By Cesar D. 

Click here to read "Inside Cosmos Country with Dr. David Kilpatrick (Part I)"

Let’s talk about your role with the Cosmos. How did you become the team historian?

Erik Stover reached out to me on the day he was officially announced the COO of the Cosmos back in November of 2012. He knew about my research. He knew that I had been down in the Soccer Hall of Fame researching their archives.

I don’t believe he knew that I still kept my card as a Cosmos Kicker youth fan club member. He had invited me to their SoHo office and I’ll tell you what, coming in there and seeing the trophies…

When the elevator door opened and you headed back to the conference room, you must have felt a rush.

Oh yeah, you know it! Seeing the crest painted on the brick wall was a nice touch. Once I entered, Erik walked me to the conference room and there were the trophies. The ‘72, ‘77, ‘78, ‘80 and ‘82 championship trophies were right there. From there, we sat down and Erik explained to me the Cosmos project and everything that was going on.

What are the perks of being Cosmos Historian?

I have to say that’s the special thing about the club; there isn’t an inside and outside.

It’s our history and our tradition. So, I would say in some ways that it’s great being involved in the club. But I think this club is really special with the fans being part of the family too.

What’s it like having access to past footage and photos?

It’s certainly a dream come true, no question about it.

Have you ever felt the old school jerseys and training gear?

I’ll tell you this story. When I was 12 years old I wanted the Cosmos blue away jersey. So I had ordered it out of the magazine Soccer Digest.

Instead of the blue, they had sent me the white one. No matter, I still loved the white jersey and I wore it everywhere for years. To this day, my best friend picks on me about it. As much I loved that jersey, I had always wanted the blue one so bad.

Two holiday seasons ago, the owners got me one of the old blue jerseys for Christmas. Holding that jersey in my hands was a wonderful feeling.

A little later that night, Erik Stover came up to me and said, “That’s great, I know you’ve always wanted that jersey. I know you’re going to Istanbul next week and I need to you hand it over to Galatasaray.”

So I packed it up with me and took it to Turkey, then handed it to the Galatasaray front office. Former Cosmos goalkeeper, Erol Yasin, had played almost 200 games for Galatasaray before he joined the Cosmos. The club itself has plans to open up a museum in their new stadium and the jersey will be on display.

So, there are certain responsibilities that come with my role. I’ve since had that blue jersey replaced and that’s awesome. While we are a club, we’re also a family.

Ed. note: The Cosmos have brought back the blue kits!

What’s your interpretation of the match day experience? You have the 5 Points, the front office, the team and everyone else who joins in those days.

For starters, I try not to get in Gio [Saverese, Cosmos head coach]’s way.

The camaraderie and the care are all over everybody. For me, game day is special because it’s a dream that has come true for me.

With the 2015 NASL season kicking off, what do you want to see?

This is a team where it’s about winning silverware. I would want us to win the Spring and Fall seasons, the postseason title and the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

We’re wrapping things up. Tell us about your book, Obrigado: A Futebol Epic. What soccer books would you recommend to our readers?

Obrigado is an epic about the 64 games games of the 2014 World Cup that is now available on Amazon. Each game has a poem and this crazy idea hit me while I was teaching Classical Literature and Sport Literature at Mercy College.

So, I decided to go for it and those 30 days of watching the World Cup were pretty nutty for me. I’m not sure if this format has been done before but it’s my way of engaging soccer in a different way.

As far as recommended books, here are my picks:

• A Kick in the Grass  by Clive Toye
• Soccer in a Football World  by David Wangerin
• Distant Corners  by David Wangerin
• Once in a Lifetime  by Gavin Newsham
• Corner Offices & Corner Kicks  by Roger Allaway