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New York Cosmos
1981 season
Manager Germany Hennes Weisweiler [1] (Joint with Özdenak)
Turkey Yasin Özdenak [2] (Joint with Wiesweiler)
Stadium Giants 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]
←  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. 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
1 New York Cosmos 32 23 9 80 49 +31 200
2 Montreal Manic 32 15 17 63 57 +6 141
3 Washington Diplomats 32 15 17 59 58 +1 135
4 Toronto Blizzard 32 7 25 39 82 −43 77

Overall League Placing

Pos Club Pld W L GF GA GD Pts
1 New York Cosmos 32 23 9 80 49 +31 200
2 Chicago Sting 32 23 9 84 50 +34 195
3 Vancouver Whitecaps 32 21 11 74 43 +31 186
4 San Diego Sockers 32 21 11 67 49 +18 173
5 Minnesota Kicks 32 19 13 63 57 +6 163

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 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, Exhibition Stadium

Matches

Friendlies

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorer
February 1 Switzerland FC Birsfelden N [n 1] 9–0 n/a Chinaglia (5), van der Elst (3), Romero
February 16 Argentina Deportivo Morón A 2–2 25,000 Chinaglia (2)
February 21 Argentina Cipolletti A 4–1 8,000 Chinaglia (2), Borja, Cabañas
February 21 Argentina Boca Juniors ( B) A 9–1 10,000 Chinaglia (4), Romero (4), Bogicevic
February 25 Chile Colo Colo A 0–1 45,000 –
March 3 Uruguay Peñarol A 4–3 40,000 Chinaglia (3), Romero
March 5 Brazil São Paulo A 1–3 50,000 Chinaglia
March 8   Paraguay A 5–2 45,000 Romero (2), Seninho (2), Chinaglia
March 11 Mexico Guadalajara A 0–1 45,000 –
March 15 Mexico América A 2–4 105,000 Chinaglia, van der Elst
March 17   El Salvador A 5–1 31,209 Chinaglia (2), Seninho (2), Cabañas
March 19 United States Los Angeles Aztecs A 1–0 3,534 Cabañas
May 20 Belgium Anderlecht H 1–2 30,512 van der Elst
June 4 Brazil São Paulo A 2–2 53,617 Chinaglia, DiBernardo
July 1   Greece H 2–0 42,318 Cabañas, Chinaglia
July 12 Scotland Celtic H 2–0 29,215 Romero, Durgari
July 15 England Southampton H 2–1 29,614 Bogicevic, Romero
July 19 United States Seattle Sounders H 3–3 40,724 Chinaglia (2), van der Elst
August 30 Brazil Grêmio H 1–3 30,523 Chinaglia
October 4   Canada A 1–1 3,000 van der Elst
October 7   Canada A 0–4 10,688 –
October 10 Iceland Valur A 6–2 10,500 Chinaglia (3), Bogicevic (2), Romero
October 13 Germany Borussia Dortmund A 2–4 10,000 Davis, Chinaglia
October 18 Italy Milan H 1–1 6,000 Chinaglia
Notes
  1. ^ Held in Bahamas.

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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