1981 New York Cosmos season

New York Cosmos
1981 season
Manager Germany Hennes Weisweiler[1] (Joint with Özdenak)
Turkey Yasin Özdenak[2] (Joint with Wiesweiler)
Stadium Giants Stadium
NASL Division: 1st
Overall: 1st
Playoffs: Runners-Up
National
Challenge Cup		 Did not enter
CONCACAF
Champions' Cup		 Did not enter
Top goalscorer League: ( goals)
All: ( goals)
Highest home attendance 42,385
vs. CHI (May 17)
Lowest home attendance 12,240
vs. FTL (June 24)
Average home league attendance 34,835[3]
← 1980
1982 →

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

Source:[4]

Results

Source:[5]

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 32 23 9 80 49 +31200
2Montreal Manic 32 15 17 63 57 +6141
3Washington Diplomats 32 15 17 59 58 +1135
4Toronto Blizzard 32 7 25 39 82 -4377

Overall League Placing

Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1New York Cosmos 32 23 9 80 49 +31200
2Chicago Sting 32 23 9 84 50 +34195
3Vancouver Whitecaps 32 21 11 74 43 +31186
4San Diego Sockers 32 21 11 67 49 +18173
5Minnesota Kicks 32 19 13 63 57 +6163

Source:[6]

Postseason

Overview

First round
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Tulsa Roughnecks - Minnesota Kicks 1 - 3 0 - 1 August 22, 26
Portland Timbers - San Diego Sockers 2 - 1 1 - 5 0 - 2 August 22, 26, 30
Jacksonville Tea Men - Atlanta Chiefs 3 - 2 2 - 1 August 23, 25
Calgary Boomers - Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1 - 3 0 - 2 August 23, 26
Tampa Bay Rowdies - Vancouver Whitecaps 4 - 1 1 - 0 August 23, 26
Seattle Sounders - Chicago Sting 2 - 3 2 - 0 2 - 3 August 22, 26, 30
Montreal Manic - Los Angeles Aztecs 5 - 3 2 - 3 2 - 1 August 24, 27, 30
Quarter-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Tampa Bay Rowdies - New York Cosmos 3 - 6 3 - 2 0 - 2 September 2, 5, 9
Montreal Manic - Chicago Sting 3 - 2 2 - 4 2 - 4 September 2, 5, 10
Fort Lauderdale Strikers - Minnesota Kicks 3 - 1 3 - 0 September 2, 6
Jacksonville Tea Men - San Diego Sockers 2 - 1 1 - 2 1 - 3 September 2, 6, 9
Semi-finals
Game 1 Game 2 Game 3
Fort Lauderdale Strikers - New York Cosmos 3 - 4 1 - 4 September 12, 16
San Diego Sockers - Chicago Sting 2 - 1 1 - 2 0 - 1 September 12, 16, 21
Soccer Bowl '81
September 26 Chicago Sting 1 – 0 New York Cosmos Toronto (ON), Exhibition Stadium

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/01/sports/cosmos-to-retain-mazzei.html
  2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/01/sports/cosmos-to-retain-mazzei.html
  3. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/usadave/nasl.html
  4. ↑ http://nasljerseys.com/Rosters/Cosmos_Rosters.htm
  5. ↑ http://soccerstats.us/teams/new-york-cosmos/1981/
  6. ↑ http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1981.html

See also