The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York. The side was originally created in 1971 by brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, with the support of Warner Brothers president Steve Ross. The new team entered the North American Soccer League (NASL), which was in its fourth season. Bankrolled by parent company Warner Communications, the Cosmos became the NASL's most successful side, winning a record five championships in front of the league's largest crowds. The team included international stars signed from European and South American clubs, including Brazilians Pelé and Carlos Alberto, West German Franz Beckenbauer, Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia and many others.[1][2]
When the team was sold by Warner in 1983, to a Chinaglia-owned consortium, the Cosmos' financial resources were reduced dramatically, causing the sale of the majority of the team's key players. As a result, on-the-field performance also declined. The Cosmos also entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–85 indoor season, but left mid-year after disappointing gates.[3] After the NASL folded in March 1985, the team attempted to operate independently but played its final game in 1985 before folding.[4] A new incarnation of the Cosmos, formed in 2010,[2] is scheduled to make its debut in the new second-tier North American Soccer League (contested since 2011) during the 2013 season.[5][6]
| Champions |
Runners-up |
Missed play-offs |
- Key to regular season record
- Conf = Conference
- Div = Division
- G = Games played
- W = Games won
- T = Games tied
- L = Games lost
- F = Goals for
- A = Goals against
- Pts = Points
- GB = Games behind
- % = Percentage of possible points won from wins and ties
- Pos = Final regular season position
|
- Key to leagues, conferences, divisions and cups
|
- Key to play-off rounds and Trans-Atlantic Cup
- R1 = First round
- SF = Semi-finals
- DRU = Division runners-up
- CRU = Conference runners-up
- RU = Runners-up
- C = Champions
- A "minigame" is equivalent to Extra time.
|
- Key to scorers
- Gls = Number of goals scored
- Pts = Number of points scored
-
 Players with this background and symbol in the "Name" column scored a record number of points for the club during the corresponding season. This does not include indoor seasons.
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Seasons [edit]
Outdoor [edit]
| Season |
Regular season |
Play-offs |
TC |
Top scorer[A] |
| League |
Conf |
Div |
G |
W |
T[B] |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
% |
Pos |
Name |
Gls |
Pts[A] |
| 1971 |
NASL |
– |
N |
24 |
9 |
5 |
10 |
51 |
55 |
117 |
.479 |
2nd |
SF[a] |
– |
Randy Horton |
16 |
37 |
| 1972 |
NASL |
– |
N |
14 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
28 |
16 |
77 |
.642 |
1st |
C[b] |
– |
Randy Horton |
9 |
22 |
| 1973 |
NASL |
– |
E |
19 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
31 |
23 |
91 |
.552 |
2nd |
SF[c] |
– |
Randy Horton[d] |
9 |
23 |
| 1974 |
NASL |
– |
N |
20 |
4 |
2 |
14 |
28 |
40 |
58 |
.250 |
4th |
– |
– |
Randy Horton |
9 |
22 |
| 1975 |
NASL |
– |
N |
22 |
10 |
– |
12 |
39 |
38 |
91 |
.454 |
3rd |
– |
– |
Julio Correa |
4 |
17 |
| 1976 |
NASL |
Atl |
E |
24 |
16 |
– |
8 |
65 |
34 |
148 |
.666 |
2nd |
DRU[e] |
– |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
19 |
49 |
| 1977 |
NASL |
Atl |
E |
26 |
15 |
– |
11 |
60 |
39 |
140 |
.576 |
2nd |
C[f] |
– |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
15 |
38 |
| 1978 |
NASL |
Nat |
E |
30 |
24 |
– |
6 |
88 |
39 |
212 |
.800 |
1st |
C[g] |
– |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
34 |
79 |
| 1979 |
NASL |
Nat |
E |
30 |
24 |
– |
6 |
84 |
52 |
216 |
.800 |
1st |
CRU[h] |
– |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
26 |
57 |
| 1980 |
NASL |
Nat |
E |
32 |
24 |
– |
8 |
87 |
41 |
213 |
.750 |
1st |
C[i] |
1st[j] |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
32 |
77 |
| 1981 |
NASL |
– |
E |
32 |
23 |
– |
9 |
80 |
49 |
200 |
.718 |
1st |
RU[k] |
2nd[l] |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
29 |
74 |
| 1982 |
NASL |
– |
E |
32 |
23 |
– |
9 |
73 |
52 |
203 |
.718 |
1st |
C[m] |
2nd[n] |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
20 |
55 |
| 1983 |
NASL |
– |
E |
30 |
22 |
– |
8 |
87 |
49 |
194 |
.733 |
1st |
R1[o] |
1st[p] |
Roberto Cabañas |
25 |
66 |
| 1984 |
NASL |
– |
E |
24 |
13 |
– |
11 |
43 |
42 |
115 |
.541 |
3rd |
– |
1st[q] |
Roberto Cabañas |
8 |
20 |
Indoor [edit]
In the winter of 1975, the NASL organized a two-tiered, 16 team indoor tournament with four regional winners meeting in a "final-four" style championship. The New York Cosmos won their region at the Rochester War Memorial Arena by virtue of a tie-breaker, but lost both the semi-final and the third-place matches at the Cow Palace to Tampa Bay and Dallas respectively.[7]
| Season |
Regular season |
Play-offs |
Top scorer[A] |
| League |
Conf |
Div |
G |
W |
L |
F |
A |
GB |
% |
Pos |
Name |
Gls |
Pts[A] |
| 1975 |
NASL
Indoor |
– |
Region 1 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
18 |
27 |
tournament
only |
.250 |
– |
4th |
– |
– |
– |
| 1981–82 |
NASL
Indoor |
Am |
E |
18 |
6 |
12 |
102 |
123 |
−3[C] |
.333 |
4th |
– |
Giorgio Chinaglia |
35 |
90 |
| 1982–83 |
n/a[D] |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| 1983–84 |
NASL
Indoor |
– |
– |
32 |
20 |
12 |
183 |
148 |
−1[C] |
.625 |
3rd |
RU[r] |
Chico Borja[s] |
29 |
66 |
| 1984–85 |
MISL |
– |
E |
48[E] |
11 |
22 |
137 |
185 |
−13.5[E] |
.333 |
7th |
– |
Mark Liveric |
20 |
29 |
- A. a b The "top scorer" given is the top scorer of points. Goals scored two points, and assists one. These figures include the regular season only.[8]
- B. ^ Starting in 1975, tied games were decided by a shootout.[9]
- C. ^ The NASL's indoor seasons used the games behind system rather than points to rank the teams. The 1983–84 indoor season counted both goals and assists as one point.[9]
- D. ^ The Cosmos did not enter an indoor league for the 1982–83 season.[9]
- E. ^ The Cosmos pulled out of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) after 33 games, citing low attendances. The MISL also used the games behind system, and ranked both goals and assists as one point.[10][11]
NASL scoring system [edit]
- Until 1974, the NASL scored thus:
- 6 points for a win
- 3 points for a tie
- 0 points for a loss
- 1 point per goal for up to three goals scored per game
- After 1974, the system changed to the following:
- 6 points for a win
- 1 point for a win after a shootout (following a tie in regulation time)
- 0 points for a loss or shootout loss
- 1 point per goal for up to three goals scored per game
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Indoor soccer [edit]
Indoor soccer features six players per team as opposed to the standard eleven, and is played without an offside rule on an artificial field of play. The pitch is far smaller than that used in regular soccer, with a regulation size of 200 feet by 85 feet, identical to a North American ice hockey rink. The goals and penalty areas are also scaled down. Instead of two halves of 45 minutes each, matches are divided into four quarters of 15 minutes.
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Play-off scores [edit]
- a. ^ Lost to Atlanta, 0–2
- b. ^ Defeated St. Louis, 2–1
- c. ^ Lost to Dallas, 0–1
- e. ^ Lost to Tampa Bay, 1–3
- f. ^ Defeated Seattle, 2–1
- g. ^ Defeated Tampa Bay, 3–1
- h. ^ Lost to Vancouver, 0–2, 3–2, 0–1 (minigame, shootout)
- i. ^ Defeated Fort Lauderdale, 3–0
- k. ^ Lost to Chicago, 0–1 (shootout)
- m. ^ Defeated Seattle, 1–0
- o. ^ Lost to Montreal, 2–4, 0–1 (shootout)
- r. ^ Lost to San Diego, 0–3
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Top scorers [edit]
- d. ^ Joey Fink scored 11 goals in 1973, but a lack of assists meant that his points total of 22 came behind Randy Horton's total of 23.
- s. ^ Stan Terlecki scored the most goals for New York during the 1983–84 season with 34, but his points tally of 57 fell short of Chico Borja's 66.
Trans-Atlantic Cup [edit]
- j. ^ Finished first out of New York, Vancouver, Manchester City (England) and A.S. Roma (Italy)
- l. ^ Finished second out of Seattle, New York, Celtic (Scotland) and Southampton (England)
- n. ^ Finished second out of Chicago, New York, S.S.C. Napoli (Italy) and Club Nacional de Football (Uruguay)
- p. ^ Finished first out of New York, AC Fiorentina (Italy), Seattle and São Paulo FC (Brazil)
- q. ^ Finished first out of New York, Udinese (Italy), FC Barcelona (Spain) and Fluminense (Brazil)
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References [edit]
- Bibliography
- General
- Notes
