List of New York Cosmos (1971–1985) seasons

A large, open, American-style sports stadium, viewed from above.
The Cosmos played at Giants Stadium in New Jersey from 1977 to 1985. The stadium is pictured in 2006.

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 198485 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]

Key

Champions Runners-up Missed play-offsdagger

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
  •        double-dagger 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.

Seasons

Outdoor

A black-and-white photograph of a man of African-Caribbean descent, wearing soccer attire, in the motion of turning to his left with his eyes on the ball.
Randy Horton, who represented Bermuda in both soccer and cricket, was top scorer for the Cosmos' first four seasons.
Giorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos' all-time top scorer with 193 goals.
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 Hortondouble-dagger 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 4thdagger Randy Horton 9 22
1975 NASL N 22 10 12 39 38 91 .454 3rddagger Julio Correa 4 17
1976 NASL Atl E 24 16 8 65 34 148 .666 2nd DRU[e] Giorgio Chinagliadouble-dagger 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 Chinagliadouble-dagger 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 3rddagger 1st[q] Roberto Cabañas 8 20

Indoor

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
198182 NASL
Indoor
Am E 18 6 12 102 123 −3[C] .333 4thdagger Giorgio Chinaglia 35 90
198283 n/a[D]
198384 NASL
Indoor
32 20 12 183 148 −1[C] .625 3rd RU[r] Chico Borja[s] 29 66
198485 MISL E 48[E] 11 22 137 185 −13.5[E] .333 7thdagger Mark Liveric 20 29

Footnotes

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

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

Indoor soccer

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.

Play-off scores

a. ^ Lost to Atlanta, 02
b. ^ Defeated St. Louis, 21
c. ^ Lost to Dallas, 01
e. ^ Lost to Tampa Bay, 13
f. ^ Defeated Seattle, 21
g. ^ Defeated Tampa Bay, 31
h. ^ Lost to Vancouver, 02, 32, 01 (minigame, shootout)
i. ^ Defeated Fort Lauderdale, 30
k. ^ Lost to Chicago, 01 (shootout)
m. ^ Defeated Seattle, 10
o. ^ Lost to Montreal, 24, 01 (shootout)
r. ^ Lost to San Diego, 03

Top scorers

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 Challenge Cup

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)

References

Bibliography
General
Notes
  1. Lindgren, Hugo (2006-06-25). "Pinup Goalie: Shep Messing". New York Movies. New York, New York: New York Media LLC. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  2. 1 2 Ogden, Mark (2011-01-19). "Eric Cantona's appointment at the New York Cosmos part of battle to restore football to heart of the Big Apple". The Daily Telegraph (London: Telegraph Media Group Ltd). Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  3. "Soccer Hall of Fame Historian Allaway Pens Book on the New York Cosmos and Bethlehem Steel". Oneonta, New York: Hall of Fame Network. 2009-06-08. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  4. "Sports People; Fewer Kicks". The New York Times (New York, New York). 1986-08-01. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  5. O'Brien, Seamus (2012-07-12). "New York Cosmos Returns to NASL". nycosmos.com. New York City: New York Cosmos. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  6. O'Mard, Marcus Kwesi (2012-07-12). "Report: New York Cosmos Plan to Make NASL Return in 2013". Watertown, Massachusetts: New England Sports Network. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  7. http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/usindoor.html
  8. Litterer (American Soccer History Archives).
  9. 1 2 3 Whitney.
  10. Litterer (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation).
  11. Newsham (2006).

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