| Club: | New York Cosmos |
| Season: | 2020–21 season |
| Owner: | New York Cosmos LLC |
| Chrtitle: | Chairman |
| Chairman: | Rocco B. Commisso |
| Mgrtitle: | Head coach |
| Manager: | Carlos Mendes |
| Stadium: | Mitchel Athletic Complex Uniondale, New York |
| League: | NISA |
| League Result: | Fall, Eastern: 3rd Spring: N/A |
| Cup1: | Playoffs |
| Cup1 Result: | Fall Group stage |
| Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Did not enter |
| Largest Win: | NAFC 1–3 NYC (Aug. 21) |
| Largest Loss: | CAL 2–0 NYC (Sep. 22, Fall Playoffs) |
| League Topscorer: | Bljedi Bardic 2 |
| Season Topscorer: | Bljedi Bardic 2 |
| Pattern La1: | _nycosmos_home_2020 |
| Pattern B1: | _nycosmos_home_2020 |
| Pattern Ra1: | _nycosmos_home_2020 |
| Leftarm1: | 4b904d |
| Body1: | 4b904d |
| Rightarm1: | 4b904d |
| Shorts1: | 4b904d |
| Socks1: | 4b904d |
| Pattern La2: | _nycosmos_away_2020 |
| Pattern B2: | _nycosmos_away_2020 |
| Pattern Ra2: | _nycosmos_away_2020 |
| Leftarm2: | ffffff |
| Body2: | ffffff |
| Rightarm2: | ffffff |
| Shorts2: | ffffff |
| Socks2: | ffffff |
| American: | true |
| Prevseason: | 2017 |
The 2020–21 New York Cosmos season was the new Cosmos' sixth season of professional play and first playing in the National Independent Soccer Association. Including the previous franchise, it was the 20th season of a club entitled New York Cosmos playing professional soccer in the New York metropolitan area.
New York finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference during the NISA Fall Season before failing to advance out of the group stage of the Fall Championship. Prior to the Spring Season, the team announced it would be going on hiatus.
In the Cosmos final season in the North American Soccer League, the team earned a 10–15–7 combined regular season record and qualified for the playoffs as a fourth seed. In the Soccer Bowl playoffs, the Cosmos defeated Spring and Fall regular season champion Miami FC in the semifinals via penalty kick shootout.[1] [2] On November 12, 2017, the team lost to the San Francisco Deltas, 2–0, in Soccer Bowl 2017.[3]
Following the USSF's decision to deny the NASL division 2 sanctioning and the subsequent cancelation of the 2018 season, the Cosmos organization moved players and staff to the New York Cosmos B. This reserve team had already been playing within the semi-professional National Premier Soccer League, which was governed by the United States Adult Soccer Association, and had won its national title during its inaugural season in 2015. For the next two seasons using a mix of first team and reserve players, Cosmos B, playing games at both Mitchel Athletic Complex and Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium, finished the regular season first in the North Atlantic Conference and won the conference playoff championship both times. In 2019, the team qualified for the NPSL National Championship but fell to fellow NASL cast-off Miami FC, 3–1, at Mitchell. The team also qualified for both the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Open Cup tournaments, the former being through special permission, and reached the Play-In and Second Rounds in each respectively.
In 2019, the team attempted to rejoin the professional ranks within the NPSL's proposed professional league along with ten other teams.[4] However, this never came to be and the originally titled "Founder's Cup," set to be a precursor tournament to the league, was renamed to the NPSL Member's Cup with the Cosmos first team taking part along with five others including Chattanooga FC and Detroit City FC.[5] The Cosmos finished second in the competition behind Detroit City. In June of that year, team owner Rocco B. Commisso completed the purchase of Serie A side ACF Fiorentina.[6]
In addition, the team also hosted 2. Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli on May 23, beating the German side, 2–1, at Columbia University.[7]
On November 21, 2019, the Cosmos were announced as the newest member of the National Independent Soccer Association with plans to begin to play the following year.[8] [9]
|-
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
 Carlos Mendes | Head coach and general manager |
| Janine Guarriello | Team administrator |
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | New York Cosmos B | Team captain | February 3, 2020 | [10] | |||||
| 4 | New York Cosmos B | February 11, 2020 | [11] | ||||||
| 20 | New York Cosmos B | align=center rowspan=4 | Loaned out for 2020 NISA Spring Season, all loans terminated on March 24, 2020[12] | February 18, 2020 | [13] | ||||
| 5 | New York Cosmos B | align=center rowspan=2 | February 20, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [14] | ||||
| 17 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 16 | New York Cosmos B | February 28, 2020 | [15] | ||||||
| 32 | Real Monarchs | March 10, 2020 | [16] | ||||||
| 24 | New York Cosmos B | align=center rowspan=5 | May 29, 2020 | align=center rowspan=5 | [17] | ||||
| 1 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 3 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 13 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 15 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 28 | Charleston Battery | June 8, 2020 | [18] | ||||||
| 7 | New York Cosmos B | June 26, 2020 | [19] | ||||||
| 11 | New York Cosmos B | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | July 2, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [20] | |||
| 26 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 8 | Brockton FC United | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | July 10, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [21] | |||
| 23 | New York Cosmos B | ||||||||
| 21 | Columbia University | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | July 16, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [22] | |||
| 6 | Sacred Heart University | ||||||||
| 25 | Milwaukee Torrent | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | July 23, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [23] | |||
| 24 | Caldwell University | ||||||||
| 12 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | July 24, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [24] | |||
| 31 | Milwaukee Torrent | ||||||||
| 27 | Loudoun United FC | July 27, 2020 | [25] | ||||||
| 2 | New York Cosmos B | align=center rowspan=2 | align=center rowspan=2 | August 11, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [26] | |||
| 22 | Milwaukee Torrent | ||||||||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Unattached | Contract terminated | July 24, 2020 | [27] | ||
| 4 | Unattached | Contract terminated | August 24, 2020 | [28] | ||
| 7 | New Amsterdam FC | Free transfer | January 15, 2021 | [29] | ||
| 1 | New Amsterdam FC | Free transfer | March 2, 2021 | [30] | ||
| 14 | Morris Elite SC | Free transfer | March 16, 2021 | [31] | ||
| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned to | Fee/notes | Date | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Oakland Roots SC | For 2020 NISA Spring Season, loan terminated on March 5, 2020[32] | February 18, 2020 | [33] | |||||
| 5 | Detroit City FC | align=center rowspan=4 | For 2020 NISA Spring Season, loans terminated on March 24, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | February 20, 2020 | align=center rowspan=2 | [34] | ||
| 17 | Detroit City FC | ||||||||
| 16 | Detroit City FC | February 28, 2020 | [35] | ||||||
| 20 | Detroit City FC | March 11, 2020 | [36] [37] | ||||||
The Cosmos were announced as one of the four NISA teams taking part in the inaugural NISA Independent Cup on July 1.[38] The regional tournament is set to act as both a pre-season and chance to "provide a platform for professional and amateur independent clubs to play together on a national stage."
New York was drawn into the Mid-Atlantic Region alongside fellow NISA expansion side New Amsterdam FC, Fall 2019 UPSL champion Maryland Bobcats FC, and NPSL side FC Baltimore Christos.
On July 24, NISA announced that the Mid-Atlantic Region tournament was postponed due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Maryland and the subsequent closing of the Maryland SoccerPlex to professional sports.[39] On July 28, NISA announced a majority of the region's games would be played at Evergreen Sportsplex in Leesburg, Virginia with the sole exception being the Cosmos opening match against New Amsterdam on August 2, which was played at Hudson Sports Complex in Warwick, New York.[40]
On June 4, NISA announced that details for the 2020 Fall Season.[41] The nine member teams would be split into conferences, Eastern and Western, with the Cosmos playing in the former. The team is set to play eight regular season games against the rest of the eastern teams.
Details for the Fall regular season were announced on July 31, 2020.[42] The Cosmos will take part as a member of the Eastern Conference.
All eight NISA teams qualified for the 2020 Fall tournament, which will be hosted at Keyworth Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, beginning on September 21 ending with the final on October 2.[43] The New York Cosmos were drawn into Group B of the two group tournament. Going into their final match, the Cosmos needed to win by five or more goals to advance to the Fall Semi-Finals. They failed to do so, and were eliminated when they lost 2 - 1.
On January 29, 2021, the Cosmos announced that the team would be pausing operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[44]
See main article: 2021 U.S. Open Cup.
The Cosmos went on hiatus prior to the U.S. Open Cup draw.
|-|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for the New York Cosmos who are no longer at the club:|-|}
| width=60 | Place | width=60 | Position | width=60 | Nation | width=60 | Number | width=155 | Name | width=150 | Fall Season | width=150 | Fall Playoffs | width=150 | Spring Season | width=150 | U.S. Open Cup | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW |  | 7 | Bljedi Bardic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | | 5 | Matt Lewis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||
| FW |  | 8 | Geo Alves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| FW | | 11 | Aly Hassan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||
| FW | 15 | Shavon John-Brown | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| TOTALS | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Number | Nation | Position | Name | Fall Season | Fall Playoffs | Spring Season | U.S. Open Cup | Total | ||||||
| 4 |  | DF | Emanuele Sembroni | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | | FW | Bljedi Bardic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11 | | FW | Aly Hassan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 13 |  | DF | Ansi Agolli | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 14 | | MF | Danny Szetela | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 16 |  | FW | Isaac Acuña | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 24 | | MF | Mattia Cella | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 25 | | MF | Giuseppe Barone | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 26 | MF | Charlie Ledula | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| TOTALS | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||||