128-542: Downing Stadium , previously known as Triborough Stadium and Randall's Island Stadium , was a 22,000-seat stadium on Randalls Island in New York City . It was renamed Downing Stadium in 1955 after John J. Downing, a director at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation . It was demolished in 2002 and the current Icahn Stadium was built on the site. Built on Randalls Island in
256-539: A tensegrity structure . But, in the context of sports stadiums, the term "dome" has become standard for all covered stadiums, particularly because the first such enclosed stadium, the Houston Astrodome , was built with an actual dome-shaped roof. Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a few have even been designed to have moveable fields as part of the infrastructure. The Caesars Superdome in New Orleans
384-488: A 40-over exhibition match, the first in a three-game US series which Pakistan won 2-1. The "North America Cup", as it was known, continued the following May. In 1990, Pakistan played Australia , with many regular international cricketers participating from both countries. Australia won the match by 5 runs. In 1938, the stadium hosted the Carnival of Swing , one of the first large outdoor jazz festivals. In August 1968,
512-680: A call to Haitian Football Federation president Claude Raymond who told him to resume the match, if possible. Then, Serge Charles, a high-ranking member of the Haitian delegation to the United Nations , arrived and made another call to Raymond, and the Haitians agreed to go back on the field. Police arrived and cordoned off the field. The New York Cosmos of the NASL moved to Downing in 1974. On June 15, 1975, Pelé made his NASL debut against
640-586: A country where it had previously been largely ignored. As the Cosmos declined following Pelé's retirement, so did the NASL. Attendances fell, the league's television deal was lost, and it finally folded in 1985 after playing its last season in 1984. The Cosmos attempted to continue operations in the Major Indoor Soccer League , but attendances were so low that the club withdrew without completing
768-405: A few municipally owned stadiums, which are often known by a name that is significant to their area (for example, Boston 's Fenway Park ). In recent years, some government-owned stadiums have also been subject to naming-rights agreements, with some or all of the revenue often going to the team(s) that play there. One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium name changes, when
896-490: A fireworks display. Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built football stadium in the world. The architect Archibald Leitch brought his experience with the construction of industrial buildings to bear on the design of functional stadiums up and down the country. His work encompassed the first 40 years of the 20th century. One of his most notable designs was Old Trafford in Manchester. The ground
1024-403: A football pitch with a running track , although certain compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are necessarily set back a good distance from the pitch, especially at the ends of the pitch. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there are not stands at the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has
1152-452: A growing game. All of the 19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some after a few years, and none survive today. Goodison Park was the first purpose-built association football stadium in the world. Walton -based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested. Everton officials were impressed with
1280-471: A horseshoe shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common, especially in the case of American college football stadiums. Rectangular stadiums are more common in Europe, especially for football where many stadiums have four often distinct and very different stands on the four sides of the stadium. These are often all of different sizes and designs and have been erected at different periods in
1408-432: A hostile takeover bid by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch ; although this attempt did not succeed, Warner sold off several of its assets, among them Atari and Global Soccer, Inc., the subsidiary that operated the Cosmos. Chinaglia bought Global Soccer, and thus controlled the team. His group did not have the capital necessary to keep all of the players signed on expensive contracts by Warner, which resulted in many of
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#17327906280221536-781: A magazine in December 1974, then brought back two years later on Pelé's insistence. The Cosmos also fielded Werner Roth , a Yugoslavian-born U.S. international defender, from 1972 to 1979. A number of Cosmos players were named in the NASL all-star teams selected by the league at the end of each season. No NASL all-star from the Cosmos was born in the United States or Canada, where all of the league's teams were based; apart from Roth, both North Americans selected— Siegfried Stritzl and John Kerr —were born in Yugoslavia and Scotland respectively. The New York Cosmos' first head coach
1664-401: A new arrival from S.S. Lazio . He had been so popular at Lazio that when his move to New York was announced, supporters "threatened to throw themselves beneath the wheels of the plane". By contrast to most of the overseas stars bought by NASL teams, Chinaglia was signed in his prime. He played for the Cosmos for the rest of their history, scoring a record number of goals and points not only for
1792-422: A portion of the ticket sales go to worthy causes (even threatening the box office), while others wanted everyone to get in free. (This was partially accomplished when thousands of concert-goers literally crashed through the gates.) Once the stadium stopped being a major sports venue, Downing was used largely for concerts, serving as a venue for rock concerts such as Lollapalooza in 1994, Pearl Jam in 1996, and
1920-428: A season. The team attempted an independent schedule in 1985, but also canceled that because of low attendance, and the Cosmos folded. Former club employee Peppe Pinton assumed the trademarks and property of the club when it was dissolved, in part because nobody else thought they had any value at that point. Pinton put the trophies, uniforms, and equipment into storage and operated a New Jersey day camp for children under
2048-459: A single sport while others can accommodate different events, particularly ones with retractable seating . Stadiums built specifically for association football are common in Europe; Gaelic games stadiums, such as Croke Park , are common in Ireland, while stadiums built specifically for baseball or American football are common in the United States. The most common multiple use design combines
2176-472: A theme song for the Cosmos. The resulting "The Cosmos Theme" was written by band members Alan Gorrie and Steve Ferrone , and recorded by the band under the pseudonym "The Cosmic Highlanders". Team management originally wanted to use " We Are the Champions " by Queen as the club's theme, but were convinced to use The Cosmos Theme in part by the cheerleaders, who enjoyed dancing to it. The Cosmos Theme
2304-439: Is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event. Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stadion at Olympia , where the word "stadium" originated. Most of
2432-680: Is a true dome structure made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter of 680 feet (210 m). It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world. Even though enclosed, dome stadiums are called stadiums because they are large enough for, and designed for, what are generally considered to be outdoor sports such as athletics, American football , association football , rugby , and baseball . Those designed for what are usually indoor sports like basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are generally called arenas . Exceptions include: Different sports require different playing surfaces of various size and shape. Some stadiums are designed primarily for
2560-733: Is the Nippon Professional Baseball league of Japan, in which many of the teams are themselves named after their parent corporations. Also, many newer European football stadiums, such as the University of Bolton and Emirates Stadiums in England and Signal Iduna Park and Allianz Arena in Germany have been corporately named. This new trend in corporate naming (or renaming) is distinguishable from names of some older venues, such as Crosley Field , Wrigley Field , and
2688-618: The 1908 Summer Olympics in London is often cited as the first modern seater stadium, at least in the UK. Designed by the engineer J.J. Webster and completed in 10 months by George Wimpey , on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition , this stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward VII on 27 April 1908. Upon completion, the stadium had a running track 24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to
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#17327906280222816-412: The 1972 season to the 15,000-seater Hofstra Stadium , on the campus of the namesake university 25 miles (40 km) east of metropolitan New York. After two seasons of continuing low crowds at this out-of-town location, the Cosmos moved again, relocating to the 22,500-capacity Downing Stadium before the 1974 season. It was at Downing Stadium that attendances started to rise significantly, buoyed by
2944-490: The 1983 seasonal average. The largest crowd to attend a Cosmos home game was set in 1977, when the Fort Lauderdale Strikers visited for a playoff match. The game was attended by 77,691 fans, which, at the time, was a record for American soccer. The lowest average attendance for a season was 3,578, in 1974. As of 2011, only Hofstra Stadium remains, now renamed James M. Shuart Stadium. Downing Stadium,
3072-543: The 2004 Summer Olympics . The excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas , and it was the first ancient stadium to be used in modern times. Stadiums in ancient Greece and Rome were built for different purposes, and at first only the Greeks built structures called "stadium"; Romans built structures called " circus ". Greek stadia were for foot races, whereas
3200-794: The Allianz Arena in Munich was called the FIFA World Cup Stadium, Munich during the tournament. Likewise, the same stadium will be known as the "München Arena" during the European Competitions. Similar rules affect the Imtech Arena and Veltins-Arena . This rule applies even if the stadium sponsor is an official FIFA sponsor—the Johannesburg stadium then commercially known as "Coca-Cola Park", bearing
3328-487: The Dallas Tornado with 21,567 spectators in attendance and a national television audience on CBS . The stadium's condition was derided by team staff and television commentators; prior to Pelé's debut match, the field had broken glass and other litter that was cleared before green paint was added to improve its appearance for television audiences. The locker room roof had holes that were patched hours before. In 1976,
3456-668: The East River as a WPA project, 15,000 attendees witnessed Jesse Owens compete at the stadium in the Men's Olympic Trials on July 11, 1936, the opening night of the new facility. Downing Stadium also hosted the Women's Olympic Trials in 1964. Later the stadium hosted the 1991 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships . The stadium was also used as a filming site for a Sesame Street segment about The Flashettes girls track team. Triborough Stadium served as one of two home stadiums of
3584-587: The European Cup at the time. The teams drew 1–1 in front of 12,000 people. A friendly held at the stadium in July 1973 between Haiti and Millonarios of Colombia was delayed for more than two hours and forty five minutes by Haitian exiles protesting against the Duvalier regime. At one point, Haitian manager Antoine Tassy took his team to the dressing room and said that they were going home. He later made
3712-603: The Los Angeles Aztecs , for example, signed George Best and Johan Cruyff in 1976 and 1979 respectively. Cosmos road trips, described by traveling secretary Steve Marshall as "like traveling with the Rolling Stones ", saw the team pack out each stadium it visited, while at home, the team attracted numerous high-profile supporters. While soccer had previously been largely ignored by the American press,
3840-429: The Major Indoor Soccer League for the 1984–85 season, but was fired in early December, halfway through the season, and replaced by Klivecka, who returned after two games under the caretaker management of goalkeeper Hubert Birkenmeier . Klivecka was retained until the team ceased competitive play. With five championships and seven first-place finishes, the Cosmos still rank as tied for the most successful franchise in
3968-638: The National Football League or the American Football League . (To a certain extent, this continues in lower football leagues as well, with the venue now known as Charles Schwab Field Omaha being used as the home stadium of the United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks .) Along with today's single use stadiums is the trend for retro-style ballparks closer to downtown areas. Oriole Park at Camden Yards
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4096-640: The Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (of association football), during which cities often pledge to build new stadiums in order to satisfy the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA . In recent decades, to help take the burden of the massive expense of building and maintaining a stadium, many American and European sports teams have sold the rights to the name of the facility. This trend, which began in
4224-483: The Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1997. The stadium was torn down in 2002 in order to be replaced by a newer, smaller complex, Icahn Stadium , which was completed in 2004. This facility is used primarily for track and field . 40°47′38″N 73°55′27″W / 40.79389°N 73.92417°W / 40.79389; -73.92417 Stadium A stadium ( pl. : stadiums or stadia )
4352-577: The Yankees and bigger than the Giants . We had our own tables at all the clubs. But we weren't any more decadent than players today. Shep Messing on the Cosmos' cultural stature The Cosmos, as the flagship team of the NASL, embodied what Hirshey labeled the "nexus of soccer and showbiz", and became Warner Communications ' most culturally visible asset. After Pelé signed for New York, many other European and South American stars joined NASL teams;
4480-532: The new Cosmos team played parts of five seasons in second- and third-tier leagues before suspending operations. The club was founded in December 1970 by Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun , renowned executives at Atlantic Records , whose parent company Warner Communications acquired the Cosmos in April 1972. The team's first recruit was the Englishman Clive Toye , a former sportswriter who had moved to
4608-415: The second AFL team New York Yankees (along with Yankee Stadium ) in 1936 and 1937 . The first televised American football game was held at Triborough on September 30, 1939, as Fordham took on Waynesburg . It was for many years the home of Cardinal Hayes High School football teams. NYU's football team also played its last two seasons at Triborough in 1951 and 1952. The England first team played
4736-590: The 1960s stadiums began to be used as live venues for popular music, giving rise to the term " stadium rock ", particularly for forms of hard rock and progressive rock . The origins of stadium rock are sometimes dated to when the Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York in 1965. Also important was the use of large stadiums for American tours by bands in the later 1960s, such as the Rolling Stones , Grand Funk Railroad and Led Zeppelin . The tendency developed in
4864-604: The 1970s, but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones. In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years. But many of the more recently built stadiums, like the Volkswagen Arena in Wolfsburg , Germany, have never been known by a non-corporate name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. There remain
4992-435: The 1984–85 season, with Klivecka briefly returning as coach, but withdrew after 33 games due to low attendance. The organization tried to operate as an independent team in 1985, but could not finish a single season and the club finally folded. Former club employee Peppe Pinton, who started with the Cosmos as Giorgio Chinaglia's personal assistant and was promoted to General Manager when Chinaglia assumed control, ended up with
5120-532: The 1990s. In several cases, an American football stadium has been constructed adjacent to a baseball park , to allow for the sharing of mutual parking lots and other amenities. With the rise of MLS, the construction of soccer-specific stadiums has also increased since the late 1990s to better fit the needs of that sport. In many cases, earlier baseball stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block. This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee Stadium , for example,
5248-620: The Bronx , before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey , where the club remained for the rest of its history. Founded in December 1970, the team competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) until 1984 and was the strongest franchise in that league, both competitively and financially – based largely around its backing by Warner Communications President Steve Ross , which enabled it to sign internationally famous stars such as
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5376-465: The Bronx. We were everything to everybody." The New York Cosmos are famous for having fielded numerous well-known players, almost all of whom were from outside the United States: examples include Pelé , Franz Beckenbauer , Giorgio Chinaglia from S.S. Lazio and Carlos Alberto . American players of note include goalkeeper Shep Messing – who was notoriously sold after posing nude for
5504-398: The Cosmos and other NASL teams now became regular fixtures on the back pages. However, just as Pelé had kick-started the development of soccer in the U.S., his retirement in 1977 would mark the start of a decline. With nobody of the same stature to personify the sport, the popularity that had been built up nosedived just as quickly as it had appeared. The league's television deal with ABC
5632-531: The Cosmos in every season before he was traded in 1975 to the Washington Diplomats . It was during the 1975 season that the Cosmos acquired the Brazilian star Pelé , whom they had been attempting to sign since the team was created. Ross had apparently not heard of him before getting involved in soccer, but agreed to finance the transfer when Toye compared the Brazilian's popularity to that of
5760-506: The Cosmos made history by becoming the first Western professional sports team to play in China. They drew their opening match with the Chinese national team 1-1, and lost the second game 2-1 despite Pelé scoring a free kick. After the retirement of Pelé in 1977, much of the progress that American soccer had made during his stay was lost; there was no star at the same level to replace him as
5888-606: The Cosmos moved out, back to Yankee Stadium (where they had spent their debut season in 1971); for years afterward, the words "COSMOS SOCCER" remained on the stadium to be seen from the nearby highway viaduct on the Triborough Bridge . Downing's last pro soccer tenant were the New York Centaurs of the A-League in 1995. The site was considered for a 48,000-seat capacity soccer specific stadium , based on
6016-503: The Cosmos name and brand to English businessman Paul Kemsley in 2009, whose group announced a new team with the Cosmos' name in August 2010. Kemsley put the original club's trophies on display in the new club's office in SoHo . He and the other owners initially intended to become an MLS expansion franchise, but ultimately turned down the invitation to apply. Kemsley's team instead joined
6144-716: The Cosmos transformed soccer across the country almost immediately, lending credibility not only to the Cosmos, but also to the NASL and soccer in general. Within days of the Brazilian's arrival, the increased media attention had caused the Cosmos' office staff to increase from five people to more than 50. Soccer became seen as a viable alternative to more traditional "American" sports such as basketball, baseball and American football. The Cosmos, in particular, became an internationally famous club – "the most glamorous team in world football", in Newsham's words, or "soccer demigods" in those of ESPN writer David Hirshey. We were as big as
6272-402: The Cosmos, but for the entire league. He shared an unusual personal bond with the club's ultimate controller, Ross, and was therefore treated differently from the other players, including Pelé. Crowds rose with the arrival of these and other European and South American international players, resulting in a move back to Yankee Stadium for the 1976 season. With numerous foreign stars arriving at
6400-568: The Cosmos, called Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos , was released in theaters in 2006. The film, narrated by Matt Dillon , featured interviews with many of the players and personalities involved with the team. For the team's initial uniform Cosmos general manager Clive Toye chose the green and yellow of the Brazil national team as part of his strategy to lure Pelé, one of that country's star players, to
6528-555: The Cosmos, the team's competitive performance improved, as New York reached the play-offs at the end of the season, but lost in the divisional championship match to the Tampa Bay Rowdies . The Cosmos relocated again before the 1977 season, to the newly constructed Giants Stadium in New Jersey , and at the same time dropped the prefix "New York" and played simply as "the Cosmos", without a geographical name. The city name
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#17327906280226656-604: The Erteguns wished to use the name originally suggested by Nesuhi, the "New York Blues"; and another part of the ownership group wanted to adopt the name "New York Lovers". Toye then staged a rigged "name the team" contest, receiving 3,000 entries and selecting one that just happened to match his pre-determined winner. Two NYC teachers, Meyer Diller and Al Capelli, from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens, entered
6784-668: The Games consisted of a single event, a sprint along the length of the stadium. Greek and Roman stadiums have been found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being the Stadium of Domitian , in Rome. The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic Stadium hosted attempted revivals of the Olympic Games in 1870 and 1875 before hosting the first modern Olympics in 1896 , the 1906 Intercalated Games , and some events of
6912-415: The NASL's headline act. After enduring briefly during the late 1970s, attendances dropped after 1980. The sport's popularity fell and the media lost interest. The deal with broadcaster ABC to broadcast NASL matches was also lost in 1980, and the 1981 Soccer Bowl was only shown on tape delay . All of the franchises quickly became unprofitable, and a salary cap enforced before the 1984 season only delayed
7040-548: The National Conference championship game in 1979. Firmani lost his job after falling out with Giorgio Chinaglia , a favorite of the Cosmos hierarchy. His assistant, Ray Klivecka, who was born in Lithuania, became the team's first American head coach when he took Firmani's place midway through 1979. Klivecka was replaced before the 1980 season by Brazilian coach Júlio Mazzei , who won the Cosmos' fourth title at
7168-540: The New York Jazz Festival took place at Downing Stadium. Performers included Ray Charles , Miles Davis , Dizzy Gillespie , Miriam Makeba , and Mongo Santamaria . On August 31, 1968, T.P. Productions presented N.Y. City Fun Festival at Downing, which included performances by Sam & Dave , Stevie Wonder , Wilson Pickett , B.B. King , Arthur Conley , Big Maybelle , and the Mirettes . After
7296-534: The Pope . Pelé joined the Cosmos on June 10, 1975, on a salary of $ 1.4 million per year, an enormous wage for an athlete at that time. A number of contracts—only one of which mentioned soccer—were set up for Pelé to ensure that he paid the lowest amount of tax possible, including one as a "recording artist" with Warner subsidiary Atlantic Records . "We owned him lock, stock and barrel," Toye retrospectively boasted. They also signed Mike Dillon in 1975. The Pelé deal
7424-474: The Roman circus was for horse races. Both had similar shapes and bowl-like areas around them for spectators. The Greeks also developed the theatre, with its seating arrangements foreshadowing those of modern stadiums. The Romans copied the theatre, then expanded it to accommodate larger crowds and more elaborate settings. The Romans also developed the double-sized round theatre called amphitheatre , seating crowds in
7552-487: The U.S. The Baker Bowl , a baseball park in Philadelphia that opened in its original form in 1887 but was completely rebuilt in 1895, broke new ground in stadium construction in two major ways. The stadium's second incarnation featured the world's first cantilevered second deck (tier) in a sports venue, and was the first baseball park to use steel and brick for the majority of its construction. Another influential venue
7680-867: The UK include the Stamford Bridge stadium (opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club ) and Anfield stadium (1884 as a venue for Everton F.C. ). In the U.S., many professional baseball teams built large stadiums mainly out of wood , with the first such venue being the South End Grounds in Boston , opened in 1871 for the team then known as the Boston Beaneaters (now the Atlanta Braves ). Many of these parks caught fire, and those that did not proved inadequate for
7808-453: The US is bleachers , which is mostly used for seating areas with bench seats as opposed to individual seats, and which often are uncovered; the name refers to the bleaching effect direct, unshaded sunlight has on the benches and patrons in those sections. Many stadiums make luxury suites or boxes available to patrons at high prices. These suites can accommodate ten to thirty people, depending on
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#17327906280227936-624: The US team played Scotland on Randalls Island on June 19, 1949, with the Scots winning, 4–0, with 17,000 in attendance; on May 27, 1964, the English squad crushed the Americans, 10–0, in front of just 5,062 fans. Another friendly match took place in 1965 between the Argentine team CA Independiente , winners of the 1965 Copa Libertadores , and Spanish giants Real Madrid , five times champion of
8064-403: The United Kingdom and baseball in the United States, the first such structures were built. One such early stadium was the Lansdowne Road Stadium , the brainchild of Henry Dunlop , who organised the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. Banned from locating sporting events at Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. "I laid down a cinder running path of a quarter-mile, laid down
8192-436: The United States in 1967 to become general manager of the short-lived Baltimore Bays ; he was given the same post in New York. Toye sought to convey the new team's ambitions within its name, and reasoned that he could outdo the "Metropolitans" label referenced by the then-nine-year-old New York Mets baseball team by calling his team the "Cosmos", shortened from "Cosmopolitans". However, the owners preferred other possible names:
8320-400: The United States in Downing Stadium, on May 27, 1964, winning 10-0. In 1966, the Continental Football League 's Brooklyn Dodgers , unable to find a suitable field in Brooklyn ( Ebbets Field had been torn down in 1960), played their home games at Downing. (Coincidentally, the football Dodgers wound up playing under the same lights used at Ebbets, as they had been moved to Randalls Island upon
8448-447: The United States. The club's initial uniform was all green with yellow trim, with the colors reversed on the road uniform. Coincidentally, the colors were the same as those of the previous New York NASL team, the New York Generals, which had folded after the 1968 season. When Pelé did come on board in 1975, the uniform was changed to all-white in imitation of his club in Brazil, Santos FC . The green and yellow elements were relegated to
8576-415: The arrival of stars such as Pelé , who arrived in 1975 . For the Brazilian's first match, the stadium was full; "there must have been another 50,000 turned away", coach Gordon Bradley later claimed. These larger attendances necessitated another move, which occurred in 1976 , when the Cosmos returned to Yankee Stadium. This time the team averaged 18,227 fans over the course of the season, over four times
8704-405: The atmosphere surrounding the Cosmos When Pelé arrived at the Cosmos in 1975, American soccer was, in Newsham's phrase, "dying a slow, painful and largely unnoticed death". The sport was not taken seriously by the bulk of the American media, and was of little interest to the public. Matches were often played in front of almost-empty stands, receiving modest press coverage. The signing of Pelé by
8832-424: The average 1971 gate. The team then moved yet again before the 1977 season, to the newly built Giants Stadium , where attendances skyrocketed; crowds peaked at an average of 47,856 during 1978 . The Cosmos remained at Giants Stadium for the rest of their time in the NASL. Attendances gradually fell as the league declined during the early 1980s, then finally slumped in 1984 , when they dropped by more than half from
8960-399: The builder's workmanship and agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost of £150 and 12 turnstiles were installed at a cost of £7 each. The stadium was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000 crowd watched a short track and field event followed by music and
9088-421: The club was Gordon Bradley , an English professional who had moved to North America in 1963 and played for the New York Generals in 1968. He was made player-coach , a position he would hold until 1975. Bradley's team finished second in its division in its first year, playing at Yankee Stadium , home of the New York Yankees baseball team and the New York Giants football team. Randy Horton , from Bermuda ,
9216-476: The club's assets largely because he was the only one at the time who felt they had any value. Pinton put the trophies, uniforms, and equipment into storage and took over the club's day camp for children at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey changing the name from "Pele Soccer Camps" to "Cosmos Soccer Camp". Since the original New York Cosmos club's demise in 1985, there had been attempts to revive it. With
9344-458: The construction of new facilities. In Europe and Latin America, where there are multiple association football clubs in any given city, and several leagues in each country, no such monopoly power exists, and stadiums are built primarily with private money. Outside professional sports, governments are also involved through the intense competition for the right to host major sporting events, primarily
9472-457: The contest and submitted the name "Cosmos". The two physical education teachers had independently used Toye's method of deriving it from "cosmopolitan". The two men were awarded a trip to Europe as a prize. The team name was officially unveiled on February 4, 1971. The New York Cosmos entered the 1968-founded North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1970 and made their field debut in the league's fourth season in 1971. The first roster signing of
9600-595: The course of larger tours to Europe. They last played a New York Metropolitan selection in October 1972, beating their hosts 41–9. In October 1997, Downing played host to a Gaelic football match between Cavan and Kerry ; the game was moved to New York in order to commemorate the 1947 All Ireland Final between the same teams played at the Polo Grounds . In May 1989, Downing hosted a number of international cricket players from Pakistan and India . They played
9728-540: The design of the City of Manchester Stadium , had the New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics been successful. The plan was shelved when New York lost out to London . The stadium was also used for some Negro league baseball games in the 1930s; it was the home of the New York Black Yankees in 1938. The stadium also played host to the rugby football New Zealand All Blacks several times, in
9856-403: The end of that campaign before being succeeded by two joint head coaches, Hennes Weisweiler & Yasin Özdenak , in 1980. This duo's team came second in the 1981 NASL before Mazzei returned in 1982 and won his second championship with the Cosmos during that year. Firmani returned in 1984, the NASL's final year, in which the Cosmos failed to make the playoffs. Firmani remained as the team entered
9984-408: The first and second Busch Stadiums , in that the parks were named by and for the club's owner, which also happened to be the name of the company owned by those clubowners. (The current Busch Stadium received its name via a modern naming rights agreement.) During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, some stadiums were temporarily renamed because FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadiums. For example,
10112-548: The game 2–1. Pelé's compatriot, former Brazil captain Carlos Alberto was signed in 1977, at the same time as Franz Beckenbauer , who had captained the 1974 FIFA World Cup -winning West Germany national team . On the field, New York won three out of four championships, in 1977, 1978 and 1980. A playoff game against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1977 drew a crowd of 77,691, a record for American club soccer. The team's average attendances, regularly over 40,000 during
10240-412: The inevitable. The league folded at the end of 1984, following the loss of most of its franchises. The Cosmos had financial problems of their own, on top of those affecting the league in general. Much of the Cosmos' ability to attract the well-known overseas players it had acquired was due to the financial resources of parent company Warner Communications . In the early 1980s, Warner was the target of
10368-476: The largest among them, are megaprojects that can only be afforded by the largest corporations, wealthiest individuals, or government. Sports fans have a deep emotional attachment to their teams. In North America, with its closed-league " franchise " system, there are fewer teams than cities which would like them. This creates tremendous bargaining power for the owners of teams, whereby owners can threaten to relocate teams to other cities unless governments subsidize
10496-422: The late 1970s, were the biggest in the league; this helped it to become regarded as the league's "marquee club", both commercially and competitively. Firmani was fired in 1979; he claimed, after falling out with Chinaglia. His assistant, Ray Klivecka , replaced him, becoming the team's first American-born coach. He lasted a season before himself being replaced by Júlio Mazzei . On Pelé's farewell tour in 1977,
10624-417: The late Brazilian forward Pelé , Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia , the late West German sweeper Franz Beckenbauer , and famous late Brazilian rightback Carlos Alberto Torres . The acquisition of these foreign players, particularly Pelé, made the Cosmos into what journalist Gavin Newsham called "the most glamorous team in world football", and contributed to the development of soccer across the United States,
10752-697: The lead of Aerosmith and including Mötley Crüe , Quiet Riot , W.A.S.P. and Ratt . Since the 1980s, rock, pop and folk stars, including the Grateful Dead , Madonna , Michael Jackson , Beyoncé , Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift , have undertaken large-scale stadium based concert tours . New York Cosmos (1971%E2%80%931985) The New York Cosmos (simply the Cosmos in 1977–1978) were an American professional soccer club based in New York City and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York, including Yankee Stadium in
10880-466: The length of 600 human feet. As feet are of variable length the exact length of a stadion depends on the exact length adopted for 1 foot at a given place and time. Although in modern terms 1 stadion = 600 ft (180 m), in a given historical context it may actually signify a length up to 15% larger or smaller. The equivalent Roman measure, the stadium , had a similar length – about 185 m (607 ft) – but instead of being defined in feet
11008-568: The logo purposefully avoided the standard American red, white and blue. In this the Cosmos succeeded, attracting noticeable support from local Europeans, Middle-Easterners and South Americans. The association of the team with the city's high society in both social and sporting contexts led to it becoming very popular among celebrities, both American and international. "We transcended everything, every culture, every socio-economic boundary," goalkeeper Shep Messing said in 2006. "We were international, we were European, we were cool, we were Americans from
11136-405: The match, against the Dallas Tornado , was broadcast to 22 countries and covered by more than 300 journalists from all over the world. Although New York finished third at season end, it was still too low a placing to reach the post-season. Bradley was replaced for the 1976 season by another Englishman, Ken Furphy , who paired Pelé up front with Italian international forward Giorgio Chinaglia ,
11264-418: The mid-1970s as the increased power of amplification and sound systems allowed the use of larger and larger venues. Smoke, fireworks and sophisticated lighting shows became staples of arena rock performances. Key acts from this era included Journey , REO Speedwagon , Boston , Foreigner , Styx , Kiss , Peter Frampton and Queen . In the 1980s arena rock became dominated by glam metal bands, following
11392-456: The mile (536 m); outside there was a 35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a swimming and diving pool. The London Highbury Stadium , built in 1913, was the first stadium in the UK to feature a two-tiered seating arrangement when it was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1936. During these decades, parallel stadium developments were taking place in
11520-520: The name "Cosmos Soccer Camp". Attempts were made to revive the Cosmos name during the 1990s and 2000s, most notably as a Major League Soccer (MLS) club. Pinton refused to sell the name and image rights, believing that MLS would not honor the club's heritage. Following the revival of several former NASL names in MLS, Pinton sold the rights for $ 2 million to an international, English-based consortium in August 2009. That group ultimately chose not to join MLS, and
11648-481: The name of one of FIFA's major sponsors , was known by its historic name of Ellis Park Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup . Corporate names are also temporarily replaced during the Olympics. Modern stadiums bring several negative environmental issues with their construction. They require thousands of tons of materials to build, they greatly increase traffic in the area around the stadium, as well as maintaining
11776-401: The namesake corporation changes its name, or if it is the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field , for example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark, but was renamed to reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years, but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and it
11904-471: The new second-tier incarnation of the North American Soccer League , starting play in its 2013 Fall season. It played for the next four seasons before the league folded. The Cosmos then joined the third-tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), but played only half a season before going on hiatus. Sometimes, in the dressing room, I think I am in Hollywood. Franz Beckenbauer on
12032-475: The old stadiums they replace. In North America, where baseball and American football are the two most popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were successful. Since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly different, the trend has been toward the construction of single-purpose stadiums, beginning with Kansas City in 1972–1973 and accelerating in
12160-645: The older stadium's destruction.) The club would play only three games at Downing before the league took over the franchise and shifted their remaining home games elsewhere. Eight years later, Downing Stadium became the home of the New York Stars of the WFL ; like the Dodgers, the Stars left the stadium before the season ended, shifting to Charlotte . Randalls Island was the site of three international soccer matches:
12288-581: The original Yankee Stadium and Giants Stadium were demolished in 2002, 2008 and 2010 respectively. While playing indoor soccer , the Cosmos' home arenas were the Brendan Byrne Arena (now the Meadowlands Arena) and Madison Square Garden . The Cosmos sought to maximize their fanbase by appealing to as wide a demographic as possible. The club's name and badge were designed to be inclusive of New York's many immigrant communities;
12416-504: The play-offs once more in 1973, but were knocked out at the semi-final stage. Bradley coached the United States national team for six games during 1973—picking himself in one, despite not being an American citizen—but lost them all. Before the 1974 season, the Cosmos moved again, settling at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island . In their first year at their new base, they finished bottom of their division. Horton top scored for
12544-527: The present Lansdowne Tennis Club ground with my own theodolite, started a Lansdowne archery club, a Lansdowne cricket club, and last, but not least, the Lansdowne Rugby Football Club – colours red, black and yellow." Some 300 cartloads of soil from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, allowing Dunlop to use his engineering expertise to create a pitch envied around Ireland. Other early stadiums from this period in
12672-828: The public. An "all-seater" stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term "all-seater" is not common in the U.S., as very few American stadiums have sizeable standing-only sections. Poor stadium design has contributed to disasters, such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel Stadium disaster . Since these, all Premier League , UEFA European Championship and FIFA World Cup qualifying matches require all spectators to be seated. Seating areas may be known as terraces , tiers , or decks . Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped with seating. Another term used in
12800-659: The rise of Major League Soccer (MLS), various New York area entities—including two different ownership groups from the Metrostars/New York Red Bulls —lobbied Pinton for the acquisition of the Cosmos name. Pinton refused to sell to an MLS team, believing that the league would not acknowledge the Cosmos' legacy. However, when old NASL names such as the San Jose Earthquakes , Seattle Sounders , Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps were revived as MLS franchises, he reconsidered. He sold
12928-401: The stadium's history. The vastly differing character of European football stadiums has led to the growing hobby of ground hopping where spectators make a journey to visit the stadium for itself rather than for the event held there. In recent years the trend of building completely new oval stadiums in Europe has led to traditionalists criticising the designs as bland and lacking in the character of
13056-536: The stadium. The increased traffic around modern stadiums has led to create exposure zones says the Health Effect Institute, exposing 30–40% of people living around the stadium to potential health issues. Many stadiums are attempting to counteract these issues by implementing solar panels, and high efficiency lighting, to reduce their own carbon footprint. Although concerts, such as classical music, had been presented in them for decades, beginning in
13184-451: The stadiums with a capacity of at least 10,000 are used for association football . Other popular stadium sports include gridiron football , baseball , cricket , the various codes of rugby , field lacrosse , bandy , and bullfighting . Many large sports venues are also used for concerts. "Stadium" is the Latin form of the Greek word " stadion " ( στάδιον ), a measure of length equalling
13312-410: The stars being sold. The club won its last title in 1982, and by the last season of the NASL, 1984, had missed the play-offs for the first time since 1975. The precipitous decline of the Cosmos after the 1983 season became for many fans and the media proof positive of the grave condition of the whole NASL. Following the collapse of the NASL, the team competed in the Major Indoor Soccer League during
13440-491: The start of the "jewel box" era of park construction. The largest stadium crowd ever was 199,854 people watching the final match of the 1950 World Cup at Rio de Janeiro 's Maracanã on 16 July 1950. Domed stadiums are distinguished from conventional stadiums by their enclosing roofs. Many of these are not actually domes in the pure architectural sense, some being better described as vaults , some having truss -supported roofs and others having more exotic designs such as
13568-455: The team's logo was Wayland Moore, a sports artist from Atlanta who had already worked on the logo, uniform and program covers of that city's soccer team, the Chiefs . Moore attempted to create a design that was simple, recognizable and inclusive of New York's many nationalities. The three colored "blades" surrounding the soccer ball in the center represent movement, while the font originally used
13696-452: The tens of thousands for gladiatorial combats and beast shows. The Greek stadium and theatre and the Roman circus and amphitheatre are all ancestral to the modern stadium. The first stadiums to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. With tremendous growth in the popularity of organised sport in the late Victorian era , especially association football in
13824-510: The trim. The green shirt was concurrently matched with white shorts to become the new away uniform. Uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren were used from 1979 to the end; the home uniform remained all-white, though with navy and yellow trim replacing the green and white trim of the previous outfit. The away uniform became navy shirts and shorts with yellow trim, paired with unusual yellow-and-navy hooped socks, which were later replaced with plain navy blue ones. The artist commissioned by Toye to design
13952-480: The triumph of Woodstock the previous year, the three-day New York Pop Festival tried to re-create its success in New York City, opening on Randalls Island on July 17, 1970. Unfortunately, the concert was a bust, as half the big name lineup failed to show up (although Jimi Hendrix performed a memorable set). What is more, the festival was picketed by several radical groups: some of the protesters demanded that
14080-562: The venue. Luxury suites at events such as the Super Bowl can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Due to the number of people congregating in stadiums and the frequency of events, many notable accidents have occurred in the past, some causing injury and death. For example, the Hillsborough disaster was a human crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield , England on 15 April 1989. The resulting 97 deaths and 765 injuries makes this
14208-461: The worst disaster in British sporting history. Much effort has been spent to avoid the recurrence of such events, both in design and legislation. Especially where there is a perceived risk of terrorism or violence attention remains high to prevent human death and keep stadiums as places where families can enjoy a public event together. In Europe and South America, during the twentieth century, it
14336-585: Was Boston 's Harvard Stadium , built in 1903 by Harvard University for its American football team and track and field program. It was the world's first stadium to use concrete-and-steel construction. In 1909, concrete-and-steel construction came to baseball with the opening of Shibe Park in Philadelphia and, a few months later, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh . The latter was the world's first three-tiered sporting venue. The opening of these parks marked
14464-557: Was another Englishman, Ken Furphy . His Cosmos succeeded in reaching the post-season, but lost the divisional championship game to Vancouver , prompting Furphy's own departure in favor of a return for Bradley, whose second spell lasted only half a season before he was promoted to an advisory role. Eddie Firmani , the South African-born former Italy forward, took over midway through the 1977 season. His star-studded team won two consecutive Soccer Bowls —1977 and 1978—but lost
14592-613: Was another two years before the new name of Monster Cable Products ' Monster Park was applied. Local opposition to the corporate naming of that particular stadium led San Francisco's city council to permanently restore the Candlestick Park name once the Monster contract expired. More recently, in Ireland, there has been huge opposition to the renaming of Dublin 's historic Lansdowne Road as the Aviva Stadium . Lansdowne
14720-525: Was built on a triangular city block in The Bronx , New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a small right field dimension. Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States, many baseball parks, including Fenway Park , the Polo Grounds , Wrigley Field , Comiskey Park , Tiger Stadium , Griffith Stadium , Milwaukee County Stadium , Shibe Park , Forbes Field , Yankee Stadium , and Sportsman's Park were used by
14848-478: Was chosen simply because it was easily legible on the uniform. The text on the logo was shortened to "Cosmos" in 1977, concurrently with the team's dropping of the "New York" label. The city name was restored two years later, but the badge remained unchanged. Uniform suppliers used by the team: Ahmet Ertegun used his connections to recruit Atlantic Records artists the Average White Band to create
14976-750: Was common for violent bands of supporters to fight inside or close to association football stadiums. In the United Kingdom they are known as hooligans . Structural features that increase safety include separate entry and exit accesses for each spectator area, especially separating accesses for home and visitor supporters, dividing walls, glass parapets, vibration attenuation and sprinkler systems. Security features that have been adopted include armed surveillance, Identity document checks, video surveillance , metal detectors and security searches to enforce rules that forbid spectators to carry dangerous or potentially dangerous items. Modern stadiums, especially
15104-477: Was defined using the Roman standard passus to be a distance of 125 passūs (double-paces). The English use of stadium comes from the tiered infrastructure surrounding a Roman track of such length. Most dictionaries provide for both stadiums and stadia as valid English plurals. The oldest known stadium is the Stadium at Olympia in Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held from 776 BC. Initially
15232-399: Was later described by Gavin Newsham, an English writer, as "the transfer coup of the century". His arrival turned the Cosmos from a motley crew of foreigners, semi-professionals and students into a huge commercial presence. The club's groundsman, on hearing that the Brazilian's début for New York was to be broadcast on CBS , spray-painted the pitch green to disguise how little grass was on it:
15360-459: Was lost at the end of 1980 and a salary cap, enforced before the 1984 season, caused many of the remaining overseas stars—lured to America by fat pay packets—to return to the European and South American leagues. The NASL collapsed abruptly in late 1984, and was not replaced by a new professional soccer league until Major League Soccer 's first season in 1996. A feature-length documentary about
15488-516: Was named the league's Rookie of the Year after scoring 16 goals and 37 points, the most by any New York player. In 1972, the team moved to Hofstra Stadium where they won their first league title with a 2–1 victory over the St. Louis Stars . Horton was the league's top scorer and Most Valuable Player , with 9 goals and 22 points from the 14 regular-season games and two post-season matches. The Cosmos reached
15616-529: Was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators and featured seating in the south stand under cover, while the remaining three stands were left as terraces and uncovered. It was the first stadium to feature continuous seating along the contours of the stadium. These early venues, originally designed to host football matches, were adopted for use by the Olympic Games, the first one being held in 1896 in Athens , Greece. The White City Stadium , built for
15744-577: Was played extensively at Giants Stadium, and on television broadcasts of Cosmos games. The Cosmos' first home stadium was Yankee Stadium , home to both the New York Yankees baseball team and the New York Giants football team, where they played throughout the 1971 season. Attendances during the club's first year averaged at 4,517, less than 7% of the stadium's capacity, which was at that time 65,010. The Cosmos therefore moved before
15872-529: Was redeveloped as the Aviva, opening in May 2010. On the other hand, Los Angeles' Great Western Forum , one of the earliest examples of corporate renaming, retained its name for many years, even after the namesake bank no longer existed, the corporate name being dropped only after the building later changed ownership. This practice has typically been less common in countries outside the United States. A notable exception
16000-563: Was reportedly the first floodlit stadium. Floodlighting in association football dates as far back as 1878, when there were floodlit experimental matches at Bramall Lane, Sheffield during the dark winter afternoons. With no national grid , lights were powered by batteries and dynamoes , and were unreliable. Since the development of electrical grids, lighting has been an important element in stadium design, allowing games to be played after sundown, and in covered, or partly covered stadiums that allow less natural light, but provide more shelter for
16128-536: Was restored in 1979. Bradley returned as coach for the 1977 season in place of the dismissed Furphy, but was removed after half of the season to become the club's vice-president of player personnel. South African-born former Italy international Eddie Firmani took his place. Pelé played his last professional match 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
16256-570: Was the English-American professional Gordon Bradley , who had played in the English Football League 's lower divisions during the 1950s before moving to America in 1963. Bradley came out of retirement to become player-coach , a role he retained until his departure in 1975. Bradley's team won the league championship in 1972, but after it failed to reach the playoffs in both 1974 and 1975, he was dismissed. His replacement
16384-525: Was the first such ballpark for Major League Baseball to be built, using early-20th-century styling with 21st-century amenities. There is a solar-powered stadium in Taiwan that produces as much energy as it needs to function. Stadium designers often study acoustics to increase noise caused by fans' voices, aiming to create a lively atmosphere. Until the advent of floodlights , most games played on large areas had to rely on natural lighting. Bramall Lane
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