Hofstra

On Tuesday, the New York Cosmos supporters club, the Borough Boys, announced that they would be running buses from Manhattan to all Cosmos home matches in the 2013 NASL Fall Schedule. The buses will leave from Jack Demsey’s on 33rd Street and are open to all Cosmos fans. The round trip bus ride will cost $25 and includes beer.

Few figures have had as great of an influence on the sport of soccer in New York as Clive Toye. The first General Manager of the New York Cosmos, Toye was responsible for building the club from scratch, coming up with the name Cosmos and, through his persistent efforts, including the signing of Pelé in 1975, helped make the club a global phenomenon.

The Cosmos confirmed today in a forum with a group of supporters -- the Borough Boys -- they would return to play in the NASL Fall Championship season. Schedule particulars, specifically about the home opener, will be announced by the league in the near future.

In part one of our interview with Shep Messing, the former Cosmos goalkeeper spoke about how he ended up playing for the Cosmos at Hofstra Stadium, just minutes from where he grew up. Now in part two, he speaks about the history of soccer on Long Island and what he would like to see the Cosmos achieve in 2013.

The New York Cosmos, retracing their historic journey to the top of North American soccer, will return to the field in 2013 at their historic home, Hofstra University’s James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, L.I. The Cosmos, who announced in July that they had joined the North American Soccer League (NASL), first played at Hofstra in the original NASL in their second and third years of existence -- 1972 and 1973. James M. Shuart Stadium boasts a seating capacity of more than 13,000.