1977 New York Cosmos season

(Until July 7) Eddie Firmani (After July 7) Overall: 3rd Playoffs: Champions Challenge Cup](1977-national-challenge-cup) vs. Fort Lauderdale (August 14) vs. Victory Sportif Club (April 2) The 1977 New York Cosmos season was the seventh season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. The Cosmos' seventh year of existence saw them drop "New York" from the club name (it would be restored in 1979), move into Giants Stadium (where they would play until their dissolution in 1985), and win their second NASL championship in Pelé's final year as a professional footballer. Pelé's last match was on October 1, 1977, in front of a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium: in an exhibition match between New York and his former club Santos, Pelé appeared for both sides, playing one half for each. The Cosmos won the game 2–1. The Cosmos finished second in the 4-team Eastern Division and third out of 18 teams league-wide on their way to the 1977 championship.

Results

Source:

Preseason

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
March 11, 1977	Bermuda U23	A	0–4	626	Chinaglia (4)
March 13, 1977	Bermuda	A	0–1	3,769	Chinaglia
March 19, 1977	Xamax	A	1–0	3,000
March 20, 1977	Zürich	A	3–1	7,000	Chinaglia
March 24, 1977	Lazio	A	1–2	20,000	Chinaglia, N/A
April 2, 1977	Victory	H	9–0	7,212	Chinaglia (5), Field, Garbett, Pelé (2)
April 3, 1977	Tampa Bay Rowdies	H	2–1	11,098	Chinaglia, Dimitrijevic

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	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	26	19	7	49	29	+20	161
2	Cosmos	26	15	11	60	39	+21	140
3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	26	14	12	55	45	+10	131
4	Washington Diplomats	26	10	16	32	49	-17	92

Overall League Placing

Pos	Club	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	26	19	7	49	29	+20	161
2	Dallas Tornado	26	18	8	56	37	+19	161
3	Cosmos	26	15	11	60	39	+21	140
4	Minnesota Kicks	26	16	10	44	36	+8	137
5	Tampa Bay Rowdies	26	14	12	55	45	+10	131

Source:

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
April 9, 1977	Las Vegas Quicksilvers	A	1–0	11,896
April 13, 1977	Team Hawaii	A	1–2	12,877	Topic, Hunt
April 17, 1977	Rochester Lancers	H	2–0	26,752	Chinaglia, Pelé
April 24, 1977	Dallas Tornado	H	1–1 (SOL)	13,527	Smith
May 1, 1977	St. Louis Stars	H	2–2 (SOL)	20,112	Dillon, Morais
May 8, 1977	Connecticut Bicentennials	A	2–3	17,302	Chinaglia, Eddy, Dimitrijevic
May 11, 1977	Chicago Sting	A	1–2	21,108	OG, Dimitrijevic
May 15, 1977	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	H	3–0	21,782	Pelé (3)
May 22, 1977	Chicago Sting	H	1–2	20,407	Chinaglia
May 29, 1977	Tampa Bay Rowdies	A	4–2	45,288	Beckenbauer, Field
June 5, 1977	Toronto Metros-Croatia	H	6–0	31,208	Sono, Chinaglia (2), Hunt (3)
June 8, 1977	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	A	0–3	14,358	Beckenbauer, Pelé, Chinaglia
June 12, 1977	Minnesota Kicks	H	1–1 (SOW)	36,816	Chinaglia
June 16, 1977	Toronto Metros-Croatia	A	1–2	21,793	Field, Chinaglia
June 19, 1977	Tampa Bay Rowdies	H	3–1	62,394	Pelé (3)
June 23, 1977	St. Louis Stars	A	2–0	32,605
June 26, 1977	Los Angeles Aztecs	H	5–2	57,191	Pelé (3), Mifflin, Dimitrijevic
June 30, 1977	Vancouver Whitecaps	A	5–3	30,277	Roth, Chinaglia, Field
July 2, 1977	Los Angeles Aztecs	A	4–1	32,165	Chinaglia
July 6, 1977	San Jose Earthquakes	H	3–0	31,875	Hunt, Dimitrijevic, Field
July 10, 1977	Seattle Sounders	H	1–0	41,270
July 15, 1977	Rochester Lancers	A	0–0 (SOL)	17,572
July 17, 1977	Portland Timbers	H	2–0	41,205	Hunt, Chinaglia
July 27, 1977	Washington Diplomats	H	8–2	34,189	Beckenbauer (2), Chinaglia (3),
Hunt (2), Field
July 31, 1977	Connecticut Bicentennials	H	3–1	46,389	Chinaglia, Pelé, Field
August 6, 1977	Washington Diplomats	A	2–1	31,283	Pelé

Postseason

First round

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Conference semifinals

Game 1	Game 2
Cosmos	–
Los Angeles Aztecs	–
Minnesota Kicks	–
Rochester Lancers	–

Conference Championships

Game 1	Game 2
Los Angeles Aztecs	—
Rochester Lancers	—

Soccer Bowl '77

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
August 10, 1977	Tampa Bay Rowdies	H	3–0	57,828	Pelé (2), Chinaglia
August 14, 1977	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	H	8–3	77,691	Chinaglia (3), Hunt (2), Etherington,
Beckenbauer, Field
August 17, 1977	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	A	2–2 (SOW)	14,152	Pelé, Chinaglia
August 21, 1977	Rochester Lancers	A	1–2	20,005	Hunt, Chinaglia
August 24, 1977	Rochester Lancers	H	4–1	73,669	Chinaglia (2), Pelé, Dimitrijevic
August 28, 1977	Seattle Sounders	N	2–1	35,548	Hunt, Chinaglia

Friendlies

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Att.	Scorers
March 11	Bermuda Bermuda U23	A	4–0	626	Chiaglia (4)
March 13		A	1–0	3,769	Chiaglia
March 19	SUI Neuchâtel	A	0–1	3,000	–
March 20	SUI FC Zürich	A	1–3	7,000	Chinaglia
March 24	Lazio	A	2–1	15,000	Chinaglia, Hunt
April 2	Victory	A	9–0	15,000	Chinaglia (4), Pelé, Field, Garbett, Sono
April 3	Tampa Bay Rowdies	A	2–1	11,098	Chinaglia, Dimitrijevic
June 1	Lazio	H	3–2	25,803	Chinaglia, Rildo, Wilson
September 1	Caribbean All-Stars	A	5–2	30,000	Dimitrijevic, Chinaglia, Topic, Pelé
September 4	Portuguesa	A	1–1	15,000	Smith
September 10	Furukawa	A	4–2	30,000	Chinaglia, Field, Pelé
September 14		A	3–1	65,000	Topic, Morais, Chinaglia
September 17		A	1–1	80,000	Field
September 20		A	1–2	50,000	Pelé
September 25	Mohun Bagan	A	2–2	65,000	Carlos Alberto, Chinaglia
October 1	Santos	H	2–1	75,646	Mifflin, Pelé
October 5	Santos	N	1–1	24,689	Chinaglia
October 8		H	1–1	33,712	Chinaglia
October 14	Flamengo	A	1–4	14,000	Field

;Notes