Last update October 2, 2023 by colgadosporelfutbol
Do you know the fascinating story behind the New York Cosmos? This is one of those fundamental narratives that every football fan must explore. It's the story of how, 25 years before Florentino Pérez started with the famous 'Galácticos', the Americans were the pioneers in assembling a team of superstars.
The birth of the New York Cosmos
At the end of the decade 1960, the Americans, aware of the rise of football around the world, They decided to create their own local league to promote and take advantage of this still unexplored sport in their country.. Thus was born the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1970, and in New York City, el New York Cosmos.
This franchise was founded by two Atlantic executives Records, Ahmet Y Nesuhi Ertegun, and much of its history was under the control of Steve Ross, presidente de Warner Communications. Ross led renowned companies such as Atari, Warner and DC Comics and had the vision of turning soccer into the national sport of the United States. What would be a challenge in a country dominated by hockey, the baseball, basketball and American football. .
Attendance at games at Giants Stadium and other NASL stadiums did not exceed three thousand despite the Cosmos winning their first championship in 1972. The situation changed in 1975 when Steve Ross decided to sign football superstars who were in the final stages of their careers.
Pelé and Beckenbauer arrive, the legend of the New York Cosmos of the galactics begins
In 1975, in a signing that required the intervention of US government due to the status of "national treasure" of Skin in Brazil, the Cosmos managed to sign the legendary Brazilian footballer. Pelé's arrival transformed attendance at football matches. 3.000 a 48.000 people. It is rumored that the Cosmos paid Pelé around 7 million dollars for three years, an astronomical figure at that time.
Success continued with the arrival of Giorgio Chinaglia in 1976, an Italian goalscorer for Lazio. In 1977, Franz Beckenbauer and Brazilian Charles Albert, world champions in Mexico 70 next to Pele, they joined the team. The Cosmos became a machine for attracting audiences with almost 80.000 spectators per match.
The cosmos, a team for history
with these stars, the Cosmos won the league in 1977 and several more championships in the following years. In 1984, due to the financial difficulties to maintain a team with so much star, the Cosmos disappeared after 14 years marking the end of a golden era.
La NASL it also came to an end. The United States did not have a soccer league again until 1992, when the current one was created MLS on the occasion of the World Cup 1994 in United States. The legacy of the cosmos is still alive as a milestone in the history of American football and a precursor of the ‘galactic’ teams in the world.
