The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the

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and has contributed greatly to the nation's soccer history. Currently, the league has four open divisions. The first two divisions require all clubs to also field reserve teams, a requirement that some leagues have abolished, but which the Cosmopolitan Soccer League believes makes its competition some of the strongest in United States soccer. The league also has an over-30 and an over-40 division. The league is USASA-affiliated. The Cosmopolitan Soccer League plays a traditional international schedule with competition beginning the second weekend of September and running through June, with a winter break from late December to early March. During the winter months, the league runs optional league cups.

History

The Cosmopolitan Soccer League was formed as the German American Soccer League in 1923. In 1927, the association changed its name to the German American Football Association. The league was highly successful in the 1920s and, in New York, was behind only

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and

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in terms of popularity. The league struggled through the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and by the 1940s the game was viewed by most Americans as an "ethnic" sport. Attendance and popularity declined sharply until the founding of the North American Soccer League in 1968. By the mid-1970s, league officials recognized that in order to maintain the league's viability in the same market as the star-studded

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

, it needed to appeal to a wider audience and in 1977, it voted to change its name to the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. Prior to the professionalizing of the modern American game, the United States national team often consisted of Cosmopolitan League players. In 1923, five teams, S.C. New York, Wiener Sports Club, D.S.C. Brooklyn,

Hoboken FC 1912 The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional association football, soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and ...

and Newark S.C., banded together to found the German American Soccer League. As the name suggests, the teams were largely composed of recent immigrants from Central Europe, primarily Germany. The next year, four more teams, Swiss F.C., Elizabeth S.C., S.C. Eintracht and Germania S.C., joined the league. The league renamed itself the German American Football Association in 1927. While the GASL began as a single division league, it added a junior division in 1933. That year, the league also held its first indoor tournament. In addition to its junior division, the GASL also added several lower divisions over the decades. In 1943, all of the U.S. leagues suffered from significant player losses from the U.S. participation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In order to continue to play a competitive schedule, the GASL joined with the Eastern District Soccer League to run a joint season. Following the end of the war in 1945, the GASL found itself turning from a lack of quality players to an overabundance as Central European professionals left their war ravaged countries to move to the United States. The league experienced a second influx of talented players when Hungarians fled their country following the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

crushing the

1956 Hungarian Revolution The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. In 1964, the GASL joined with the professional American Soccer League in a short lived experiment. That year, the two leagues formed the Eastern Professional Soccer Conference which competed during the GASL/ASL off season. The league was a failure and did not complete its one season in existence.
/sup> While the merger with the ASL was less than successful, the GASL undertook a cooperative agreement with another league, this time the International Soccer League (1960–1965), International Soccer League (ISL) in 1965. That season, the GASL All Star team entered the ISL as the New Yorker, going to the final where it lost to Polonia Bytom 5–1.
/sup> The string of league mergers continued in 1974 when the

National Soccer League of New York The National Soccer League of New York (also known as the National League of New York) was an amateur U.S. soccer league which served as a lower division for the '' de facto'' first division American Soccer League from the 1920s into the 1950s. Th ...

merged into the GASL. In 1977, the GASL changed its name in response to a changing American soccer scene. While soccer had existed as an ethnic sport since the 1930s, the creation of the North American Soccer League in 1968 had brought the sport into the mainstream. Recognizing that maintaining its ethnic identity would hinder its acceptance by the wider U.S. sports culture, the GASL governing board voted to rename the league the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. As part of this process, the league's teams were directed to change their names to ones with less ethnic connotations, although this requirement was dropped three years later. Despite the regional and semi-professional nature of the league, it featured many of the top U.S. player in the 1950s and 1960s. Even into the early 1970s, GASL players appeared regularly with the U.S. national team. The high regard afforded to the league is reflected in that the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

considers the GASL as one of a handful of leagues in which a player may become eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame.
/sup>

New York Cosmos

The GASL had named an All Star team beginning in 1930. In 1968, after the newly established North American Soccer League approached the GASL about placing a GASL team in the NASL, the league formed its All Star team, known as the Cosmos, into an exhibition team. The Cosmos did not enter the NASL until the 1971 season, but when it did, it was well stocked with former GASL players.

2024-2025 team list

List of the participants in the current season: The top former CSL teams play in the Metropolitan Conference in the Eastern Premier Soccer League, which together with

Maryland Major Soccer League Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east, as well as with the Atlantic Ocean to i ...

, creates a regional based multi-league

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

system between these leagues. Some CSL teams also have reserve teams that play in a separate reserve division.

Eastern Premier Soccer League

* Central Park Rangers FC * Doxa FCW *

* KidSuper Samba AC *

Lansdowne Yonkers FC Lansdowne Yonkers FC (formerly Lansdowne Bhoys FC) is an American soccer club based in Yonkers, New York. Founded in 1997, the team plays in Region I of the United States Adult Soccer Association. The club, also known as the "Bhoys", was formed ...

NY Athletic Club NY most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the Northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York NY, Ny or ny may also refer to: Places * North Yorkshire, ...

* NY Greek Americans *

NY Pancyprian-Freedoms New York Pancyprian-Freedoms is an American amateur association football, soccer team based in Astoria, Queens, Astoria, New York, United States. Founded in 1974, the team currently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League. The team plays its ...

Manhattan Celtic Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

* Richmond County FC * SC Vistula Garfield * Zum Schneider FC 03

Division 1

* Central Park Rangers FC II * Borgetto FC * FC Sandzak * FC Ulqini * Hoboken FC 1912 II * KidSuper Samba AC II * Manhattan Celtic II *

Manhattan Kickers Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

* NY International F.C. * NY Ukrainians * Polonia SC * Zum Schneider FC 03 II

Division 2

* Block FC * Brooklyn City FC * Central Park Rangers United * DeSportiva Sociedad NY * FC Japan * Laberia FC * Manhattan FC *

NY Galicia NY most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the Northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York NY, Ny or ny may also refer to: Places * North Yorkshire, ...

* NYPD FC * NY Shamrocks SC * S.C. Eintracht * Soricha Foot SC * South Bronx United * Sporting Astoria SC * Stal Mielec NY * Vibes FC * Williamsburg International F.C.

Division 3

* Aurora FC * Central Park Rangers Kickoff * Central Park Rangers Old Boys * Manhattan Celtic Bhoys * NY Athletic Club II * NY Eagles SC * NY Legacy FC *

NY Pancyprian-Freedoms II NY most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the Northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York NY, Ny or ny may also refer to: Places * North Yorkshire, ...

* Panatha USA * SmartSports FC * Sporting Astoria SC * Riverside Squires

Division 4

* Barnstonworth Rovers FC * Central Park Rangers Kickoff II * DeSportiva Sociedad City * DeSportiva Sociedad Fury * FanDuel FC * FC Partizani NY * Manhattan FC III * NYC AlphaStars Club * Ollama FC * Queens Tigers FC * SC Gjøa * Warriors NYC * Williamsburg International FC III

Over 40 Division

* Barnstonworth Rovers Old Boys * Central Park Rangers Legends

* Cozmoz FC * Manhattan Celtic Masters

* Manhattan Kickers Legends

* NY Shamrocks Legends * SC Eintracht Legends * SC Gjoa Over-40 * Sporting Astoria SC OG’S

Inactive Clubs

* Elizabeth S.C. * Union County SC

Past League Champions

* Both Elizabeth S.C. and New York Hota/Bavarian SC hold the title of champion for the 1970–1971 season

Year by year

Source

CSL in national competitions

National Challenge Cup

* 1951 German-Hungarian SC * 1955 S.C. Eintracht * 1962 NY Hungaria * 1965 NY Ukrainian SC * 1967

Greek American AA NY Greek American Atlas Astoria, commonly known as New York Greek American, is an American soccer team from New York City that currently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League and in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League. The club was formed in ...

* 1968

* 1969

* 1970 Elizabeth S.C. * 1971 NY Hota * 1972 Elizabeth S.C. * 1974

National Amateur Cup

* 1929 DFC Newark ''(runner up)'' * 1936 DSC Brooklyn * 1944 S.C. Eintracht * 1949 Elizabeth S.C. * 1951 German-Hungarian SC * 2014 New York Greek Americans * 2017 Lansdowne Bhoys FC

McGuire Cup (U-19 National Cup)

* 1936 Hatikvoh FC * 1937 Hatikvoh FC * 1952 Killsman SC * 1953 Newark SC * 1955 Blau-Weiss Gottschee SC * 1959 NY Ukrainian SC

References

;Notes

External links

Cosmopolitan Soccer League
*

Historical Standings
{{Soccer in the United States Soccer leagues in the United States 1923 establishments in New York (state) Sports leagues established in 1923 Regional Soccer leagues in the United States