The club that refused to die

Yet, this proud club simply refused to die. First in the memory of sepia-tinted celluloid. Then in reality.

On July 7 2006, the acclaimed documentary film Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos was released. The film by Paul Crowder and John Dower on the mesmerising history and inherent style of the Cosmos, premiered in New York City, reminding the world of what a grip this special club had on football romantics across the globe.

As Cosmos’ passionate Five Points member Jose explained: “The history of our group goes back to the late 2000s when the Cosmos came out of dormancy. They went to join the MLS, that kind of fell through, so they went to join a new league [North American Soccer League]. That did really well, and we supported that. We all loved the club, and were heartbroken when it basically died.

“Yet we [the supporter groups] all still kept in touch, kept in touch behind the scenes, and we never lost hope. One of which is the CEO of the Cosmos, Erik Stober.”

In 2011, the Cosmos finally returned for Paul Scholes’s testimonial against Manchester United. Featuring guest legends such as Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira, as well as 2006 World Cup winner and Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro, the phoenix stirred, if it did not rise immediately from the ashes. Such was the excitement around its rebirth it made barely a difference that the Cosmos lost 6-0 at Old Trafford.

Two summers later, the Cosmos’ reboot began in earnest with a 2-1 win over Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Hofstra. The momentum continued 12 months later, when Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez joined the Cosmos after a stellar 16 years at the Bernabeu, which included a trio of Champions League baubles.

“So, when I saw in the newspaper that they were coming back, I took my eight-year-old son, the same way I fell in love with the Cosmos as an eight-year-old, I brought him to a game in 2013,” Jose tells me.

What was his reaction? “His reaction was that he fell in love with the team,” Jose says with no little pride as a father, smiling: “He’s now on the snare drum in the No 1 soccer band in the land.”

In 2015, the Cosmos became the first US sports team to visit Cuba. With Pele watching on, they beat the Cuban national team 4-1 in Havana. Later that year, the Cosmos sealed their seventh NASL title, with a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Fury, as legends Raul and Marcos Senna retired as champions at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.

In May 2019, the Cosmos hosted left-wing German club FC St Pauli at Columbia University, winning 2-1 in what was the club’s first home international friendly since 1985.

And in 2025, civic and business leader Baye Adofo-Wilson and his group acquired the Cosmos, with the club keeping his promise that they would play in USL League One this year, at Paterson’s historic Hinchliffe Stadium. With plans to launch the club’s first women’s team next year.

Jose says Five Points is “old heads from the original teams, and those of us who came in new.” He adds: “Now, we’re sort of the old heads because we remember the 2.0 team, and now we’re the 3.0 team.”

Why are more and more supporters either returning, or discovering the magic of the latest iteration of the magical Cosmos?

“I think that for some of the supporters coming in from the New Jersey area,” answers Jose, “it’s an ability to connect to a club in a more visceral way, let’s say from New Jersey Red Bulls, where the stadium is more corporate. It’s harder for you to get involved.

“Here you have more opportunity. It’s more community driven. So we’re picking people up through that.

“We also have people who are more disillusioned with the sporting side, or they don’t have anything locally to go to, and now suddenly the Cosmos is here.”

Jose says: “It’s given pride to the area, and from what we can tell, the club is building itself that way in terms of doing local hires, from the local community, from Paterson itself, which is the largest city in the state to work in the front office.

Thoughtful Jose, clad in an iconic green Cosmos top, adds: “Also, some of the signings, young men who play in this club at the ages of 18, 19, 20 have been around the area.

“Actually,” he says: “it’s not that different from what the original Cosmos did.

“While they had some huge names, they did have a lot of local players who did come from the Tri-State area, so in a way, we are keeping this proud heritage going. We very much acknowledge and feel that connection to the original team.”

Jose also tells me Pele came to some of the games of the previous iteration. “One time my son and I were lucky enough to have won some seats to be ‘field side’ [main stand], and Pele was 10 feet away,” recounts Jose. “It was great. You couldn’t get near him, may he rest in peace, but we waved to him, and he waved back.”

Jose tells me with feeling: “They announced this club a year ago, so it’s a rebirth, a new beginning. This is the first time the team has had its own stadium to control. It’s been challenging the last few months in terms of results, but it’s a new team.

“We haven’t had the crowds we’d wished we had, but our undying support is there, and will always be there.”

New York Cosmopolitans

It is fitting, that this week of all weeks, the Cosmos are entertaining Paterson with five days of family-friendly events, community pride, and festivities across the city, with their Paterson Proud Week.

Created to honour the City of Paterson while commemorating the US’s 250th anniversary, the celebration invites people near and far to experience everything that makes Paterson unique, showcasing its rich history and diverse culture while highlighting the area’s vibrant neighbourhoods and stunning attractions, including the stunning Great Falls, a goal kick away from the stadium.

Five Points member Jose adds with pride: “What does the word Cosmos mean to me? A lot of us within the Five Points really love the sense of the cosmopolitan. New York Cosmopolitans. What New York City means. What it embodies.

“In one of the counties of NYC, which is made up of five counties, in one of the boroughs, 98 per cent of the people are foreign born.

“We all come from somewhere, we all come to the great crossroads of the world, New York City, and to us, that’s what the Cosmos is about.

“Yes, there is a tradition of winning, a tradition of never giving up, having that fighting spirit, but similarly we all come from different parts of the world. From all walks of life. And we come together under this banner, under the collective of the Five Points.”

Hinchliffe Stadium

On a sweltering hot Sunday afternoon, I arrive at Hinchliffe Stadium. A beacon to the renewed sense of community, solidarity, passion and hope, that the Cosmos brings to Paterson.

Not least because of Hinchliffe’s proud history as a haven for accord, and fellowship.

Opened in 1932, this now rejuvenated stadium, became the home of Afro-Caribbean baseball, when racism barred black athletes from playing for Major League teams. As the sign from the Black Heritage Trail body outside this well-appointed ground explains, the stadium was a source of civic pride, hosting generations of high school athletes and various semi-pro and professional sport events. In 1933, the site hosted the first black equivalent of the World Series.

There is the dignity and honour in detailing Larry Doby, who along with Jackie Robinson finally broke the colour barrier at the top level of the sport in the Major Leagues in 1947.

Passing by nearby Doby Street you note the evocative lustrous, brown-tiled ticket signs that date back to the stadium’s opening nine decades ago.

There are a selection of burnished brown tiles depicting heroic Olympian scenes from Athena, from muscled discus throwers to perfectly sculpted runners, engraved in delightful Art-Deco frescoes, vibrantly amplifying the mythological, athletic, and divine motifs of the Greek gods.

A philosophy of life that blends sport with culture, education, comradeship, co-operation, excellence, respect, and camaraderie.

There is certainly plenty of evidence of such noble ideals inside the elegant, whitewashed terraces of Hinchliffe.

Entering into the handsome white stone, bowl-shaped structure, I take a look inside the club shop. It is pleasingly packed with stylish merch that acknowledges the rich history of Cosmos, yet dapper, rather than sentimental. They certainly remember their heroes, as I note shirts bearing Chinaglia’s name feature prominently on sale next to Pele tops in the homely club shop.

I can’t stop myself forking out for an iconic green 1970s influenced jersey with the Brazilian’s name on the back, before I chat to Jamie Ponce Snr, a club vice-president who is helping out behind the till.

He tells me: “Paterson gets a bad rap at times but having the Cosmos play a big part in our community gives me and so many others pride. And hope.”

CEO Stover adds that the journey has been a roller coaster of emotion.

“We won championships, travelled the world, created lifelong memories and helped start a revolution.

“We also had our hearts broken, picked an unwinnable fight and went months without paycheques.

“Now we are back in the game rebuilding our club. Every day we focus on having a positive impact in our community while chasing our dream of promotion for the first time in American sports history.

“It’s an honour to be a part of this club’s story.”

Catch the third part of Layth’s history.