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List of New York Cosmos (1970–1985) seasons

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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 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

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 = 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

Giorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos' all-time top scorer with 193 goals
Season Regular season Playoffs TC Top scorer
League Conf Div G W T L F A Pts % Pos Name Gls Pts
1971 NASL – N 24 9 5 10 51 55 117 .479 2nd SF – Randy Horton‡ 16 37
1972 NASL – N 14 7 4 3 28 16 77 .642 1st C – Randy Horton 9 22
1973 NASL – E 19 7 7 5 31 23 91 .552 2nd SF – Randy Horton 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 – Giorgio Chinaglia‡ 19 49
1977 NASL Atl E 26 15 – 11 60 39 140 .576 2nd C – Giorgio Chinaglia 15 38
1978 NASL Nat E 30 24 – 6 88 39 212 .800 1st C – Giorgio Chinaglia‡ 34 79
1979 NASL Nat E 30 24 – 6 84 52 216 .800 1st CRU – Giorgio Chinaglia 26 57
1980 NASL Nat E 32 24 – 8 87 41 213 .750 1st C 1st Giorgio Chinaglia 32 77
1981 NASL – E 32 23 – 9 80 49 200 .718 1st RU 2nd Giorgio Chinaglia 29 74
1982 NASL – E 32 23 – 9 73 52 203 .718 1st C 2nd Giorgio Chinaglia 20 55
1983 NASL – E 30 22 – 8 87 49 194 .733 1st R1 1st Roberto Cabañas 25 66
1984 NASL – E 24 13 – 11 43 42 115 .541 3rd† – 1st 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 semifinal and the third-place matches at the Cow Palace to Tampa Bay and Dallas respectively.

Season Regular season Playoffs Top scorer
League Conf Div G W L F A GB % Pos Name Gls Pts
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 .333 4th† – Giorgio Chinaglia 35 90
1982–83 n/a – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
1983–84 NASL
Indoor 		– – 32 20 12 183 148 −1 .625 3rd RU Chico Borja 29 66
1984–85 MISL – E 48 11 22 137 185 −13.5 .333 7th† – Mark Liveric 20 29

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.
B.  Starting in 1975, tied games were decided by a shootout.
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.

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
Notes
  1. Lindgren, Hugo (2006-06-25). "Pinup Goalie: Shep Messing". New York Movies. New York City: New York Media LLC. Archived from the original on 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  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. Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. 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. Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  4. "Sports People; Fewer Kicks". The New York Times. 1986-08-01. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  5. McGowan, Tom (2013-08-02). "New York Cosmos: Reawakened in the city that never sleeps". CNN International. Archived from the original on 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2019-06-03.
  6. "History of Indoor Soccer in the USA". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  7. Litterer (American Soccer History Archives).
  8. ^ Whitney.
  9. Litterer (Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation).
  10. Newsham (2006).
New York Cosmos
New York City
The Club
Stadiums
Culture
Retired numbers
Key personnel
Chairman
Steven Jay Ross
Co-founders
Ahmet Ertegun
Nesuhi Ertegun
Division 1 major honors (12)
League championships (5)
League premierships (7)
Seasons (14)
NASL (1968–84)

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