July 12, 2007


BIG APPLE SOCCER RECREATES COSMOS 1977 SUMMER TO REMEMBER


The Bronx may have been burning in the Summer of 1977, but East Rutherford, NJ was being lit up by a stellar array of soccer stars who were dazzling record crowds on the way to a storybook finale for the game’s greatest star.

BigAppleSoccer.com, the award winning web site covering soccer in the New York metropolitan area, is re-creating that memorable summer, recapping the events as they unfolded, in many cases using news stories or team press releases written in 1977.

The Summer of 1977 was one of the most memorable in the history of American soccer.

It was the year of Pele’s Farewell, of record-setting crowds at Giants Stadium, and of the Cosmos Soccer Bowl triumph.

It was the year, in the eyes of many, that put American soccer on the map, and while the Cosmos and the North American Soccer League ultimately folded, the history, the legacy and the impact have not faded.

Executive Editor Charles Cuttone worked for the team, and will add a historical perspective and commentary from time to time. In addition, Editor Michael Lewis, who covered the NASL and the Rochester Lancers for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, also will add perspective and commentary.

“We hope covering the 1977 season as it happened will give old fans a nostalgic trip down memory lane, and will also provide younger fans with a look back at one of the most important times in American soccer history,” said Cuttone who started working for the team just before the arrival of Pele in 1975.

Stories from the 1977 Cosmos season will be highlighted regularly on the home page of Big Apple Soccer, and will also be available in the special history section of the web site at http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/sections/history.php

1977: A Summer to Remember is sponsored by Throwbackmax.com, a manufacturer of team apparel which has produced a line of Cosmos and other historical soccer apparel.