# 1981 New York Cosmos season

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; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Hubert Birkenmeier |
| 2 | DF | IRN | Andranik Eskandarian |
| 3 | DF | CAN | Robert Iarusci |
| 4 | DF | USA | Jeff Durgan |
| 7 | MF | PAR | Julio César Romero |
| 8 | MF | YUG | Vladislav Bogićević |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Giorgio Chinaglia |
| 11 | FW | POR | Seninho |
| 12 | MF | USA | Larry Hulcer |
| 13 | MF | NED | Johan Neeskens |
| 14 | FW | RSA | Steve Wegerle |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | NED | Wim Rijsbergen |
| 16 | FW | USA | Angelo DiBernardo |
| 17 | MF | USA | Rick Davis |
| 18 | MF | USA | Boris Bandov |
| 19 | FW | PAR | Roberto Cabanas |
| 20 | FW | BEL | Francois Van Der Elst |
| 21 | GK | USA | David Brcic |
| 22 | DF | YUG | Ivan Buljan |
| 24 | FW | USA | Darryl Gee |
| 25 | DF | USA | Dominick Barczewski |
| 28 | FW | USA | Chico Borja |
Source:

## Results

Source:

### 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).

#### Overall League Placing

Source:

#### 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 | FC Birsfelden | N | 9–0 | n/a | Chinaglia (5), van der Elst (3), Romero |
| February 16 | Deportivo Morón | A | 2–2 | 25,000 | Chinaglia (2) |
| February 21 | Cipolletti | A | 4–1 | 8,000 | Chinaglia (2), Borja, Cabañas |
| February 21 | Boca Juniors (B) | A | 9–1 | 10,000 | Chinaglia (4), Romero (4), Bogicevic |
| February 25 | Colo Colo | A | 0–1 | 45,000 | – |
| March 3 | Peñarol | A | 4–3 | 40,000 | Chinaglia (3), Romero |
| March 5 | São Paulo | A | 1–3 | 50,000 | Chinaglia |
| March 8 | Paraguay | A | 5–2 | 45,000 | Romero (2), Seninho (2), Chinaglia |
| March 11 | Guadalajara | A | 0–1 | 45,000 | – |
| March 15 | 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 | Los Angeles Aztecs | A | 1–0 | 3,534 | Cabañas |
| May 20 | Anderlecht | H | 1–2 | 30,512 | van der Elst |
| June 4 | São Paulo | A | 2–2 | 53,617 | Chinaglia, DiBernardo |
| July 1 | Greece | H | 2–0 | 42,318 | Cabañas, Chinaglia |
| July 12 | Celtic | H | 2–0 | 29,215 | Romero, Durgari |
| July 15 | Southampton | H | 2–1 | 29,614 | Bogicevic, Romero |
| July 19 | Seattle Sounders | H | 3–3 | 40,724 | Chinaglia (2), van der Elst |
| August 30 | 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 | Valur | A | 6–2 | 10,500 | Chinaglia (3), Bogicevic (2), Romero |
| October 13 | Borussia Dortmund | A | 2–4 | 10,000 | Davis, Chinaglia |
| October 18 | Milan | H | 1–1 | 6,000 | Chinaglia |

#### Notes

* ↑ Held in Bahamas.