★ Rick Davis 1978-84

★ Andranik Eskandarian 1979-84

★ Shep Messing

★ Ramon Mifflin 1977-83

★ Johan Neeskens 1979-84

★ Yasin Özdenak 1977-79

★ Pelé 1975-77

★ Julio César Romero 1980-83

★ Bobby Smith 1976-79

★ Mordechai Spiegler 1974-77

★ Władysław Żmuda

Retired numbers

'10' – Pele, Deep-lying forward (1975-77) (number retired on October 1977)

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

Stadiums

★ 1971, Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

★ 1972–1973, Hofstra Stadium (Long Island, NY)

★ 1974–1975, Downing Stadium (Randall's Island, NY)

★ 1976, Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

★ 1977–1984, Giants Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)

Notes

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

External links

★ All time roster

★ The Cosmos

★ Once In a Lifetime - The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos movie website