April 17, 1971: The New York Cosmos Debut

April 17, 1971: The New York Cosmos make their debut in the North American Soccer League. They lose to the St. Louis Stars, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

The Cosmos were not the 1st "major league" soccer team in New York. The NASL was formed in 1968.  Essentially, it was a merger of 2 leagues that began play in 1967, trying to ride the wave of interest brought about by England's home-soil World Cup win the year before, and the subsequent documentary about it, Goal!

The United Soccer Association had teams that ran a summer schedule in between the European winter seasons, importing entire teams from elsewhere: England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, and Uruguay, whose Cerro became the New York Skyliners.

The USA did not do well. They couldn't sell out the facilities, as nearly every team played in an MLB or an NFL stadium. The Skyliners drew an average of 8,766 to the original Yankee Stadium, which in its pre-renovation configuration had 67,224 seats.

The other league was the National Professional Soccer League. Unlike the USA, the NPSL had mainly North American players. In most cases, the owners were owners of other local teams. The New York Generals were owned by RKO, which owned WOR-Channel 9 (now WWOR), and thus had an easy time getting TV rights.

Not much could be said for the Generals. Like the Skyliners, they couldn't sell out the old Garden, with its 18,496 seats, let alone the old Yankee Stadium, with 67,224. But they had 2 players whose names you should know. Cesar Luis Menotti played for a number of clubs in Argentina, including Buenos Aires giants Boca Juniors, and in 1978 would manage his country to win the World Cup on home soil. And Gordon Bradley, a midfielder from Sunderland, would play in New York again.

The NPSL had the advantage of not taking entire teams from elsewhere, teams that were emotionally committed to other places on other continents. So they could get the jump on the USA and start earlier, on April 16. But CBS didn't really know what they were doing on their TV broadcasts. There was also the issue of each league putting a team not just in one city, but in some cases both in one stadium. Both leagues' New York teams played at Yankee Stadium, both L.A. teams played at the Coliseum, and both Toronto teams played at old Varsity Stadium rather than the new Exhibition Stadium.

The Cosmos played their home games in the 1971 season at Yankee Stadium, making their home debut on May 5, beating the Washington Darts, 1-0. They finished 2nd in the Eastern Division, and lost to the Atlanta Chiefs in the 1st round of the Playoffs.

In 1972, they moved out to Hempstead, Long Island, playing at Hofstra University, at what would later be named James M. Shuart Stadium, across the Hempstead Turnpike from the Nassau Coliseum, the new home of the ABA's New York Nets and the NHL's New York Islanders. Led by Randy Horton, they won the title, beating the St. Louis Stars for the title.

In 1974, they moved to Downing Stadium, on Randall's Island in the East River. In 1975, they signed Pelé, the biggest sports star in the world. He hated playing on the lousy pitch in the crumbling old track & field stadium. In 1976, with Yankee Stadium renovated, they moved in. In 1977, with Giants Stadium open at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, they won another title. Pelé retired, but, led by Giorgio Chinaglia, they won titles in 1978, 1980 and 1982. Mismanagement brought the team and the league to an end after the 1984 season.

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April 17, 1971 was a Saturday. A full slate of Major League Baseball games was played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Fritz Peterson won, in relief of Mike Kekich. This was 2 years before they swapped families. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4, but Brooks Robinson went 0-for-5. John Ellis hit a home run, and Felipe Alou and Danny Cater singled home runs in the top of the 10th inning.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Shea Stadium. Steve Blass pitched a 5-hit shutout. Willie Stargell hit a home run, and Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Pete Rose went 1-for-5, and Johnny Bench went 0-for-4.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at the new Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. They did this despite Hank Aaron going 0-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-9 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-4, but drew 2 walks. The Tigers got home runs in the 7th inning from Jim Northrup, Norm Cash and Willie Horton. Horton singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Tom Bradley pitched a 4-hit shutout. Reggie Jackson got 1 of the hits. Rollie Fingers started this game, and ended up as the losing pitcher. He only started 6 more games the rest of his career, but became a Hall of Fame relief pitcher.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 4-0 at San Diego Stadium.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In his last season, Ernie Banks did not play. In his last full season with the Giants, Willie Mays hit a home run.

This was an off-day in the NBA Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Two games were played in the ABA Playoffs. The Virginia Squires beat the Kentucky Colonels, 142-122 at The Scope in Virginia. And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-108 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

Also, Arsenal beat Newcastle United, 1-0 at home at Highbury, on their way to winning "The Double."