Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known by his nickname Pelé, was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time, he was among the most successful and popular sports figures of the 20th century. In 1999, he was named Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee and was included in the Time list of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. In 2000, Pelé was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century. His 1,279 goals in 1,363 games, which includes friendlies, is recognised as a Guinness World Record.
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It was the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the United States. The league final was called the Soccer Bowl from 1975 to 1983 and the Soccer Bowl Series in its final year, 1984. The league was headed by Commissioner Phil Woosnam from 1969 to 1983. The NASL laid the foundations for soccer in the United States that helped lead to the country hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the set-up of Major League Soccer (MLS) in 1996.
The New York Cosmos were an American professional soccer club based in New York City and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York, including Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the club remained for the rest of its history.
Fila Brazillia is an English electronica duo from Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1990 by Steve Cobby and David McSherry.
Werner Roth is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender. Mainly associated with the New York Cosmos, he also played for the United States national team for three years. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
The New York Generals were an American professional soccer team based in New York City that competed in the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967 and the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1968.
Giorgio Chinaglia was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to play for Massese, Internapoli and S.S. Lazio in 1969. Chinaglia led Lazio to the club's first league championship in the 1973–74 season, during which he was also the league's leading scorer. He played international football for Italy, making 14 appearances and scoring 4 goals between 1972 and 1975, including two appearances at the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Chinaglia was the first player in Italian football history to be called up internationally from the second division.
Steven Jay Ross was an American businessman and CEO of Time Warner, Warner Communications, and Kinney National Services, Inc. He is also known for helping to popularize soccer in the United States.
Shep Norman Messing is a retired American soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as a studio analyst for the MLS Season Pass team. In 2021 he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena Soccer League.
David Hirshey is an American book editor and a contributing editor at Esquire. The senior vice president and executive editor of HarperCollins from 1998-2016, he was previously an editor for the New Yorker. Among others, he has worked with authors including Richard Ben Cramer, Frederick Exley, Richard Ford, Norman Mailer and David Halberstam. Hirshey wrote the weekly soccer column "Kicking and Screaming" for ESPN.com from 2010-2017. In 2018, he became Writer-at-Large for the soccer magazine Eight by Eight.
Alex "Allie" Sherman was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and of the New York Giants of the NFL. He later worked as a cable television and sports marketing executive and media personality.
ESPN Films, formerly known as ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE), is an American production company which produces and distributes sports films and documentaries. It is owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications.
The New York Cosmos is an American professional soccer club based in Uniondale, New York, that is an inactive member of the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The organization, established in August 2010, is a rebirth of the original New York Cosmos (1970–1985) that played in the previous North American Soccer League, which was at the time the first division of North American soccer.
The Rocturnals is an American alternative rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada.
North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. Beginning in 1975, the league final was called the Soccer Bowl.
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, move into Giants Stadium, 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. 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.
Pelé is a 2021 biographical documentary film about Brazilian footballer Pelé. The film was produced and distributed by Netflix and directed by Ben Nichols and David Tryhorn. Kevin MacDonald, Jon Owen, and Jonathan Rogers served as executive producers.
