Former Swansea player and NY COSMOS legend to be honoured today Former Swansea City player and New York Cosmos superstar Giorgio Chinaglia’s shirt number is set to be retired in America today as a tribute to honor this giant in the world of US Soccer. The NY Cosmos are playing Ottawa Fury FC later today Hofstra University's Shuart Stadium and The Cosmos are holding a special pre-match ceremony to retire the number 9 shirt of Chinaglia. Legend Pele is the only other player to receive such an honor at The Cosmos. Chinaglia or ‘Long John’ was born in Italy in 1947 and his family moved to Wales when he was a young boy. He signed professionally for Swansea City in 1964 and made six appearances scoring one goal. He would later return to his native Italy and it was there his career really took off scoring 24 goals in 66 appearances for Napoli and 98 goals for Lazio. He signed for MLS side NY Cosmos in 1976. Chinaglia scored two goals on his debut for The Cosmos against the Los Angeles Aztecs. His scoring in the MLS is incredible. Accoring to the NY Cosmos website he scored: 436 goals in 413 appearances for the Cosmos (397 goals in 392 games outdoor and 38 goals in 21 games indoor), Chinaglia scored 55% of the club’s goals from 1976-1983, a span that saw the club win four of its six NASL titles (’77, ’78, ’80 & ’82). Chinaglia scored the winning goal in three of those four winning Soccer Bowls (’77, ’78 & ’82). His former team and and New York Cosmos Goalkeeper Shep Messing said: We would have 70,000 people at Giants Stadium and Giorgio would do something and people would boo and scream, then he would score the goal and point his finger, shake his fist and that crowd loved him. Sadly Giorgio passed away in Naples, Florida on April 1st 2012. Giorgio always wore a wristband on his left wrist and children under 14 years old at today’s match will receive a Chinaglia No. 9 wristband for ‘Chinaglia Night’. Video also here; http://swansfc.com/blog/2014/06/08/former-swansea-player-and-ny-cosmos-legend-be-honoured-today Did any of the old boys on here see him play? What was your honest opinion of him at the time? Do you suspect you saw him play but remember next to nothing about him?
Back in the 90's he was a regular expert panelist on soccer programs aired over here ... in fact, compared to the Yanks and others on the panel he was the ONLY expert and never missed an opportunity to rub their noses in it ... in a playful way. A man with an Italian name but he never lost the Welsh accent and classic figures of speech that are inherent to Swansea and South Wales.
