1978: US superstars NEW YORK COSMOS come to England | Nationwide | Classic BBC Sport | BBC Archive

The American outfit, reputably one of the richest clubs in the world, took on a financially troubled Chelsea in an exhibition game at Stamford Bridge.
The Cosmos, who were on a post-season European tour, flew in on a high after winning the NASL's Soccer Bowl last month. Although Brazilian great Pele had retired the previous year, they still were able to offer the West London crowd footballing talent in the form of Dennis Tueart (a recent signing from Manchester City), the 1970 World Cup winning Brazil captain Carlos Alberto and 1974 World Cup winning West Germany captain Franz Beckenbauer - and a special cameo appearance from Netherlands great Johann Cruyff.
Clip taken from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, Tuesday 26 September, 1978.
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[@jdigity72]

Love the honesty in this piece

[@davidcarrol110]

Beckenbauer and Cruyff on the same side-magic.

[@JJONNYREPP]

1978: US superstars NEW YORK COSMOS come to England | Nationwide | Classic BBC Sport | BBC 1059pm 14.6.24 hmmmm new york homos, they may be... but i see nothing amazingly interesting about American soccer - unless it's lower league games...wherein there is still a semblance of a liking for the game.... the game (it's the same for all sports over there) takes a back seat to hype, glamour, commercial concerns and hysteria on a massive scale... which is slowly gaining a grip on the european sporting purview... the interviewer sounded like mark radcliffe...

[@MrJakeTucker]

Not sure about Cruyff at Cosmos. I know Cruyff, along with George Best, played for a team in Los Angeles.

[@JJONNYREPP]

@@MrJakeTucker tha drunkards!!!

[@andylinacre8231]

It was sunny back in those days !!!

[@full_time_motorhome]

Denis Tuart was born about 600 yards from me. Walker, Newcastle lad. Done well. Pity he didn’t play for Newcastle. Same as my great uncle Jimmy Mullen who had great success with Wolves and England in the 50’s. Nice to see Franz Beckenbour (mis spelt) in the mix too. Don’t forget Pelé.

[@gbfromthewd4052]

and rocky Hudson , great Dustan lad and my older brothers mate from there nufc days , talking to Dennis tuart a few year ago in ponteland restaurant nufc didn't want him so he went to blunderland ,lovely fella by the way

[@heydh.]

Love these old clips. And I'm sure many people today wouldn't mind if Messi and Inter Miami had a friendly against Chelsea.

[@JS-rm2ws]

If you haven't watched it, try and get hold of the documentary, "The Extraordinary Story of The New York Cosmos". An old film from around 2004. Worth a watch

[@dalek3086]

words of wisdom from Beckenbauer. Football in America will take years to develop. Having a uncompetitive league with no relegation now in 2024 is really stupid Clever marketing to play against a London glamour team like Chelsea who had a bad team in 1978. Def avoid Liverpool or Leeds.....

[@ollie7777]

How did they get on?

[@Spectrescup]

Drew 1-1 with Chelsea, is all I can tell you.

[@ollie7777]

@@Spectrescup turns out there’s a highlight video on KZbin. Not overly worth watching but it’s there.

[@Spectrescup]

​@@ollie7777This is the match I'm secretly referring to when I say I saw Johann Cryuff play

[@analogueman123456787]

In 1978, the Yanks would have garnered more interest if they'd done an exhibition tour of the Muppet Show tbh...

[@JJONNYREPP]

1978: US superstars NEW YORK COSMOS come to England | Nationwide | Classic BBC Sport | BBC Archive 1101am 14.6.24 a bit of the spinal tap about this, for sure...

[@Fredric_Cedrich]

“Public Relations off the field is as important as what you do on it” yeah… thanks for that little import because I really care when a player has snorted a little cocaine in a night club.

[@ollie7777]

And what do we get for this fault finding ‘investigative journalism’? The blandest interviews known to man, zero personality because the players don’t trust the media, media trained zombies because the stake holders also don’t trust the players.

[@scottishwildcat]

Most normal people certainly do. They can feck right off out of my club if that’s what they get up to.

[@ollie7777]

@@scottishwildcat why would you care? Most young people try things like that. Alcohol will get them in worse states and take more years off their life. They’re not posting pictures themselves doing it, the media crave the opportunity to push that out there.

[@Uruz2012]

​@@scottishwildcatLmao, UK has the worst alcohol problem in the EU but coke is just too much.

[@Fredric_Cedrich]

@@scottishwildcat if you are a Scottish club supporter I’m sorry to say that if your wish came true you’ll have no Scottish players left in the Scottish League

[@richardmorris341]

Was that a young Mark Radcliffe doing the voice over and interviewing?

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

I wondered that!

[@danabrahams7892]

shame on them playing there

[@user-js8eg2fp3x]

Of course the beed must insert a black into the thumbnail. This is why i have no tv licence

[@heraldeventsandfilms5970]

And no effing brain. R.sole.