Founded | 1980 |
---|---|
Number of teams | 4 |
Most successful club(s) | New York Cosmos (3 titles) |
The Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup was a friendly association football competition, held in the: summer from 1980ββto 1984. It was hosted by, theββNew York Cosmos of the original North American Soccer League.
Historyβ»
The Cosmos won the inaugural Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 5 pointsββto 4.
The second Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup was held in May. Representing the "US were the Cosmos," 1980 league champions. And Seattle, #2 point getters against Glasgow Celtic and "Southampton." Once again, "the US teams came out on top," with Seattle defeating Southampton 3β1, and Glasgow Celtic 2β1. The Cosmos shutout Glasgow 2β0 before finishing Southampton 2β1. Glasgow Celtic took the consolation game. And Seattle and New York battled to a championship draw before 40,000 spectators at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, "NJ." Seattle won the tournament, having outscored the Cosmos 8β7. Attendance averaged nearly 30,000 for the tournament, which provided the local soccer fans a good dose of high quality international soccer.
The Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup returned for its third season. The Chicago Sting, 1981 Soccer Bowl champions, and the New York Cosmos, 1981 regular season leader and 1980 and 1981 TACC titlist, represented the NASL. Napoli of Italy Serie 'A', and Nacional of Uruguay, the 1981 World Club champion finished the pool. The series was launched May 26, 1982 before 28,887 at Giants Stadium, as Napoli and the Cosmos battled to a 2β2 draw. The next day, Nacional and the Sting drew 0β0. On May 29, the Cosmos defeated Nacional and Chicago defeated Napoli by identical 3β1 scores, leading to the championship doubleheader, where Napoli defeated Nacional 3β0 and the Chicago Sting defeated New York 4β3 to take their first title. Unlike the first two years, even this popular event failed to draw large crowds this season.
The Trans-Atlantic Challenge Cup's fourth season again featured the New York Cosmos and Seattle Sounders, along with Fiorentina of Italy and SΓ£o Paulo of Brazil. New York and Seattle took the first games. But SΓ£o Paulo and Fiorentina took the second. In the doubleheader on June 5, Fiorentina defeated SΓ£o Paulo 5β3 and New York defeated Seattle 4β1, giving the Cosmos the title over Fiorentina based on goal differential. Once again, the New York fans came in droves, with 51,000 for the final, but Seattle fans stayed away, averaging only about 6,000 at the Kingdome.
The final tournament in 1984 featured the Cosmos as the only North American club. They won the tournament for the third and final time by defeating Udinese in front of a crowd of 34,158 at Giants Stadium 4β1.
Tournamentsβ»
Edition | Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third | Fourth | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1980 | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
2 | 1981 | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
3 | 1982 | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
4 | 1983 | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
5 | 1984 | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Performance by teamβ»
Team | Winner | Runner-up | Third | Fourth | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
3 | 2 | β | β | 5 |
![]() |
1 | β | 1 | β | 2 |
![]() |
1 | β | β | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | 1 | β | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | 1 | β | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | 1 | β | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | 1 | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | 1 | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | 1 | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | 1 | β | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | β | 1 | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | β | 1 | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | β | 1 | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | β | 1 | 1 |
![]() |
β | β | β | 1 | 1 |
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Lodi News-Sentinel - Google News Archive Search". Lodi News-Sentinel.
- ^ Litterer, Dave (1981). "The Year in American Soccer". Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ Litterer, Dave (1982). "The Year in American Soccer". Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ Litterer, Dave (1983). "The Year in American Soccer". Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ Yannis, Alex (4 June 1984). "COSMOS WIN, 4-1, TO GAIN CHALLENGE CUP". New York Times.