1981 New York Cosmos season

New York Cosmos

1981 season
General manager	Krikor Yepremian
Manager	Hennes Weisweiler [1] (Joint with Özdenak) Yasin Özdenak [2] (Joint with Wiesweiler)
Stadium	Giants Stadium
NASL	Division: 1st Overall:1st Playoffs: Runners-Up
National Challenge Cup	Did not enter
CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Did not enter
Top goalscorer	League: ( goals) All: ( goals)
Highest home attendance	42,385 vs. CHI (May 17)
Lowest home attendance	12,240 vs. FTL (June 24)
Average home league attendance	34,835 [3]
Home colors Away colors
←  1980 1982  →

The 1981 New York Cosmos season was the 11th season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. Despite winning their fifth straight premiership by five points over the Chicago Sting, the Cosmos lost to the Sting in Soccer Bowl '81.

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. Nation Player 1 GK   GER Hubert Birkenmeier 2 DF   IRN Andranik Eskandarian 3 DF   CAN Robert Iarusci 4 DF   USA Jeff Durgan 7 MF   PAR Julio César Romero 8 MF   YUG Vladislav Bogićević 9 FW   ITA Giorgio Chinaglia 11 FW   POR Seninho 12 MF   USA Larry Hulcer 13 MF   NED Johan Neeskens 14 FW   RSA Steve Wegerle

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF   NED Wim Rijsbergen 16 FW   USA Angelo DiBernardo 17 MF   USA Rick Davis 18 MF   USA Boris Bandov 19 FW   PAR Roberto Cabanas 20 FW   BEL Francois Van Der Elst 21 GK   USA David Brcic 22 DF   YUG Ivan Buljan 24 FW   USA Darryl Gee 25 DF   USA Dominick Barczewski 28 FW   USA Chico Borja

Source: ^[4]

Results

Source: ^[5]

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
1	New York Cosmos	32	23	9	80	49	+31	200
2	Montreal Manic	32	15	17	63	57	+6	141
3	Washington Diplomats	32	15	17	59	58	+1	135
4	Toronto Blizzard	32	7	25	39	82	−43	77

Overall League Placing

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New York Cosmos	32	23	9	80	49	+31	200
2	Chicago Sting	32	23	9	84	50	+34	195
3	Vancouver Whitecaps	32	21	11	74	43	+31	186
4	San Diego Sockers	32	21	11	67	49	+18	173
5	Minnesota Kicks	32	19	13	63	57	+6	163

Source: ^[6]

Matches

• March 29, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, San Jose Earthquakes 0 Spartan Stadium Attendance 20,671
• April 4, 1981: Jacksonville Tea Men 1, New York Cosmos 1 (Tea Men won in Shootout) Jacksonville, Florida Attendance 12,124
• April 12, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, Minnesota Kicks 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 40,378
• April 18, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, Dallas Tornado 0 Texas Stadium Attendance 10,181
• April 26, 1981: New York Cosmos 4, Tampa Bay Rowdies 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 40,238
• May 1, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, Atlanta Chiefs 2 Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium Attendance 9,263
• May 3, 1981: New York Cosmos 1, Washington Diplomats 0 Giants Stadium Attendance 34,189
• May 10, 1981: New York Cosmos 5, Toronto Blizzard 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 27,003
• May 15, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Tulsa Roughnecks 1 Skelly Stadium Attendance 24,231
• May 17, 1981: Chicago Sting 3, New York Cosmos 2 Giants Stadium Attendance 42,385
• May 23, 1981: Washington Diplomats 3, New York Cosmos 2 Robert F. Kennedy Stadium Attendance 27,676
• May 25, 1981: New York Cosmos 5, Dallas Tornado 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 33,640
• May 30, 1981: Tampa Bay Rowdies 2, New York Cosmos 1 Tampa Stadium Attendance 36,765
• June 2, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Montreal Manic 1 Olympic Stadium Attendance 38,667
• June 7, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Atlanta Chiefs 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 31,452
• June 10, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1 Lockhart Stadium Attendance 18,089
• June 14, 1981: New York Cosmos 4, Toronto Blizzard 3 Giants Stadium Attendance 31,210
• June 17, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Washington Diplomats 1 Robert F. Kennedy Stadium Attendance 36,875
• June 21, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, Los Angeles Aztecs 0 Giants Stadium Attendance 38,362
• June 24, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Fort Lauderdale Strikers 0 Giants Stadium Attendance 12,240
• June 28, 1981: Chicago Sting 5, New York Cosmos 5 (Sting Won in Shootout) Wrigley Field Attendance 35,501
• July 5, 1981: New York Cosmos 3, Tulsa Roughnecks 2 Giants Stadium Attendance 33,673
• July 8, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Toronto Blizzard 1 Varsity Stadium Attendance 17,642
• July 22, 1981: New York Cosmos 4, Montreal Manic 4 (Cosmos Won in Shootout) Giants stadium Attendance 27,331
• July 25, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Montreal Manic 1 Olympic Stadium Attendance 40,118
• July 29, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Portland Timbers 0 Giants Stadium Attendance 28,640
• August 2, 1981: Jacksonville Tea Men 2, New York Cosmos 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 36,408
• August 5, 1981: Minnesota Kicks 2, New York Cosmos 1 Metropolitan Stadium Attendance 28,609
• August 9, 1981: Edmonton Drillers 2, New York Cosmos 0 Edmonton Commonwealth Stadium Attendance 14,781
• August 12, 1981: New York Cosmos 4, Washington Diplomats 2 Giants Stadium Attendance 34,884
• August 16, 1981: New York Cosmos 2, Montreal Manic 1 Giants Stadium Attendance 38,123
• August 19, 1981: New York Cosmos 1, Toronto Blizzard 1 (Blizzard Won in Shootout) Varsity Stadium Attendance 12,367

Postseason

Overview

First round

			Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Tulsa Roughnecks	–	Minnesota Kicks	1–3	0–1		August 22, 26
Portland Timbers	–	San Diego Sockers	2–1	1–5	0–2	August 22, 26, 30
Jacksonville Tea Men	–	Atlanta Chiefs	3–2	2–1		August 23, 25
Calgary Boomers	–	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	1–3	0–2		August 23, 26
Tampa Bay Rowdies	–	Vancouver Whitecaps	4–1	1–0		August 23, 26
Seattle Sounders	–	Chicago Sting	2–3	2–0	2–3	August 22, 26, 30
Montreal Manic	–	Los Angeles Aztecs	5–3	2–3	2–1	August 24, 27, 30

Quarter-finals

			Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Tampa Bay Rowdies	–	New York Cosmos	3–6	3–2	0–2	September 2, 5, 9
Montreal Manic	–	Chicago Sting	3–2	2–4	2–4	September 2, 5, 10
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	–	Minnesota Kicks	3–1	3–0		September 2, 6
Jacksonville Tea Men	–	San Diego Sockers	2–1	1–2	1–3	September 2, 6, 9

Semi-finals

			Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Fort Lauderdale Strikers	–	New York Cosmos	3–4	1–4		September 12, 16
San Diego Sockers	–	Chicago Sting	2–1	1–2	0–1	September 12, 16, 21

Soccer Bowl '81

September 26	Chicago Sting	1–0	New York Cosmos	Toronto, Exhibition Stadium

Friendlies

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorer
February 1	FC Birsfelden	N [n 1]	9–0	n/a	Chinaglia (5), van der Elst (3), Romero
February 16	Deportivo Morón	A	2–2	25,000	Chinaglia (2)
February 21	Cipolletti	A	4–1	8,000	Chinaglia (2), Borja, Cabañas
February 21	Boca Juniors (B)	A	9–1	10,000	Chinaglia (4), Romero (4), Bogicevic
February 25	Colo Colo	A	0–1	45,000	–
March 3	Peñarol	A	4–3	40,000	Chinaglia (3), Romero
March 5	São Paulo	A	1–3	50,000	Chinaglia
March 8	Paraguay	A	5–2	45,000	Romero (2), Seninho (2), Chinaglia
March 11	Guadalajara	A	0–1	45,000	–
March 15	América	A	2–4	105,000	Chinaglia, van der Elst
March 17	El Salvador	A	5–1	31,209	Chinaglia (2), Seninho (2), Cabañas
March 19	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	1–0	3,534	Cabañas
May 20	Anderlecht	H	1–2	30,512	van der Elst
June 4	São Paulo	A	2–2	53,617	Chinaglia, DiBernardo
July 1	Greece	H	2–0	42,318	Cabañas, Chinaglia
July 12	Celtic	H	2–0	29,215	Romero, Durgari
July 15	Southampton	H	2–1	29,614	Bogicevic, Romero
July 19	Seattle Sounders	H	3–3	40,724	Chinaglia (2), van der Elst
August 30	Grêmio	H	1–3	30,523	Chinaglia
October 4	Canada	A	1–1	3,000	van der Elst
October 7	Canada	A	0–4	10,688	–
October 10	Valur	A	6–2	10,500	Chinaglia (3), Bogicevic (2), Romero
October 13	Borussia Dortmund	A	2–4	10,000	Davis, Chinaglia
October 18	Milan	H	1–1	6,000	Chinaglia

Notes

1. Held in Bahamas.

See also

• 1981 North American Soccer League season

References

1. "Cosmos to Retain Mazzei". The New York Times. February 1983.
2. "Cosmos to Retain Mazzei". The New York Times. February 1983.
3. "North American Soccer League".
4. "NASL New York Cosmos Rosters".
5. "All-time American soccer statistics | SoccerStats.us".
6. "The Year in American Soccer – 1981". Archived from the original on January 7, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2013.