John Riordan, New York
SHROUDED in cigar smoke and sitting on a throne, Eric Cantona announced his return to professional football yesterday morning in his own very unique style.
The recently revived New York Cosmos may not have players or a stadium but they caused a relatively significant stir when announcing on their official website that the former Manchester United captain was to become their director of football.
The 44-year-old’s role will include managing a first team that won’t see Major League Soccer (MLS) action until at least 2013 but that hasn’t prevented the Queens-based outfit weighing into the Big Apple’s lucrative sporting market with some considerable swagger.
Cantona spent five years with the Red Devils, winning four Premier League titles and two FA Cups although he also drew considerable controversy upon himself, most notably his attack on a Crystal Palace supporter in early 1995.
Since his retirement in 1997, he has been more active in cinema than in football although he has played for and managed France’s Beach Soccer team during that time.
“I am very honoured to join the legendary club New York Cosmos,” Cantona told the official website yesterday. “It’s a big project, a wonderful project. The Cosmos are very strong, beautifully made, with a great past.
“It’s kind of a mix between football and art. I will do everything that I can to help us first find our way to regain the number one position in the United States, and then for us to become one of the best clubs in the world over the coming years.”
Led by English businessman Paul Kemsley and with Pelé as honorary president, the Cosmos announced their return to football last August after having left the game a quarter of century prior to that.
With stars like Franz Beckenbauer and Brazilian pair Pele and Carlos Alberto, they were a huge draw in the late 1970s, averaging 35-40,000 crowds, and secured five North American Soccer League championships between 1972 and 1982 before the competition became defunct in 1984.
Former Coventry City player Cobi Jones will work alongside Cantona at the club which has as a board director Rick Parry, the former chief executive of Liverpool and the former head of the English Premier League.
“Three years ago, when I first had the idea of reviving The New York Cosmos, I couldn’t have dreamt that we’d be able to attract an icon the likes of Eric Cantona,” said chairman Kemsley.
“It’s a personal thrill for me, as he was one of my heroes during the 1990s and is a further endorsement to the tremendous global attraction and power that the New York Cosmos carries. Our name already resonates throughout the world and so will our football team.”
Despite their lack of infrastructure, MLS commissioner Don Garber has supported their bid to enter America's top league. Two new clubs, the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps, will enter the fray for the 2011 season while a Montreal club will join in 2012.
"We are very focused on trying to have that 20th team in New York, a second team in New York, a rival for the Red Bulls," Garber told CNN.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/x55U3HBlj1E/post.aspx
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