1977 New York Cosmos season

The 1977 New York Cosmos season was the seventh season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. The Cosmos' seventh year of existence saw them drop "New York" from the club name (it would be restored in 1979), move into Giants Stadium (where they would play until their dissolution in 1985), and win their second NASL championship in Pelé's final year as a professional footballer. Pelé's last match was on October 1, 1977, in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium: in an exhibition match between New York and his former club Santos, Pelé appeared for both sides, playing one half for each. The Cosmos won the game 2–1.[4] The Cosmos finished second in the 4-team Eastern Division and third out of 18 teams league-wide on their way to the 1977 championship.

Cosmos
1977 season
Manager Gordon Bradley[1]
(Until July 7)
Eddie Firmani[2]
(After July 7)
StadiumGiants Stadium
NASLDivision: 2nd
Overall: 3rd
Playoffs: Champions
National
Challenge Cup		Did not enter
Top goalscorerLeague: Giorgio Chinaglia (15 goals)
All: Giorgio Chinaglia (42+ goals)
Highest home attendance77,691
vs. FTL (August 14)
Lowest home attendance7,212
vs. VC (April 2)
Average home league attendance34,142[3]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 GK Shep Messing
2 DF Robert Iarusci
2 DF Bruce Twamley
3 MF Vito Dimitrijevic
4 DF Werner Roth
5 DF Keith Eddy
6 DF Franz Beckenbauer
7 FW Tony Field
8 MF Terry Garbett
9 FW Giorgio Chinaglia
10 FW Pelé
11 FW Steve Hunt
12 DF Bobby Smith
14 MF Nelsi Morais
No. Position Player
15 MF Ramon Mifflin
16 FW Tony Donlic
17 DF Charlie Aitken
18 FW Jadranko Topić
19 GK Erol Yasin
20 DF Mike Dillon
21 FW Gary Etherington
22 FW Jomo Sono
23 DF Rildo
25 DF Carlos Alberto
26 DF Paul Hunter
28 MF Tommy Lang
33 MF Chris Agoliati
34 FW Roberto De Oliveira

Source:[5]

Results

Source:[6]

Friendlies
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
May 29, 1977 A.S. Roma H 0-3 N/A
June 1, 1977 S.S. Lazio H 2-3 25,803 N/A
September 1, 1977 Caribbean All-Stars A 2-5 30,000 Dimitrijevic, Chinaglia, Topic, Pelé
September 4, 1977 Portuguesa FC A 1-1 15,000 Smith
September 10, 1977 Furukawa A 2-4 30,000 Chinaglia, Field, Pelé
September 14, 1977 Japan A 1-3 65,000 Topic, Morais, Chinaglia
September 17, 1977 China A 1-1 80,000 N/A
September 20, 1977 China A 2-1 50,000 Pelé
September 25, 1977 Mohun Bagan A.C. A 2-2 65,000 N/A
October 1, 1977 Santos FC H 2-1 75,646 Mifflin, Pelé
October 5, 1977 Santos FC N 1-1 24,689 Chinaglia
October 8, 1977 China H 1-1 33,712 Chinaglia
October 14, 1977 Flamengo A 4-1 14,000 Field

Preseason
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
March 11, 1977 Bermuda U23 A 0-4 626 Chinaglia (4)
March 13, 1977 Bermuda A 0-1 3,769 Chinaglia
March 19, 1977 Neuchâtel Xamax A 1-0 3,000
March 20, 1977 FC Zürich A 3-1 7,000 Chinaglia
March 24, 1977 S.S. Lazio A 1-2 20,000 Chinaglia, N/A
April 2, 1977 Victory Club H 9-0 7,212 Chinaglia (5), Field, Garbett, Pelé (2)
April 3, 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies H 2-1 11,098 Chinaglia, Dimitrijevic

Regular Season

Pld = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
6 points for a win, 1 point for a shootout win, 0 points for a loss, 1 point for each goal scored (up to three per game).

Eastern Division Standings
Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1Fort Lauderdale Strikers 261974929+20161
2Cosmos 2615116039+21140
3Tampa Bay Rowdies 2614125545+10131
4Washington Diplomats 2610163249-1792

Overall League Placing
Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1Fort Lauderdale Strikers 261974929+20161
2Dallas Tornado 261885637+19161
3Cosmos 2615116039+21140
4Minnesota Kicks 2616104436+8137
5Tampa Bay Rowdies 2614125545+10131

Source:[7]

Matches
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
April 9, 1977 Las Vegas Quicksilvers A 1-0 11,896
April 13, 1977 Team Hawaii A 1-2 12,877 Topic, Hunt
April 17, 1977 Rochester Lancers H 2-0 26,752 Chinaglia, Pelé
April 24, 1977 Dallas Tornado H 1-1 (SOL) 13,527 Smith
May 1, 1977 St. Louis Stars H 2-2 (SOL) 20,112 Dillon, Morais
May 8, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials A 2-3 17,302 Chinaglia, Eddy, Dimitrijevic
May 11, 1977 Chicago Sting A 1-2 21,108 OG, Dimitrijevic
May 15, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers H 3-0 21,782 Pelé (3)
May 22, 1977 Chicago Sting H 1-2 20,407 Chinaglia
May 29, 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies A 4-2 45,288 Beckenbauer, Field
June 5, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia H 6-0 31,208 Sono, Chinaglia (2), Hunt (3)
June 8, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers A 0-3 14,358 Beckenbauer, Pelé, Chinaglia
June 12, 1977 Minnesota Kicks H 1-1 (SOW) 36,816 Chinaglia
June 16, 1977 Toronto Metros-Croatia A 1-2 21,793 Field, Chinaglia
June 19, 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies H 3-1 62,394 Pelé (3)
June 23, 1977 St. Louis Stars A 2-0 32,605
June 26, 1977 Los Angeles Aztecs H 5-2 57,191 Pelé (3), Mifflin, Dimitrijevic
June 30, 1977 Vancouver Whitecaps A 5-3 30,277 Roth, Chinaglia, Field
July 2, 1977 Los Angeles Aztecs A 4-1 32,165 Chinaglia
July 6, 1977 San Jose Earthquakes H 3-0 31,875 Hunt, Dimitrijevic, Field
July 10, 1977 Seattle Sounders H 1-0 41,270
July 15, 1977 Rochester Lancers A 0-0 (SOL) 17,572
July 17, 1977 Portland Timbers H 2-0 41,205 Hunt, Chinaglia
July 27, 1977 Washington Diplomats H 8-2 34,189 Beckenbauer (2), Chinaglia (3),
Hunt (2), Field
July 31, 1977 Connecticut Bicentennials H 3-1 46,389 Chinaglia, Pelé, Field
August 6, 1977 Washington Diplomats A 2-1 31,283 Pelé

Postseason

Overview
First Round
August 10 San Jose Earthquakes 1–2 Los Angeles Aztecs Los Angeles, Memorial Coliseum
August 10 Tampa Bay Rowdies 0–3 Cosmos New York City, Yankee Stadium
August 10 Rochester Lancers 1–0 St. Louis Stars St. Louis, Busch Memorial
August 10 Seattle Sounders 2–0 Vancouver Whitecaps Burnaby (BC), Swangard Stadium
Conference Semifinals
Game 1 Game 2
Cosmos-Ft. Lauderdale Strikers8 - 33 - 2August 14, 17
Los Angeles Aztecs-Dallas Tornado3 - 15 - 1August 14, 17 1977
Minnesota Kicks-Seattle Sounders1 - 20 - 1August 14, 17
Rochester Lancers-Toronto Metros-Croatia1 - 01 - 0August 14, 17
Conference Championships
Game 1 Game 2
Los Angeles Aztecs-Seattle Sounders1 - 30 - 1August 21, 25
Rochester Lancers-Cosmos1 - 21 - 4August 21, 24
Soccer Bowl '77
August 28 Cosmos 2–1 Seattle Sounders Portland (OR), Civic Stadium

Matches
DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
August 10, 1977 Tampa Bay Rowdies H 3-0 57,828 Pelé (2), Chinaglia
August 14, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers H 8-3 77,691 Chinaglia (3), Hunt (2), Etherington,
Beckenbauer, Field
August 17, 1977 Fort Lauderdale Strikers A 2-2 (SOW) 14,152 Pelé, Chinaglia
August 21, 1977 Rochester Lancers A 1-2 20,005 Hunt, Chinaglia
August 24, 1977 Rochester Lancers H 4-1 73,669 Chinaglia (2), Pelé, Dimitrijevic
August 28, 1977 Seattle Sounders N 2-1 35,548 Hunt, Chinaglia

References
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/sports/soccer/01bradley.html?_r=1
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/may/19/the-footballing-life-eddie-firmani
  3. http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/nasl.html
  4. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=cosmos
  5. http://nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Cosmos_Rosters.htm
  6. http://soccerstats.us/teams/new-york-cosmos/1977/
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-02-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

See also


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