Finally tonight, diehard soccer fans are going to love this.

The famed New York Cosmos are back and they'll be playing right here in New Jersey.

In the 1970s, the team put US soccer on the map, bringing with it some big names, including Brazilian soccer star Ple.

Well, Governor Murphy today announced the Cosmos will return to the field in March 2026 as the newest member of the United Soccer League.

Just in time, of course, for New Jersey's debut as host of the FIFA World Cup final.

Ted Goldberg has the details.

The Cosmos are coming back to life.

The storied soccer franchise is returning to the pitch in Patterson.

What do we know now as soccer city USA?

Let's go Cosmos.

Carney is still considered soccer town USA because of its rich history with the sport.

But Patterson could soon become soccer city with a pro team slated to start playing games in 2026 in the USL League 1, two levels below Major League Soccer.

Our city scored a goal.

Our state has scored a goal.

Our country has scored a goal because the Cosmos arguably are the most famous soccer club in US history.

And we all remember the glory days of Pelle and Giorgio and in my case a former US ambassador in Berlin, Germany, France Beckenbower.

They helped transform the perception of the sport.

They were a cultural phenomenon.

While previous iterations of the Cosmos brought in fans with international stars, this version of the Cosmos seems a little bit more community oriented.

Folks who spoke today said they're going to try to build stars from right here in Patterson and the surrounding areas.

In the future, we're going to have more more superstars are going to come out of Patterson, Pay County, North Jersey, North Jersey who will lead future generations.

And what we're building here is a club that is local, but it's about the community.

There's so many barriers to to kids, particularly in in communities like this, and their talent just dies on the vine.

And what we're going to be about is working very hard to find those kids 15, 16, 17 years old, get them into our system, into our club, um, and play them.

Among the team bringing the cosmos to historic Hinchlift Stadium is Jeppi Rossi, a Clifton native who played professionally in Europe and in the Olympics for Italy.

Creating a new pathway for these young kids to pursue their dreams um to continue to develop uh putting in a system in place where uh kids want to be here.

Just coming back and giving back to my community to to uh to New Jersey um is something special.

The Cosmos are also planning to field a women's team in 2027, continuing the renaissance of Hinchlift Stadium after years of neglect in the Silk City.

In Patterson, I'm Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.