The arrival of Pele in 1975 was no doubt the equivalent of an extra-terrestrial landing in the landscape of U.S. Soccer.  The influence that great man had continues to this day in ways large and small.  That Pele chose the NYC metro area as the location where he would ‘land his ship’ is both unsurprising and incredibly impactful for the local soccer community.   

Echoes of Pele in the NY Soccer community.  Did you know that Sigi Strizl, Roby Young, Paul LeSeur, Jorge Siega, Nelsi Morais, Hubert Birkenmeier, Terry Garbett, Eskandarian, Joe Jelinek, Joe Filian, Joey Fink, Ron Atanasio, Tony Picciano, Mark Liveric, Angelo Atanasio, Werner Roth, Tom Lang, Angelo Anastasio, Earhardt Kapp, David Brcic, Mark Lugris and other NY Cosmos from that golden era of 1973 to 1984 all played in the local Semi-Pro soccer leagues and on any given Sunday you could step into the concrete stands at Met Oval and watch one or more of them in a local senior men’s team kit about 4 feet away from the metal pipe sideline railing.

Local Winners of the U.S. Open Men’s Cup:

1974 — New York Greek American SC  

1979 — Brooklyn Dodgers (Brooklyn Italians)

1980 — New York Pancyprian Freedoms

1982 — New York Pancyprian Freedoms

1983 — New York Pancyprian Freedoms

1991 — Brooklyn Italians

Among the U-19 Youth Soccer Champions and Finalists were:

Massapequa Arsenal (Boys 2015 Champions) and Massapequa Falcons (Girls 1986 Champions) BW Gotschee (Boys 1975 Finalist), Hicksville Minutemen (Boys Finalist 1978 and 1979.

Men’s U.S. National Team Members with 1 cap or more:

Bruce Arena – Franklin Square Long Island

Chris Armas – Brentwood Long Island

Dario Brose – NYC

Dan Calichman – Huntington Long Island

John Diffley – NYC

Dieter Ficken – Park Slope section of Brooklyn

Joe Fink – NYC

Erhardt Kapp – Rosedale Queens 

Richie Kotschau – Levittown Long Island

John Lignos – NYC

Mike Masters – Old Westbury Long Island

Jack McGlynn – Middle Village Queens

Shep Messing – Roslyn Long Island

Alan Meyer – Islip Long Island

Tim Parker – Hicksville Long Island

Mike Petke – Bohemia Long Island

Werner Roth – Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn

Joe Scally – Lake Grove Long Island

Damian Silvera – Huntington Long Island

Tim Weah – Brooklyn and Valley Stream L. I.

Mike Windischman – Jamaica Queens

National Soccer Hall of Fame – Builders

Bruce Arena – Franklin Square Long Island

Bob Cantiguglia – Great Neck Long Island

Peter Collins – Hicksville Long Island

Joe Machnik – Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Hank Steinbrecher – Levittown Long Island

Women’s U.S. National Team Members with 1 cap or more:

Coming soon