New York Cosmos
Bobby Smith (American soccer) played for which team from 1976 to 1978?
Bobby Smith ( American soccer ) Robert Bobby Smith ( born March 29 , 1951 ) is a retired U.S . soccer defender who spent nine years in the North American Soccer League and one in the League of Ireland and the Major Indoor Soccer League . He also earned eighteen caps with the United States mens national soccer team and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame . Youth . Smith grew up in Trenton , New Jersey and attended Steinert High School in Hamilton Township , New Jersey . After high school , he attended Rider University in Lawrenceville , New Jersey from 1969 through 1972 . While at Rider , he played four seasons on the mens soccer team . He holds the college record for most goals in a season ( 18 ) and career ( 46 ) . In 1997 , Rider University inducted Smith into its Hall of Fame . Professional . The Philadelphia Atoms , a North American Soccer League ( NASL ) expansion franchise , drafted Smith in the second round of the 1973 College Draft . That year , Smith took home second team All Star honors as the Atoms ran to the NASL championship title . They set a record that season for allowing only 14 goals . Smith returned each of the next two seasons , but the Atoms were unable to replicate their first-year success . Smith , on the other hand , continued to be recognized as one of the leagues top defenders . In 1974 , he was an All Star honorable mention ( third team ) and in 1975 , he became the first native-born U.S . player in the NASL to earn first team All Star recognition . Part of the reason for his success in 1975 came from a loan spell with League of Ireland First Division club , Dundalk during the 1974-1975 NASL off-season . In 1976 , the Atoms sold Smith , and teammate Bob Rigby , to the New York Cosmos for $100,000 . The move came as part of the condition put on the Cosmos when they signed Pelé . Pelé insisted the Cosmos surround him with good supporting teammates and the Cosmos went shopping . Smith spent three seasons with the Cosmos , winning two more NASL championships with them and earning second team All Star honors in 1976 . However , by his third season with the team , the influx of big-name international players saw Smiths playing time drop to an all-time low of nine games . At the end of the 1978 season , the Cosmos sent Smith to the San Diego Sockers . In 1979 , he was named an honorable mention All Star , his fifth time on an All Star list . However , at the end of the season , the Sockers sent him to the Philadelphia Fury for the 1980 season . The Atoms had folded while Smith was with the Cosmos and the Fury was a new expansion franchise in Philadelphia . Smith spent only one season with the Fury , but his time with the team led to his also playing for the Philadelphia Fever of Major Indoor Soccer League ( MISL ) during the 1980-1981 indoor season . The Fever had already played a season , but coach George ONeill—hoping to draw on seasoned pros the way defending champions New York Arrows had—remade the team with NASL veterans and drew on several Fury players , including Smith and teammate Bob Rigby . Despite the presence of Smith and other Fury players , the Fever performed poorly and soon vanished from the American soccer scene . Smith then moved to the Montreal Manic of one last season in the NASL . He retired at the end of the 1981 season . National team . Smith earned 18 caps with the U.S . national team . His first appearance came in an August 12 , 1973 victory over Poland . Smith became a regular on the team , seeing time in the rest of the U.S . games that year , as well as all of its games in 1974 and half the 1975 games . In 1976 , he saw time in several games , the last being a 3–0 loss to Canada in a playoff in Port-au-Prince , Haiti , which eliminated the U.S . from qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup . Smith would not play for the national team until 1980 when he played in his last game , a 1–1 tie with Portugal on October 7 . Post-playing career . After retiring from playing professionally , Smith returned to New Jersey where he has coached youth soccer . He is the former owner of Smitty Kicks . He currently runs the Bob Smith Soccer Academy in Robbinsville Township , New Jersey . He resides in Hamilton Square , New Jersey . Smith was selected as the Grand Marshal for the 2008 Trenton St . Patricks Day Parade . In 2007 , he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame . External links . - National Soccer Hall of Fame profile - NASL All Star teams - NASL/MISL stats