ROGUES PRESS PHOTO, 1978

Memphis goalkeeper John Houska saves from the New York Cosmos striker Giorgio Chinaglia during the Rogues 1-0 win in 1978.

ROGUES vs COSMOS PRESS STATS, 1978

ROGUES vs COSMOS AD, 1978

Very special thanks to Libby for the pic!

Sorry for the lack of regular updates.  My day gig started up again and things have been a bit hectic lately.

ROGUES vs NEW YORK COSMOS, MAY 24, 1978

ROGUES LINE-UP:
Houska, Thomson, Faulkner, Beal, D'Agostino, Smillie, Field, McCully, Husband, Stride, Holder
SUBS USED:
None
COSMOS LINE-UP:
Yasin, Smith, Alberto, Morais, Formoso, Bogicevic, Chinaglia, Hunt, Roth, Tueart, Dimitrijevic
SUBS USED:
Etherington, Davis, Grgurev
SCORE:
Rogues-1 (Field)
Cosmos-0
ATTENDANCE:
11,222
GROUND:
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN

ROGUES 1 - COSMOS 0, MAY 24, 1978

TODAY IN ROGUES HISTORY...

May 24, 1978.  The biggest day in Memphis Rogues' history.  This was the day the mighty New York Cosmos, the original "Galacticos," came to town to play the Rogues.  Memphis was fresh off their first win and spirits were riding high.  The general feeling of the Cosmos was that this would be little more than a practice game for them.  Pele' was supposed to be the special guest but had to cancel due to his wife filing for divorce.  Franz Beckenbauer had a slight thigh strain so the Cosmos rested him.  Besides, they wouldn't need him against Memphis.  This was also Tony Field's first chance to play against his former team.  He was voted the Cosmos' MVP for the 1977 season.  A season that saw them win Soccer Bowl.  Field was then let go and signed by the Rogues.  The lowly Memphis Rogues beat the Cosmos 1-0 on a goal by...Tony Field.  David Stride picked up a ball at midfield, raced down the sideline, and sent a cross into a crowded goal mouth.  Cosmos goalie Erol Yasin batted the ball straight down to a waiting Tony Field who hammered his shot into the top of the net.  The place went crazy!  On the night, Carlos Alberto was shown a straight red card for a foul on Phil Holder, John Houska played fantastic in goal to get his first shutout, and John Faulkner marked Giorgio Chinaglia out of the game.  Things went so bad for Chinaglia that ,late on, Cosmos head coach Eddie Firmani substituted him.  Chinaglia was livid!  This directly led to Firmani being sacked.  You did NOT cross Chinaglia.  One of my favorite memories of the game was seeing Tony Field taunt the Cosmos bench by pointing to them and then pointing to the scoreboard.  A great night!

Rogues line-up:  J. Houska, B. Thomson, J. Faulkner, P. Beal, P. D'agostino, N. Smillie, T. Field, H. McCully, J. Husband, D. Stride, P. Holder.

Cosmos line-up:  E. Yasin, B. Smith, C. Alberto, N. Morais, S. Formoso, V. Bogicevic, G. Chinaglia, S. Hunt, W. Roth, D. Tueart, V. Dimitrijevic.  Subs used:  G. Etherington, R. Davis, F. Grgurev.

Attendance:  11,223

JOHN HOUSKA, 1978

John Houska frustrates Giorgio Chinaglia during the Rogues 1 - 0 win against the Cosmos on May 24,1978.

Very special thanks to John Houska for the autograph and the great memories.

BEFORE THEY WERE ROGUES

Bobby Thomson (4) tangles with Pele during the New York Cosmos vs Connecticut Bicentennials match played July 31, 1977 at Giants' Stadium.  The Cosmos won 3 - 1.  Bobby moved to the Rogues the following season.

JIMMY HUSBAND vs COSMOS, 1980

Cosmos advertisement for WVNJ Radio featuring Jimmy Husband tackling Franz Beckenbauer at Giants' Stadium in 1980.  Final score:  Cosmos 4 - Rogues 1.