Tonight in Richmond, Virginia, two of American soccer’s most historically significant clubs will meet under circumstances neither expected when the season began. The New York Cosmos and Richmond Kickers face off at City Stadium at 7 p.m. ET, with the match broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network — the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
It is a fixture with plenty of history behind it. It is also, this year, a fixture between two teams working to turn their seasons around.
Richmond enters the match mired near the bottom of the USL League One table, a difficult stretch for a club that built its identity on stability and winning. The Cosmos, in the first season of their long-awaited return to professional soccer, have had their own rough patches, including a four-game losing streak in the spring and some lopsided defeats along the way. For both organizations, tonight’s game carries weight that goes beyond the standings — but the standings are exactly why each side will be desperate for three points.
The Cosmos: A Storied Name Chasing Consistency in Its New Era
Founded in 1970, the New York Cosmos began play in the North American Soccer League in 1971, and the club’s trajectory changed forever in 1975 with the signing of Brazilian legend Pelé. His arrival made the Cosmos the most famous soccer team in America, drawing crowds that regularly exceeded 40,000 at Giants Stadium and a then-record 77,691 fans for a 1977 playoff game against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Giorgio Chinaglia turned the Cosmos into a global brand, and the club won five NASL championships between 1972 and 1982.
That name never fully went away. The Cosmos returned in 2013 and added modern NASL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016 before going dormant again. A new ownership group acquired the identity in 2025 and brought the Cosmos back for 2026 in USL League One, based at the newly restored Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey — a National Historic Landmark and a fitting stage for a club built on spectacle.
The first season back has been a learning process. New York has shown flashes of the talent that comes with rebuilding a first-year roster, but also the inconsistency typical of an expansion-style club finding its footing in a new league, including a stretch of losses that dropped the team down the table. Manager Davide Corti’s group will look to tonight’s game as a chance to string together the kind of form the Cosmos brand has always demanded.
The Club is still tinkering with their roster. The Cosmos released Chevone Marsh on August 3 after a productive output. The New York Cosmos have used a busy stretch since their March 14 season opener to remake parts of the roster, adding proven professional experience up and down the field while moving on from underperforming or departing pieces. Head of soccer Giuseppe Rossi has framed the moves as addressing “a lot of injuries and some bad luck,” with the club bringing in a new starting goalkeeper, a rebuilt central midfield, and fresh attacking options as it pushes for a strong finish to its inaugural USL League One campaign.
Key Additions:
Will Noecker (DF) — early in the season, from ASC New York (NPSL)
Javier Garcia (GK) — May 6, via transfer from Athletic Club Boise
Chevone Marsh (FW) — July 7, signed as a free agent
Frankie Ljucovic (MF) — July 7, signed from NWS Spirit FC (Australia)
Lamin Jawneh (FW) —from Texoma FC (pending league/federation approval)
Michael Chilaka (DF) — from Forward Madison FC
Ozzie Ramos (MF) — Aug. 3, signed as a free agent
(Photos Curtosy New York Cosmos)
Departures:
Julien Lacher (MF) — late July/early August, mutual parting to accept a college scholarship ( Princeton)
Chevone Marsh (FW) — Aug. 3, released for a violation of team rules
Leo Guarino (MF) — early August, released from his contract
Josué Manzano (MF/W) — early August, loaned to Cuenca Juniors (Ecuador) for the rest of the season
Latest Podcasts with NY Cosmos Soccer Player Frankie Ljucovic and Michael Chilaka
Richmond: Stability Being Tested
The Richmond Kickers, founded in 1993, are among the longest continuously operating professional soccer clubs in the country — a franchise that built its name not on glamour but on community roots, player development and simply outlasting the leagues around it. Richmond won the USISL Premier League title and the U.S. Open Cup in the same magical 1995 season under Dennis Viollet, and remains the only active professional club outside MLS to have won the Open Cup.
( Photo Dennis Viollett Manchester United)
That history of endurance is being tested this year. Entering tonight’s match, the Kickers sit 16th in the 17-team USL League One table, a rough season by any measure for a club that reached the 2022 regular-season title and produced a three-time league MVP in Emiliano Terzaghi. Head coach Darren Sawatzky — now the league’s all-time wins leader — has leaned on the same culture-first approach that carried Richmond through past rebuilds, including the difficult 2014–2019 stretch that preceded the club’s USL League One turnaround.
Richmond’s home form at City Stadium has often been the club’s foundation, backed by the Red Army supporters group and a fan base that has stuck with the team through better seasons than this one. Tonight, that home advantage matters more than usual.
City Stadium’s own history predates the Kickers by more than six decades. Built in 1929, the venue hosted college football, high school championships and the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship from 1995 through 1998, along with U.S. men’s and women’s national team matches, including a 1998 World Cup qualifier that drew nearly 20,000 fans. Since becoming Richmond’s home in 1995, it has become one of the most recognizable and historic grounds in lower-division American soccer — new lighting, a modern sound system and the “RVA is United” mural have kept it current while preserving its character.
Hinchliffe Stadium, the Cosmos’ own historic home across the Hudson, opened in 1932 and shares a similar story: a landmark venue — one of the few remaining tied to Negro Leagues baseball — restored to serve a new era of soccer.
More Than a Result Tonight
Both clubs have plenty of history to draw on, and both know that history alone doesn’t win games. For the Cosmos, tonight is a chance to build consistency in the first season of a new chapter. For the Kickers, it’s a chance to climb out of the bottom of the table on the field where the club has always found its identity.
The New York Cosmos and Richmond Kickers are two of the most historically important names in American soccer, and tonight, at 7 p.m. ET at City Stadium, broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network, both will be trying to write a better next chapter of their 2026 seasons.