List of New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players explained

The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York. The club was formed in 1970 by brothers Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, with the support of Warner Brothers president Steve Ross, and entered into the North American Soccer League (NASL), which had itself been founded in 1968. Backed by Ross's company, Warner Communications, the Cosmos became the league's strongest club, both on and off the field.[1] The team won five titles while drawing attendances unprecedented in American club soccer.[2] The Cosmos' commercial and on-field success declined during the early 1980s, along with the NASL itself, and after the league folded in 1984 the club dissolved a year later.[3] A new Cosmos team, formed in 2010,[4] is scheduled to begin play in the new second-tier North American Soccer League (contested since 2011) during the 2013 season.[5] [6]

All players who played at least one league match for the Cosmos are given below. A total of 155 outfield players did so, along with 17 goalkeepers, giving a total of 172. Including the United States and Canada, a total of 34 nations from across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were represented on the team's rosters over the course of its history. After the United States, the most common nation of origin was England, with 17 Cosmos players; Canada followed with 15. NASL all-star teams included 18 of the club's players in total. Eleven players who appeared as guests in exhibition games are listed separately below.

Regular season players

Keys

thumb|150px|Franz Beckenbauer with Argentine Diego Maradona in 1980thumb|150px|Giorgio Chinaglia, Cosmos' all-time leading scorer

NameCountryRef.
FW1984–85
Norberto LunaFW1982-84
United StatesMF1977 –
DF1976–77 –
Dino Alberti CanadaGK1980–82 –
BrazilDF1977–80, 1982 –
United StatesMF1984–85 –
United StatesFW1984–85 –
Angelo Anastasio United StatesDF1974–75 –
United StatesFW1978–79 –
CanadaDF1978–79 –
United StatesMF1979–82 –
Dominick Barczewski United StatesDF1981–82 –
DF1977–80, 1983 –
GK1979–85 –
GK1972 –
MF1978–84 –
United StatesFW1981–82, 1984 –
United StatesDF1971–75
CanadaGK1978 –
United StatesGK1977–79, 1981–84 –
DF1981–82 –
ParaguayFW1980–84 –
UruguayMF1975 –
United StatesDF1984–85–
ArgentinaMF1979 –
BrazilFW1974 –
ChileFW1984 –
Delices Chardin HaitiDF1971 –
ItalyFW1976–85 –
Trinidad and TobagoDF1982–83 –
Chinesinho BrazilMF1971 –
MF1976–77 –
United StatesFW1984–85 –
UruguayMF1975 –
Trinidad and TobagoMF1972–73 –
ItalyFW1984 –
United StatesMF1978–84 –
DF1973–74 –
Dé BrazilDF1975 –
United StatesFW1977 –
United StatesMF1984 –
EcuadorFW1971 –
Ferdinando De Matthaeis ItalyFW1982, 1983–84 –
United StatesFW1980–85 –
DF1975–77 –
MF1977–78 –
CanadaDF1971, 1974 –
United StatesFW1975–78 –
United StatesDF1980–82, 1983–85 –
United StatesDF1979 –
DF1976–77 –
DF1979–85 –
United StatesFW1977–79 –
CanadaMF1984–85 –
United StatesMF1980 –
FW1976–77 –
United StatesFW1973–75 –
Kyriakos Fitilis GreeceMF1971 –
United StatesDF1978–79 –
United StatesMF1983–84 –
United StatesFW1984–85 –
SpainDF1975 –
MF1976–79 –
United StatesFW1980–84 –
CanadaMF1983–84 –
United StatesFW1983–85 –
United StatesFW1978 –
FW1971 –
Theodor Hasekidis GreeceFW1971 –
Helenio Herrera SpainFW1972 –
BermudaFW1971–74 –
United StatesMF1980–81 –
FW1977–78, 1982
CanadaDF1977 –
CanadaDF1977–78, 1981–83 –
FW1979
MF1974 –
FW1972–73 –
Karol Kapciński PolandDF1971–73 –
United StatesDF1981–83 –
CanadaMF1972–75 –
GhanaGK1971–72 –
PolandGK1971 –
DF1983–84 –
United StatesGK1975–76 –
Alfredo Lamas UruguayMF1975 –
EgyptMF1979–80 –
ItalyGK1983
United StatesDF1984–85 –
United StatesFW1974–75 –
DenmarkFW1985 –
United StatesDF1971–75 –
CanadaMF1984 –
RomaniaMF1975 –
BrazilFW1975 –
Marinho BrazilDF1979 –
UruguayDF1975 –
United StatesMF1971 –
United StatesFW1971–72 –
United StatesFW1973 –
CanadaMF1984–85 –
United StatesMF1985 –
United StatesGK1973–74, 1976–77, 1984 –
Horst MeyerDF1971 –
GhanaFW1971–72 –
PeruMF1975–78 –
Maurizio Minieri ItalyGK1971 –
DF1976 –
Radi MitrovicDF1971 –
Bela Monoki HungaryMF1974 –
BrazilMF1975–80 –
United StatesFW1982–84 –
NetherlandsMF1979–84 –
Robert Neubauer DF1972 –
FW1973 –
David Norris CanadaFW1981–82 –
BermudaGK1975 –
TurkeyGK1977–79 [7]
MF1971 –
FW1975–76 –
Oscar BrazilDF1980 –
United StatesMF1985 –
UruguayFW1975 –
United StatesFW1984–85 –
JamaicaDF1971 –
Pelé BrazilFW1975–77 –
Tony Picciano United StatesDF1975 –
Denny Poe United StatesMF1977–78
IsraelDF1975 –
GhanaMF1979–81 –
IrelandMF1984 –
United StatesDF1973–74 –
United StatesGK1976 –
NetherlandsDF1979–83 –
Rildo BrazilDF1977 –
Germy Rivera EcuadorMF1974 –
ParaguayMF1980–83 –
United StatesDF1972–79 –
IsraelDF1973 –
DF1975–76 –
United StatesDF1979 –
United StatesMF1974–75 –
Seninho PortugalFW1978–82 –
United StatesFW1985
IsraelFW1974–77 –
United StatesFW1971–76 –
United StatesDF1976–78 –
South AfricaFW1977 –
United StatesGK1984–85
United StatesMF1972 –
Trinidad and TobagoDF1971 –
Scott Strasburg United StatesFW1977 –
United StatesMF1971–73 –
PolandGK1973–75 –
PolandFW1983–84 –
FW1976 –
FW1977 –
FW1978–79 –
CanadaDF1977 –
BelgiumFW1980–81 –
CanadaFW1973 –
FW1974 –
Dragan Vujovic FW1983–85 –
MF1974 –
South AfricaFW1981–82 –
CanadaDF1980 –
ItalyDF1978–79 –
DF1973 –
TurkeyFW1971 –
John Young MF1971 –
IsraelFW1972–73 –
Dieter Zajdel PolandMF1972–73 –
PolandDF1984 –
Notes

By nationality

CountryNumber of
players
Belgium
Bermuda
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Denmark
Ecuador
Ghana
Greece
Haiti
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Netherlands
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Romania
South Africa
Spain
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
United States
Uruguay

Guest players

Some well-known players from other teams turned out for the Cosmos in exhibition matches on a game-by-game basis when New York traveled on overseas tours. These guest players are listed below, along with the year they appeared in Cosmos colors.

NameCountryPositionYear
FW
GK
BermudaFW
Clodoaldo BrazilMF
Rivellino BrazilMF
FW
DF
HungaryMF
Laszlo Harsanyi HungaryDF
HaitiDF
NetherlandsMF
Notes

Footnotes

A.  Bradley held the position of player-coach.

B.  Hunt's 1982 spell was on loan from Coventry City (England).

C.  Ingram played for the Cosmos on loan from Luton Town (England).

D.  Yasin Özdenak played in the United States under the name Erol Yasin, and is generally referred to as such in NASL records.[8]

E.  Although Eskandarian signed permanently for the Cosmos in 1979, he is counted as a guest player for 1978, and so appears on both lists.

References

Bibliography

. Clive Toye . A Kick in the Grass . Haworth, New Jersey. St Johann Press . 2006 . 978-1-878282-47-7 .

General
Notes

Notes and References

  1. News: Gordon Bradley, Who Nurtured U.S. Soccer, Dies at 74. 2011-01-21. The New York Times. New York, New York. Jack. Bell. 2008-05-01.
  2. News: When Pele and Cosmos were kings. 2005-06-10. The Guardian. London. Guardian News & Media. Gavin. Newsham. 2011-01-20. Owned by Warner Communications, the New York Cosmos were, like many other franchises, a team going nowhere fast. A ragbag assembly of students, foreigners and part-timers, they played their football at a high school athletics ground in front of row after row of empty seats. Nobody knew about them, let alone cared. ... On the road the Cosmos sold out every game ("like travelling with the Rolling Stones," says the club's travelling secretary Steve Marshall). In New York they were media darlings, idols of 77,000 fans (including Mick Jagger, Henry Kissinger, Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg) and virtual residents at Studio 54. In two years, they became an organisation with the cultural visibility no other arm of the Warner portfolio could boast. It mattered not that the club did not make a single cent in their 15-year history. The Cosmos had become the hottest ticket in town; Ross even had a seat belt installed in his spot in the upper tier, just in case he got overexcited and toppled over the edge..
  3. Web site: Hugo. Lindgren. Pinup Goalie: Shep Messing. 2006-06-25. 2009-06-16. New York, New York. New York Movies. New York Media LLC.
  4. News: Eric Cantona's appointment at the New York Cosmos part of battle to restore football to heart of the Big Apple. London. The Daily Telegraph. 2011-01-19. Mark. Ogden. 2011-01-29.
  5. Web site: Seamus. O'Brien. New York Cosmos Returns to NASL. New York City. nycosmos.com. New York Cosmos. 2012-07-12. 2012-07-12.
  6. News: Report: New York Cosmos Plan to Make NASL Return in 2013. Marcus Kwesi. O'Mard. Watertown, Massachusetts. New England Sports Network. 2012-07-12. 2012-07-12.
  7. https://twitter.com/tphoto2005/status/1123837473141006336 Yasin Özdenak (New York Cosmos) at Giants Stadion, New York, US, 19 Aug 1979
  8. Web site: The Year in American Soccer - 1977. 2011-01-20. American Soccer History Archives. David. Litterer. https://web.archive.org/web/20130713134953/http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1977.html. 2013-07-13. dead.

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