New York Cosmos
1981 season
ManagerGermany Hennes Weisweiler[1] (Joint with Özdenak)
Turkey Yasin Özdenak[2] (Joint with Wiesweiler)
StadiumGiants Stadium
NASLDivision: 1st
Overall: 1st
Playoffs: Runners-Up
National
Challenge Cup		Did not enter
CONCACAF
Champions' Cup		Did not enter
Top goalscorerLeague: ( goals)
All: ( goals)
Highest home attendance42,385
vs. CHI (May 17)
Lowest home attendance12,240
vs. FTL (June 24)
Average home league attendance34,835[3]

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. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Germany GER Hubert Birkenmeier
2 DF Iran IRN Andranik Eskandarian
3 DF Canada CAN Robert Iarusci
4 DF United States USA Jeff Durgan
7 MF Paraguay PAR Julio César Romero
8 MF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG Vladislav Bogićević
9 FW Italy ITA Giorgio Chinaglia
11 FW Portugal POR Seninho
12 MF United States USA Larry Hulcer
13 MF Netherlands NED Johan Neeskens
14 FW South Africa RSA Steve Wegerle
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Netherlands NED Wim Rijsbergen
16 FW United States USA Angelo DiBernardo
17 MF United States USA Rick Davis
18 MF United States USA Boris Bandov
19 FW Paraguay PAR Roberto Cabanas
20 FW Belgium BEL Francois Van Der Elst
21 GK United States USA David Brcic
22 DF Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia YUG Ivan Buljan
24 FW United States USA Darryl Gee
25 DF United States USA Dominick Barczewski
28 FW United States USA Chico Borja

Source:[4]

Results

Source:[5]

Preseason

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
1New York Cosmos 322398049+31200
2Montreal Manic 3215176357+6141
3Washington Diplomats 3215175958+1135
4Toronto Blizzard 327253982−4377

Overall League Placing

Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1New York Cosmos 322398049+31200
2Chicago Sting 322398450+34195
3Vancouver Whitecaps 3221117443+31186
4San Diego Sockers 3221116749+18173
5Minnesota Kicks 3219136357+6163

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 Kicks1–30–1August 22, 26
Portland Timbers–San Diego Sockers2–11–50–2August 22, 26, 30
Jacksonville Tea Men–Atlanta Chiefs3–22–1August 23, 25
Calgary Boomers–Fort Lauderdale Strikers1–30–2August 23, 26
Tampa Bay Rowdies–Vancouver Whitecaps4–11–0August 23, 26
Seattle Sounders–Chicago Sting2–32–02–3August 22, 26, 30
Montreal Manic–Los Angeles Aztecs5–32–32–1August 24, 27, 30
Quarter-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Tampa Bay Rowdies–New York Cosmos3–63–20–2September 2, 5, 9
Montreal Manic–Chicago Sting3–22–42–4September 2, 5, 10
Fort Lauderdale Strikers–Minnesota Kicks3–13–0September 2, 6
Jacksonville Tea Men–San Diego Sockers2–11–21–3September 2, 6, 9
Semi-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Fort Lauderdale Strikers–New York Cosmos3–41–4September 12, 16
San Diego Sockers–Chicago Sting2–11–20–1September 12, 16, 21
Soccer Bowl '81
September 26 Chicago Sting 1–0 New York Cosmos Toronto, Exhibition Stadium

Matches

Friendlies

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorer
February 25, 1981 Colo Colo A 1–0 30,000 N/A
March 3, 1981 Peñarol A 3–4 40,000 Chinaglia
March 5, 1981 São Paulo FC A 3–1 50,000 N/A
June 4, 1981 São Paulo FC A 2–2 53,617 N/A
August 30, 1981 Grêmio H 1–3 30,523 Chinaglia
October 13, 1981 Borussia Dortmund A 4–2 10,000 Chinaglia
October 18, 1981 Milan H 1–1 6,000 Chinaglia

See also

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.
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