Dennis Tueart: Life With The NY Cosmos
What would you do if you had the chance to play alongside some of the greatest footballers of all time? In 1978, Dennis Tueart faced this very decision. He had the opportunity to leave Manchester City for Old Trafford or to work under the legendary Brian Clough. However, he chose a different path, moving to New York to join the Cosmos. A team that featured stars such as Beckenbauer, Neeskens, Carlos Alberto, and Chinaglia, with Pelé still making appearances at training.
We sat down with Dennis to talk about moving to New York and his superstar teammates.
“A footballer’s life is dictated by the letter M—Money and Manager. Either you’re not getting paid enough money, or you’re not seeing eye to eye with a manager. At the time, Tony Book (Manchester City manager) and I weren’t seeing eye to eye. I was 28, didn’t have children, so I looked to move on.
Manchester United came in—I turned them down. Brian Clough came in—I turned him down. It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a lot of publicity coming from America. There was a television programme on Saturday lunchtime that showed highlights of what was happening over there.
There were real big stars were there and the Cosmos were packing out the stadiums. I just felt there was an opportunity for me to experience something else. To have the chance to play with these players, still in their prime, was something special.”
“The spine of the team was, Carlos Alberto in defence, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Neeskens in midfield and Giorgio Chinaglia in attack. To play with two World Cup winning captains and a World Cup winning Manager was special. Carlos was exceptional, he liked a bit of a party, but he always used to say, ‘when the whistle blows’ which was his way of saying when that whistle blows you switch on to win that game. It’s a simple little phrase but it was why he was so successful in his career, and Franz was exactly the same.”
“I played two games with Pele. One was a friendly game and the other a charity match, and he was also joining in some of the training sessions. His technique was fantastic. I was just looking at him and thinking why have you retired already? He was about 37 but still had it. He had great vision and the determination to get on the ball and create something.
A few years later I played an exhibition game, which was former NY Cosmos against current Cosmos. I think it was ‘83-84 and me and him played up front. So, I did play alongside him. He was quick to show you what he wanted you to do. He was shouting my name constantly.”
Admiral x NY Cosmos
