1976 New York Cosmos season

Last updated

New York Cosmos
1976 season
Manager Flag of England.svg Ken Furphy
(Until June 28)
Flag of the United States.svg Gordon Bradley [1]
(After June 28)
Stadium Yankee Stadium
NASL Division: 2nd
Overall: 2nd
Playoffs: Conf. Semifinals
National
Challenge Cup 		Did not enter
Top goalscorerLeague: Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Chinaglia (19 goals)
All: Flag of Italy.svg Giorgio Chinaglia (23+ goals)
Highest home attendance28,536
vs. CHI (May 2)
Lowest home attendance6,917
vs. ROC (June 30)
Average home league attendance18,227 [2]
←  1975
1977  →

The 1976 New York Cosmos season was the sixth season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Cosmos' sixth year of existence the club finished second only to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in both the five-team Eastern Division and the 20-team league. The Cosmos returned to the playoffs for the first time in two years, but were eliminated in the conference semifinals by the rival Rowdies. 1976 marked the first year for Giorgio Chinaglia with the club; Chinaglia would go on to become the all-time leading scorer in both Cosmos and NASL history.

Contents

Squad

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Kurt Kuykendall
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Shep Messing
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Bob Rigby
2 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Barry Mahy
3 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Brian Rowan
4 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Werner Roth
5 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Keith Eddy
6 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Dave Clements
7 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Tony Field
8 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Terry Garbett
9 FW Flag of Italy.svg  ITA Giorgio Chinaglia
No.Pos.NationPlayer
9 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Tommy Ord
10 FW Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Pelé
11 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Jorge Siega
12 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Bobby Smith
14 MF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Nelsi Morais
15 MF Flag of Peru (state).svg  PER Ramon Mifflin
16 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Tony Donlic
17 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Charlie Aitken
18 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Brian Tinnion
19 DF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Charlie Mitchell
20 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Mike Dillon

Source: [3]

Results

Source: [4]

Preseason

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
March 21, 1976 San Diego Jaws A1–1N/AN/A
March 28, 1976 Dallas Tornado A0–120,214N/A
March 31, 1976 San Antonio Thunder A1–020,000
April 4, 1976 Los Angeles Aztecs N0–015,000
April 7, 1976 Honda F.C. N5–0N/AN/A
April 8, 1976 Honda F.C. N5–021,705N/A
April 9, 1976 Seattle Sounders A1–258,125Pelé, Clements
April 11, 1976 Los Angeles Aztecs A0–129,232Pelé

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

PosClubPldWLGFGAGDPts
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 241865830+28154
2 New York Cosmos 241686534+31148
3 Washington Diplomats 2414104638+8126
4 Philadelphia Atoms 248163249−1780
5 Miami Toros 246182958−2963

Overall League Placing

PosClubPldWLGFGAGDPts
1 Tampa Bay Rowdies 241865830+28154
2 New York Cosmos 241686534+31148
3 Minnesota Kicks 241595433+21138
4 Chicago Sting 241595232+20132
5 Washington Diplomats 2414104638+8126

Source: [5]

Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
April 18, 1976 Miami Toros A0–19,457Clements
May 2, 1976 Chicago Sting H1–228,536Pelé
May 5, 1976 Connecticut Bicentennials H3–18,439Pelé, Tinnion, Eddy
May 8, 1976 Philadelphia Atoms H1–214,287Pelé
May 15, 1976 Connecticut Bicentennials A0–38,933Field (2), Tinnion
May 17, 1976 Los Angeles Aztecs H6–024,292Eddy (2), Chinaglia (2), Pelé (2)
May 19, 1976 Boston Minutemen A1–27,367Chinaglia (2)
June 6, 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies A5–142,611Field
June 9, 1976 Minnesota Kicks A1–246,164Chinaglia, Field
June 12, 1976 Portland Timbers A0–332,247Chinaglia (2), Eddy
June 16, 1976 Boston Minutemen H2–2 (SOL)15,101N/A
June 18, 1976 Toronto Metros-Croatia H3–018,612Tinion, Chinaglia, Clements
June 23, 1976 Chicago Sting A4–128,000Tinnion
June 27, 1976 Washington Diplomats A3–211,004Tinnion, Pelé
June 30, 1976 Rochester Lancers H2–06,917Field (2)
July 2, 1976 St. Louis Stars H3–110,123Mifflin (2), Eddy
July 7, 1976 Toronto Metros-Croatia A0–312,123N/A
July 10, 1976 Philadelphia Atoms A1–225,311Pelé, Garbett
July 14, 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies H5–427,892Eddy, Mifflin, Field, Pelé (2)
July 18, 1976 Washington Diplomats H5–027,398Mifflin, Chinaglia (2), Pelé, Tinnion
July 23, 1976 Rochester Lancers A2–15,728Chinaglia
July 28, 1976 Dallas Tornado H4–019,119Chinaglia (3), Mifflin
August 7, 1976 San Jose Earthquakes A2–123,048Eddy
August 10, 1976 Miami Toros H8–218,103Dillon, Chinaglia (5), Pelé (2)

Postseason

Overview

First round
August 17 Washington Diplomats 0–2 New York Cosmos New York City, Shea Stadium
August 18 Los Angeles Aztecs 0–2 Dallas Tornado Irving, Texas Stadium
August 18 Vancouver Whitecaps 0–1 Seattle Sounders Seattle, Kingdome
August 18 Rochester Lancers 1–2 Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto, Varsity Stadium
Conference semifinals
August 20 Toronto Metros-Croatia 3–2 Chicago Sting Chicago, Soldier Field
August 20 New York Cosmos 1–3 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa, Tampa Stadium
August 20 Dallas Tornado 0–2 San Jose Earthquakes San Jose, Spartan Stadium
August 21 Seattle Sounders 0–3 Minnesota Kicks Bloomington (MN), Metropolitan Stadium
Conference Championships
August 24 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2–0 Tampa Bay Rowdies Tampa, Tampa Stadium
August 25 San Jose Earthquakes 1–3Minnesota Kicks Bloomington (MN), Metropolitan Stadium
Soccer Bowl '76
August 28 Toronto Metros-Croatia 2–0 Minnesota Kicks Seattle, Kingdome

Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
August 17, 1976 Washington Diplomats H2–022,698Garbett, Pelé
August 20, 1976 Tampa Bay Rowdies A3–136,863Pelé

Friendlies

DateOpponentVenueResultAtt.AttendanceScorersRef.
March 24 Flag of the United States.svg San Diego Jaws A1–118,128 Ord [6]
March 28 Flag of the United States.svg Dallas Tornado A1–020,214 Pelé [6]
March 31 Flag of the United States.svg San Antonio Thunder A0–114,800– [6]
April 4 Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles Aztecs N [n 1] 0–015,800– [6]
April 8 Flag of Japan.svg Honda FC N [n 2] 5–021,705Pelé (4), ? [6]
April 9 Flag of the United States.svg Seattle Sounders A3–158,125Pelé (2), Clements [6]
April 11 Flag of the United States.svg Los Angeles Aztecs A1–029,232Pelé [6]
June 3 Flag of Haiti.svg Violette A2–1n/an/a [6]
September 1 Flag of the United States.svg Dallas Tornado N [n 3] 2–214,000Chinaglia (2) [6]
September 5 Flag of the United States.svg Dallas Tornado N [n 4] 2–112,500 Roth, Mifflin [6]
September 6 Flag of the United States.svg Dallas Tornado N [n 5] 3–223,682Pele, Morais, Donlic [6]
September 8 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Soccer CanadaA1–114,826Chinaglia [6]
September 10 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Soccer CanadaA3–114,366Chinaglia (3) [6]
September 14 Flag of France.svg PSG A1–318,000 Field [6]
September 16 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Royal Antwerp A1–325,000Pelé [6]
September 24 Flag of Japan.svg West Japan All-StarsA0–011,000n/a [6]
September 25 Flag of Japan.svg East Japan All-StarsA2–250,000 Dillon, Chinaglia [6]
Notes

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bell, Jack (May 2008). "Gordon Bradley, Who Nurtured U.S. Soccer, Dies at 74". The New York Times.
  2. ↑ "North American Soccer League".
  3. ↑ "NASL New York Cosmos Rosters".
  4. ↑ "All-time American soccer statistics | SoccerStats.us".
  5. ↑ "The Year in American Soccer – 1976". Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1976 Friendlies on NASL Jerseys.com
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