One six-letter word that makes me smile with fond memories of wonderful moments and great people is “Cosmos.” It makes me think of a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s when a galaxy of soccer stars drew huge crowds to Giants Stadium. I can still recall Pele scoring three times in a match, Giorgio Chinaglia inciting the crowd with an important goal, Franz Beckenbauer weaving through a maze of opponents, Carlos Alberto coolly stepping up to intercept a pass, and Johan Neeskens slide tackling a ball to set up a counterattack.
I also remember a pig roasting in the parking lot before a championship match, fans slowly, loudly and constantly chanting “Cosmos” inside the stadium, traveling with other diehards to away games in Washington DC and Toronto, and getting every players’ autograph while accompanying them on a flight to San Francisco.
A new effort is underway to bring back the Cosmos, which closed shop in the mid-1980s along with the North American Soccer League after declines in attendance and financial losses. Four British men have set up an office in New York and declared their intention to make a new Cosmos the 20th team in Major League Soccer sometime during the next few years.
A new Cosmos team in the MLS faces a number of big hurdles. The new owners have no stadium. Their financial resources are unknown. And, if they were to raise the money to build a stadium and join the MLS, how could the team reproduce the magic of the original Cosmos? MLS restrictions on salaries and imported players would prevent the building of a super club.
Another group of Brits probably nailed it five years ago in a book and companion documentary film about the Cosmos, “Once In A Lifetime.” The phenomenon known as the Cosmos many years ago will probably never be witnessed again in the foreseeable future.
Although it’s hard to blame anyone for trying to leverage the Cosmos name for a new New York team, it’s also difficult to envision how this effort could ultimately succeed in attracting thousands of older fans and a generation of new ones to the Cosmos aura of years gone by. Of course, if the MLS is serious about fielding a second New York area club – the league has two Los Angeles area teams, with mixed results – a club carrying the Cosmos name may be as good as any, particularly if it draws outer borough and Long Island fans who may find the Harrison, NJ home of the New York Red Bulls team a bit inconvenient.
I wish the new Cosmos owners well. Seeing players wearing Cosmos uniforms on a field again is sure to make me smile and bring back nice memories. It’s 2011 not 1981, however, and the New York Red Bulls (and its previous incarnation as the MetroStars) are now my favorite pro soccer team. I’m still rooting for the Red Bulls to win their first championship, Cosmos or no Cosmos, and generate some new memories with Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez on the field.
The accompanying photo was taken before a May 1984 benefit game between current and former Cosmos. How many players besides Pele (with mustache) can you identify?
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