1979 New York Cosmos season

New York Cosmos
1979 season
Manager	Eddie Firmani^[1] (Start of season) Ray Klivecka^[2] (Caretaker) Júlio Mazzei^[3] (After Klivecka)
Stadium	Giants Stadium
NASL	Division: 1st Overall: 1st Playoffs: Conference Final
National Challenge Cup	Did not enter
CONCACAF Champions' Cup	Did not enter
Top goalscorer	League: ( goals) All: ( goals)
Highest home attendance	76,031 vs. TUL (August 26)
Lowest home attendance	30,195 vs. COV (May 16)
Average home league attendance	46,690^[4]
← 1978 1980 →

The 1979 New York Cosmos season was the 9th season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. 1979 saw the club continue their premiership streak to three seasons with the league's highest point total, and match their wins record while achieving a record point total, but the Cosmos' quest for a third straight NASL championship ended with a loss in the conference finals to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Position	Player
0	GK	Jack Brand
1	GK	Erol Yasin
2	DF	Andranik Eskandarian
3	DF	Francisco Marinho
4	DF	Werner Roth
5	DF	Carlos Alberto
6	DF	Franz Beckenbauer
7	FW	Dennis Tueart
8	MF	Vladislav Bogićević
9	FW	Giorgio Chinaglia
11	FW	Seninho
12	DF	Greg Ryan
12	DF	Bobby Smith
13	MF	Johan Neeskens
14	MF	Terry Garbett
15	DF	Wim Rijsbergen

No.	Position	Player
16	MF	Toni Carbognani
17	MF	Rick Davis
18	MF	Boris Bandov
19	GK	Hubert Birkenmeier
20	GK	David Brcic
21	FW	Gary Etherington
22	DF	Kevin Eagan
23	DF	Giuseppe Wilson
24	DF	Garry Ayre
25	DF	Santiago Formoso
26	FW	Ron Atanasio
27	FW	Joe Filian
28	FW	Abdul Razak
29	FW	Mark Liveric
30	FW	Godfrey Ingram
31	MF	Nelsi Morais

Source:^[5]

Results

Source:^[6]

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).

National Eastern Division Standings

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New York Cosmos	30	24	6	84	52	+32	216
2	Washington Diplomats	30	19	11	68	50	+18	172
3	Toronto Blizzard	30	14	16	52	65	-13	133
4	Rochester Lancers	30	15	15	43	57	-14	132

Overall League Placing

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	New York Cosmos	30	24	6	84	52	+32	216
2	Houston Hurricane	30	22	8	61	46	+15	187
3	Minnesota Kicks	30	21	9	67	48	+19	184
4	Vancouver Whitecaps	30	20	10	54	34	+20	172
5	Washington Diplomats	30	19	11	68	50	+18	172

Source:^[7]

Postseason

Overview

First round

			Game 1	Game 2	Mini-game
Philadelphia Fury	-	Houston Hurricane	2 - 1	2 - 1		August 14, 20
Detroit Express	-	Tampa Bay Rowdies	0 - 3	1 - 3		August 15, 19
Chicago Sting	-	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	2 - 0	0 - 0		August 15, 18
San Diego Sockers	-	California Surf	4 - 2	7 - 2		August 15, 18
Tulsa Roughnecks	-	Minnesota Kicks	2 - 1 (ot)	2 - 1 (ot)		August 15, 19
Dallas Tornado	-	Vancouver Whitecaps	2 - 3	1 - 2		August 15, 18
Los Angeles Aztecs	-	Washington Diplomats	3 - 1	4 - 3		August 15, 19
Toronto Blizzard	-	New York Cosmos	1 - 3	0 - 2		August 16, 20

Conference Semifinals

			Game 1	Game 2	Mini-game
San Diego Sockers	-	Chicago Sting	2 - 0	1 - 0		August 22, 25
Los Angeles Aztecs	-	Vancouver Whitecaps	3 - 2	0 - 1 (so)	0 - 1	August 22, 25
Philadelphia Fury	-	Tampa Bay Rowdies	2 - 3 (so)	0 - 1		August 23, 25
Tulsa Roughnecks	-	New York Cosmos	3 - 0	0 - 3	1 - 3	August 23, 26

Conference Championships

			Game 1	Game 2	Mini-game
Vancouver Whitecaps	-	New York Cosmos	2 - 0	2 - 3 (so)	1 - 0 (so)	August 29, September 1
San Diego Sockers	-	Tampa Bay Rowdies	2 - 1	2 - 3 (so)	0 - 1	August 30, September 2

Soccer Bowl '79

Vancouver Whitecaps v Tampa Bay Rowdies

September 8
2 pm EDT

Vancouver Whitecaps	2–1	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Whymark 13' Whymark (Ball) 60'		Van der Veen (Anderson) 23'

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford
Attendance: 50,699
Referee: Gino D'Ippolito (USA)^[8]^[9]