The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City. 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.

When the team was sold to a Chinaglia-owned consortium in 1983, the Cosmos' financial resources were reduced dramatically; the majority of the team's key players were sold as a result. As a result, game performance declined. The Cosmos entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–85 indoor season, but left mid-year after disappointing gates. After the NASL folded in March 1985, owners attempted to operate the team independently, but the team was dissolved later that year. A new incarnation of the Cosmos, formed in 2010, made its debut in the new North American Soccer League during the 2013 season.

List of seasons

ChampionsRunners-upMissed 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

NASL = North American Soccer League MISL = Major Indoor Soccer League TC = Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup Atl = Atlantic Conference Nat = National Conference Am = American Conference N = Northern Division E = Eastern Division

Key to play-off rounds and Trans-Atlantic Cup

R1 = First round SF = Semifinals 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.

Seasons

Outdoor

SeasonRegular seasonPlayoffsTCTop scorerLeagueConfDivGWTLFAPts%PosNameGlsPts1971NASL–N2495105155117.4792ndSF–Randy Horton16371972NASL–N14743281677.6421stC–Randy Horton9221973NASL–E19775312391.5522ndSF–Randy Horton9231974NASL–N204214284058.2504th––Randy Horton9221975NASL–N2210–12393891.4543rd––Julio Correa4171976NASLAtlE2416–86534148.6662ndDRU–Giorgio Chinaglia19491977NASLAtlE2615–116039140.5762ndC–Giorgio Chinaglia15381978NASLNatE3024–68839212.8001stC–Giorgio Chinaglia34791979NASLNatE3024–68452216.8001stCRU–Giorgio Chinaglia26571980NASLNatE3224–88741213.7501stC1stGiorgio Chinaglia32771981NASL–E3223–98049200.7181stRU2ndGiorgio Chinaglia29741982NASL–E3223–97352203.7181stC2ndGiorgio Chinaglia20551983NASL–E3022–88749194.7331stR11stRoberto Cabañas25661984NASL–E2413–114342115.5413rd–1stRoberto Cabañas820

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 semifinal and the third-place matches at the Cow Palace to Tampa Bay and Dallas respectively. SeasonRegular seasonPlayoffsTop scorerLeagueConfDivGWLFAGB%PosNameGlsPts1975NASLIndoor–Region 14131827tournamentonly.250–4th–––1981–82NASLIndoorAmE18612102123−3.3334th–Giorgio Chinaglia35901982–83n/a––––––––––––––1983–84NASLIndoor––322012183148−1.6253rdRUChico Borja29661984–85MISL–E481122137185−13.5.3337th–Mark Liveric2029

Footnotes

A.  The "top scorer" given is the top scorer of points. Goals scored two points, and assists one. These figures include the regular season only.Litterer (American Soccer History Archives). B.  Starting in 1975, tied games were decided by a shootout.Whitney. 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. D.  The Cosmos did not enter an indoor league for the 1982–83 season. 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.Litterer (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation).Newsham (2006).

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, 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

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 Background sourced to: Newsham (2006). NASL statistics sourced to: Top scorers sourced to: MISL statistics sourced to: Trans-Atlantic Cup statistics sourced to: Notes