Thrice in a lifetime: The possible return of the (hopefully not New York) Cosmos
Following up on Hudson River Blue's story and making a case for New Jersey
Hudson River Blue is reporting that North Jersey Pro Soccer which will begin play in USL League One next season will likely have a familiar name- The Cosmos.
I want to give our friend Michael Battista full credit for piecing this together because quite frankly I had heard speculation and rumors to this extent but every time I followed up I hit a brick wall.
The involvement of longtime Cosmos President Erik Stover in the Northern New Jersey project is key. Stover led the 2013-2020 version of the Cosmos and is one of the best and brightest soccer minds in the country. To me it felt all along even if the identity of the new L1 side was different from the Cosmos the club was building itself up in many ways to be a Cosmos successor club.
Now what about the nameā¦ New York Cosmos or just Cosmos.
Itās worth noting that despite the gung ho attitude first of Paul Kemsley and then Seamus OāBrien to make the mark II Cosmos (2010-2020) a NEW YORK team and attaching the New York name and image to everything, the best of the Cosmos when people like I were growing up was with it as a New Jersey-based team. Yet the Cosmos rarely if ever played in NYC during the 2013-2020 pro run. Long Island supported the Cosmos even if everything they did marketing wise revolved around SoHo and similar parts.
From 1977 to 1984, the era when I was a Fort Lauderdale Strikers ball boy the Cosmos were generally known as just that - the Cosmos and not the New York Cosmos. Their brand was bigger than a geographic area and they were after all drawing some of the biggest crowds in American soccer history to matches in New Jersey.
I know how branding works these days and I am sure USL in its push for promotion and relegation as well as a better media deal would love the side to be called the āNew York Cosmos.ā
But I make the case they should be called just the Cosmos. And we even have a historic logo from the 1977-1984 period where New York disappears. In either event if Hudson River Blueās story is accurate, saddle up and enjoy one of the premier brands in American soccer being back where they belong - playing soccer outside MLS.
I travelled to Cosmos matches on both Long Island and Coney Island when the PR clubs faced them.
Understandbly, both Hostra and MCU had very different feels to them when it came to the crowds attending the matches.
Of course, there was some diehard crossover between the two locations.
Despite Stoverās involvement, I never thought about the possibility of the Northern Jersey team using the name. nor how it could be a potential draw the proposed pro/rel plan.
As fan and outsider, I was never able to gage how much of a draw the Cosmos name was for the NASL.
Yes, Iāll admit that there were big moments like when they travelled down to Havana and had the friendly with the Cuban national team (broadcast on ESPN if I recall correctly).
When Iād talk with friends or podcast interviews with fans from around the NASL landscape, they never seemed too convinced that the Cosmos coming to town really moved the needle a lot of places.
Iām very curious to see how this plays out.
I want them to go with "The Cosmos" and not have an appendage on either end of it, no location, no F/SC.