Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169702 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
In 1971, Warner Brothers bought a local football team, the New York Cosmos. In 1975 the club signed a three-year deal with Pele, the greatest player the game had ever known. More big name signings would follow: the German superstar Franz Beckenbauer, the charismatic Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia and Brazil's 1970 World Cup winning captain, Carlos Alberto. Almost overnight, the Cosmos became the hottest ticket in town. Celebrities like Robert Redford, Mick Jagger, Barbara Streisand and Steven Spielberg attended games. Cosmos players were mainstays of the hedonistic club scene at Studio 54. Set against the backdrop of a city on the edge, Once In A Lifetime is much more than a football book. It is a vivid evocation of the mania that surrounded the Cosmos at the height of their powers in 1977 and the explosion in new forms of popular culture, the debauchery of Studio 54 and the razzmatazz and conspicuous expenditure that surrounded them. It is a story that embraces millionaires, superstars, gangsters, groupies, glamour, power struggles, alcoholic excess, drugs, and full-on fistfights. It also has some of the greatest football players ever to grace the game.

Customer Reviews

Is the premiership the next cosmos
Excellent and well written.

Is Chelsea the new Cosmos? overspending and paying exhorbitant wages, which then the other teams try to follow like lambs to the slaughter. Then financial wake up call.

The Premiership chairman should read this and take note.

The inner workings of a team from another planet
There are plenty of football books out there that simply rely on facts and readers memories to paint a picture of a successful or memorable period in the history of a club. However, with a cast of World Cup winners taking the lead roles in a script leaden with in-fights, late nights and footballing brilliance, the New York Cosmos transcended sport to become an all-singing, all-dancing point of difference on the sporting landscape of the 1970s. By painting a vivid picture of not only The Cosmos, but also of the political and social changes that framed this era, Newsham has transcended mere sports writing and delivered a classic that will appeal to the connoisseur and curious alike.

Out Of This Cosmos
Having spent alot of time in New York during the mid-Seventies I was really excited when a friend told me about this book. I went to see a couple of Cosmos games and this book really captures the feeling of the City at the time and the boom-bust attitude of the team's owner and many of the players he recruited. He wanted the best and got the best. Including Dennis Tueart. This book is really well researched and a thoroughly entertaining read. It also contains many pictures which made my memories of that time come flooding back. So thanks for that.