# 1976 New York Cosmos season

The 1976 New York Cosmos season was the sixth season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Cosmos' sixth year of existence the club finished second only to the Tampa Bay Rowdies in both the five-team Eastern Division and the 20-team league. The Cosmos returned to the playoffs for the first time in two years, but were eliminated in the conference semifinals by the rival Rowdies. 1976 marked the first year for Giorgio Chinaglia with the club; Chinaglia would go on to become the all-time leading scorer in both Cosmos and NASL history.

## 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 | USA | Kurt Kuykendall |
| 1 | GK | USA | Shep Messing |
| 1 | GK | USA | Bob Rigby |
| 2 | DF | USA | Barry Mahy |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Brian Rowan |
| 4 | DF | USA | Werner Roth |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Keith Eddy |
| 6 | MF | NIR | Dave Clements |
| 7 | FW | ENG | Tony Field |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Terry Garbett |
| 9 | FW | ITA | Giorgio Chinaglia |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Tommy Ord |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Pelé |
| 11 | FW | USA | Jorge Siega |
| 12 | DF | USA | Bobby Smith |
| 14 | MF | BRA | Nelsi Morais |
| 15 | MF | PER | Ramon Mifflin |
| 16 | FW | USA | Tony Donlic |
| 17 | DF | SCO | Charlie Aitken |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Brian Tinnion |
| 19 | DF | SCO | Charlie Mitchell |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Mike Dillon |
Source:

## Results

Source:

### Preseason

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| March 21, 1976 | San Diego Jaws | A | 1–1 | N/A | N/A |
| March 28, 1976 | Dallas Tornado | A | 0–1 | 20,214 | N/A |
| March 31, 1976 | San Antonio Thunder | A | 1–0 | 20,000 | |
| April 4, 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | N | 0–0 | 15,000 | |
| April 7, 1976 | Honda F.C. | N | 5–0 | N/A | N/A |
| April 8, 1976 | Honda F.C. | N | 5–0 | 21,705 | N/A |
| April 9, 1976 | Seattle Sounders | A | 1–2 | 58,125 | Pelé, Clements |
| April 11, 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | A | 0–1 | 29,232 | Pelé |

### 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

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| April 18, 1976 | Miami Toros | A | 0–1 | 9,457 | Clements |
| May 2, 1976 | Chicago Sting | H | 1–2 | 28,536 | Pelé |
| May 5, 1976 | Connecticut Bicentennials | H | 3–1 | 8,439 | Pelé, Tinnion, Eddy |
| May 8, 1976 | Philadelphia Atoms | H | 1–2 | 14,287 | Pelé |
| May 15, 1976 | Connecticut Bicentennials | A | 0–3 | 8,933 | Field (2), Tinnion |
| May 17, 1976 | Los Angeles Aztecs | H | 6–0 | 24,292 | Eddy (2), Chinaglia (2), Pelé (2) |
| May 19, 1976 | Boston Minutemen | A | 1–2 | 7,367 | Chinaglia (2) |
| June 6, 1976 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | A | 5–1 | 42,611 | Field |
| June 9, 1976 | Minnesota Kicks | A | 1–2 | 46,164 | Chinaglia, Field |
| June 12, 1976 | Portland Timbers | A | 0–3 | 32,247 | Chinaglia (2), Eddy |
| June 16, 1976 | Boston Minutemen | H | 2–2 (SOL) | 15,101 | N/A |
| June 18, 1976 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | H | 3–0 | 18,612 | Tinion, Chinaglia, Clements |
| June 23, 1976 | Chicago Sting | A | 4–1 | 28,000 | Tinnion |
| June 27, 1976 | Washington Diplomats | A | 3–2 | 11,004 | Tinnion, Pelé |
| June 30, 1976 | Rochester Lancers | H | 2–0 | 6,917 | Field (2) |
| July 2, 1976 | St. Louis Stars | H | 3–1 | 10,123 | Mifflin (2), Eddy |
| July 7, 1976 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | A | 0–3 | 12,123 | N/A |
| July 10, 1976 | Philadelphia Atoms | A | 1–2 | 25,311 | Pelé, Garbett |
| July 14, 1976 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | H | 5–4 | 27,892 | Eddy, Mifflin, Field, Pelé (2) |
| July 18, 1976 | Washington Diplomats | H | 5–0 | 27,398 | Mifflin, Chinaglia (2), Pelé, Tinnion |
| July 23, 1976 | Rochester Lancers | A | 2–1 | 5,728 | Chinaglia |
| July 28, 1976 | Dallas Tornado | H | 4–0 | 19,119 | Chinaglia (3), Mifflin |
| August 7, 1976 | San Jose Earthquakes | A | 2–1 | 23,048 | Eddy |
| August 10, 1976 | Miami Toros | H | 8–2 | 18,103 | Dillon, Chinaglia (5), Pelé (2) |

### Postseason
#### Overview
##### First round

| August 17 | Washington Diplomats | 0–2 | New York Cosmos | New York City, Shea Stadium |
| August 18 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 0–2 | Dallas Tornado | Irving, Texas Stadium |
| August 18 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0–1 | Seattle Sounders | Seattle, Kingdome |
| August 18 | Rochester Lancers | 1–2 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | Toronto, Varsity Stadium |

##### Conference semifinals

| August 20 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 3–2 | Chicago Sting | Chicago, Soldier Field |
| August 20 | New York Cosmos | 1–3 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa, Tampa Stadium |
| August 20 | Dallas Tornado | 0–2 | San Jose Earthquakes | San Jose, Spartan Stadium |
| August 21 | Seattle Sounders | 0–3 | Minnesota Kicks | Bloomington (MN), Metropolitan Stadium |

##### Conference Championships

| August 24 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2–0 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Tampa, Tampa Stadium |
| August 25 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1–3 | Minnesota Kicks | Bloomington (MN), Metropolitan Stadium |

##### Soccer Bowl '76

| August 28 | Toronto Metros-Croatia | 2–0 | Minnesota Kicks | Seattle, Kingdome |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| August 17, 1976 | Washington Diplomats | H | 2–0 | 22,698 | Garbett, Pelé |
| August 20, 1976 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | A | 3–1 | 36,863 | Pelé |

### Friendlies

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Att.Attendance | Scorers |
| March 24 | San Diego Jaws | A | 1–1 | 18,128 | Ord |
| March 28 | Dallas Tornado | A | 1–0 | 20,214 | Pelé |
| March 31 | San Antonio Thunder | A | 0–1 | 14,800 | – |
| April 4 | Los Angeles Aztecs | N | 0–0 | 15,800 | – |
| April 8 | Honda FC | N | 5–0 | 21,705 | Pelé (4), ? |
| April 9 | Seattle Sounders | A | 3–1 | 58,125 | Pelé (2), Clements |
| April 11 | Los Angeles Aztecs | A | 1–0 | 29,232 | Pelé |
| June 3 | Violette | A | 2–1 | n/a | n/a |
| September 1 | Dallas Tornado | N | 2–2 | 14,000 | Chinaglia (2) |
| September 5 | Dallas Tornado | N | 2–1 | 12,500 | Roth, Mifflin |
| September 6 | Dallas Tornado | N | 3–2 | 23,682 | Pele, Morais, Donlic |
| September 8 | Soccer Canada | A | 1–1 | 14,826 | Chinaglia |
| September 10 | Soccer Canada | A | 3–1 | 14,366 | Chinaglia (3) |
| September 14 | PSG | A | 1–3 | 18,000 | Field |
| September 16 | Royal Antwerp | A | 1–3 | 25,000 | Pelé |
| September 24 | West Japan All-Stars | A | 0–0 | 11,000 | n/a |
| September 25 | East Japan All-Stars | A | 2–2 | 50,000 | Dillon, Chinaglia |

#### Notes

* ↑ Held in Tempe, Arizona.
* ↑ Held in Honolulu, Hawaii.
* ↑ Held in Cleveland, Ohio.
* ↑ Held in New Orleans.
* ↑ Held in Pontiac, Michigan.