The New York Cosmos

New York Cosmos

The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...

 were an American soccer club based in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The club was formed in 1971 by brothers

Ertegun brothers

The Ertegun brothers, Nesuhi Ertegün and Ahmet Ertegün , sons of Turkish diplomat Münir Ertegün, were the Turkish-American executives of Atlantic Records. They also co-founded the legendary New York Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League....

 Ahmet

Ahmet Ertegun

Ahmet Ertegün was a Turkish American musician and businessman, best known as the founder and president of Atlantic Records. He also wrote classic blues and pop songs and served as Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and museum...

 and Nesuhi Ertegun

Nesuhi Ertegun

Nesuhi Ertegun was a Turkish record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International.-Background:Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Nesuhi and his family, including younger brother Ahmet, moved to Washington, D.C...

, with the support of Warner Brothers president Steve Ross, and entered into the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

 (NASL), which had itself been founded in 1968. Backed by Ross's company, Warner Communications

Warner Communications

Warner Communications or Warner Communications, Inc. was established in 1971 when Kinney National Company spun off its non-entertainment assets, due to a financial scandal over its parking operations and changed its name....

, the Cosmos became the league's strongest club, both on and off the field. The team won five titles while drawing attendances unprecedented in American club soccer. The Cosmos' commercial and on-field success declined during the early 1980s, along with the NASL itself, and after the league folded in 1984 the club dissolved a year later. An English-led group, headed by Paul Kemsley

Paul Kemsley

Paul Zeital Kemsley , is an English businessman. He is best known as a property developer, and to sports fans as a former Vice-Chairman of Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur, and as Chairman of the revived New York Cosmos.-Biography:He was educated at Atholl School in Rayners Lane,...

, created a new Cosmos team

New York Cosmos (2010)

The New York Cosmos are an American soccer club based in New York City. The team was formed in August 2010 by a consortium led by English businessman Paul Kemsley, and aspires to become a franchise of Major League Soccer, the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...

 in 2010 with the intent of entering it into Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

.

All players who played at least one league match for the Cosmos are given below. A total of 155 outfield players did so, along with 17 goalkeepers, giving a total of 172. Including the United States and Canada, a total of 34 nations from across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa were represented on the team's rosters over the course of its history. After the United States, the most common nation of origin was England, with 17 Cosmos players; Canada followed with 15. NASL all-star teams included 18 of the club's players in total. Eleven players who appeared as guests in exhibition games are listed separately below.

Key

• GK = Goalkeeper
• DF = Defender
  Defender (association football)
  Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
  
  
• MF = Midfielder
  Midfielder
  A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
  
  
• FW = Forward

Regular season players

Name	Country	Position	Years	Notes
	Kingdom of England	FW	1984–85	–
	United States	MF	1977	–
	Kingdom of Scotland	DF	1976–77	–
	Canada	GK	1980–82	–
	Brazil	DF	1977–80 1982	–
	United States	MF	1984–85	–
	United States	FW	1984–85	–
	United States	DF	1974–75	–
	United States	FW	1978–79	–
	Canada	DF	1978–79	–
	United States	MF	1979–82	–
	United States	DF	1981–82	–
		DF	1977–80 1983	–
		GK	1979–85	–
	Kingdom of England	GK	1972	–
	Kingdom of Yugoslavia	MF	1978–84	–
	United States	FW	1981–82 1984	–
	United States	DF	1971–75

}
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|GK
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|GK
|1977–79
1981–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|DF
|1981–82
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Paraguay
|align="center"|FW
|1980–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Uruguay
|align="center"|MF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Argentina
|align="center"|MF
|1979
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|FW
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Chile
|align="center"|FW
|1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Haiti
|align="center"|DF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|FW
|1976–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Trinidad and Tobago
|align="center"|DF
|1982–83
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|MF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Northern Ireland
|align="center"|MF
|1976–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Uruguay
|align="center"|MF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Trinidad and Tobago
|align="center"|MF
|1972–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|FW
|1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1978–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|DF
|1973–74
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|DF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Ecuador
|align="center"|FW
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|FW
|1982
1983–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1980–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|DF
|1975–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|MF
|1977–78
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|DF
|1971
1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1975–78
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1980–82
1983–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1979
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|DF
|1976–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Iran
|align="center"|DF
|1979–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1977–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|MF
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1980
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1976–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1973–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Greece
|align="center"|MF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1978–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1983–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Spain
|align="center"|DF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|MF
|1976–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1980–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|MF
|1983–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1983–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Scotland
|align="center"|FW
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Greece
|align="center"|FW
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Spain
|align="center"|FW
|1972
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Bermuda
|align="center"|FW
|1971–74
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1980–81
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1977–78
1982
|align="center"|
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|DF
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|DF
|1977–78
1981–83
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1979
|align="center"|
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|MF
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Czechoslovakia
|align="center"|FW
|1972–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|DF
|1971–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1981–83
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|MF
|1972–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Ghana
|align="center"|GK
|1971–72
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|GK
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|DF
|1983–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|GK
|1975–76
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Uruguay
|align="center"|MF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|GK
|1983
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1974–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Denmark
|align="center"|FW
|1985
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1971–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|MF
|1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Romania
|align="center"|MF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|FW
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|DF
|1979
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Uruguay
|align="center"|DF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1971–72
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1973
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|MF
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1985
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|GK
|1973–74
1976–77
1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
|
|align="center"|DF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Ghana
|align="center"|FW
|1971–72
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Peru
|align="center"|MF
|1975–78
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|GK
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Scotland
|align="center"|DF
|1976
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|DF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Hungary
|align="center"|MF
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|MF
|1975–80
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1982–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Netherlands
|align="center"|MF
|1979–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
|
|align="center"|DF
|1972
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Republic of Ireland
|align="center"|FW
|1973
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|FW
|1981–82
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Bermuda
|align="center"|GK
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Turkey
|align="center"|GK
|1977–79
|align="center"|
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|GK
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1975–76
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|DF
|1980
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1985
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Uruguay
|align="center"|FW
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Jamaica
|align="center"|DF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|FW
|1975–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1977–78
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Israel
|align="center"|DF
|1975
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Ghana
|align="center"|MF
|1979–81
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Republic of Ireland
|align="center"|MF
|1984
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1973–74
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|GK
|1976
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Netherlands
|align="center"|DF
|1979–83
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Brazil
|align="center"|DF
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Ecuador
|align="center"|MF
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Paraguay
|align="center"|MF
|1980–83
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1972–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Israel
|align="center"|DF
|1973
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Scotland
|align="center"|DF
|1975–76
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1979
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1974–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Portugal
|align="center"|FW
|1978–82
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1985
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Israel
|align="center"|FW
|1974–77
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1971–76
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|DF
|1976–78
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| South Africa
|align="center"|FW
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|GK
|1984–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1972
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Trinidad and Tobago
|align="center"|DF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|FW
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1971–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|GK
|1973–75
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| United States
|align="center"|MF
|1983–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|FW
|1983–84
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1976
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|FW
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1978–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|DF
|1977
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Belgium
|align="center"|FW
|1980–81
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|FW
|1973
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia
|align="center"|FW
|1983–85
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|MF
|1974
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| South Africa
|align="center"|FW
|1981–82
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Canada
|align="center"|DF
|1980
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Italy
|align="center"|DF
|1978–79
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|DF
|1973
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Turkey
|align="center"|FW
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of Scotland
|align="center"|MF
|1971
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Israel
|align="center"|FW
|1972–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|MF
|1972–73
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Poland
|align="center"|DF
|1984
|align="center"|–
|}

By nationality

Country	Number of players
Argentina	1
Belgium	1
Bermuda	2
Brazil	10
Canada	15
Chile	1
Czechoslovakia	1
Denmark	1
Ecuador	2
Kingdom of England	17
	4
Ghana	3
Greece	2
Haiti	1
Hungary	1
Iran	1
Republic of Ireland	2
Israel	4
Italy	6
Jamaica	1
Netherlands	2
Northern Ireland	1
Paraguay	2
Peru	1
Poland	6
Portugal	1
Romania	1
Kingdom of Scotland	5
South Africa	2
Spain	2
Trinidad and Tobago	3
Turkey	2
United States	56
Uruguay	5
Kingdom of Yugoslavia	7

Guest players

Some well-known players from other teams turned out for the Cosmos in exhibition matches

Exhibition game

An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

on a game-by-game basis when New York traveled on overseas tours. These guest players are listed below, along with the year they appeared in Cosmos colors.

Name	Country	Position	Year	Notes
	Kingdom of England	FW	1975	–
	Kingdom of England	GK	1976	–
	Bermuda	FW	1976	–
	Brazil	MF	1978	–
	Iran	DF	1978

}
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|FW
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Kingdom of England
|align="center"|DF
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Hungary
|align="center"|MF
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Hungary
|align="center"|DF
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Haiti
|align="center"|DF
|1978
|align="center"|–
|-
|
| Netherlands
|align="center"|MF
|1978
|align="center"|–
|}