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The New New York Cosmos begin play in the newish North American Soccer League in August, playing their home games at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., on Long Island. On Monday, the club announced plans to train at Mitchel Field Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y. Erik Stover, a former executive with the Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, joined the Cosmos over the winter and recently spoke with a contributor to the Goal blog.

Q.

When did you decide to take the job at the Cosmos?

A.

After Seamus O’Brien took ownership and control of the team and announced his new vision of the direction of the club. And the first thing that resonated with me was that he wanted to build a proper soccer club. Having worked in the sports industry in this country and in M.L.S., I think there’s a lot we can do to improve on that ideal. Like any other fan, I read that article, and thought that’s exactly the direction this club in particular needs to go. As soon as I saw that, I was very interested in the organization.

Q.

What memories do you have of the old Cosmos?

A.

It’s interesting. I grew up in Williamsport, Pa. At my age, at the time — the late ‘70s, early ‘80s — nobody played soccer where I grew up. So I didn’t really have any knowledge of the Cosmos until I came to work at the Meadowlands and worked with the folks that ran Giants Stadium at the time. The Cosmos came in in 1977 and actually outdrew the Giants on occasion. There were still a lot of people there from that time, and they spoke of so much awe and how special that time was. That was my first understanding of the Cosmos and what they meant — Pelé, and [Franz] Beckenbauer, and Studio 54, and parties in the locker rooms after games, and celebrities. Hearing it from people that were there, and saw it, really started to resonate with me.

Q.

You arrived at the Cosmos in the first week of November 2012. You have a brand, a history, but you have to build a club again. Where do you start?

A.

It comes down to people. We just focused on putting together job descriptions, posting the job, doing the interviews and putting a good team together. We have a very good team together. Everybody we’ve brought on has made us that much better and that much stronger. Now all those big things that seemed so daunting, and would never happen, are actually happening every day.

Q.

What has been the toughest challenge you have faced so far?

A.

I think it’s communication. Folks are a little confused about the Cosmos. “Oh, O.K., they’re coming back, I understand that. Where are they playing?” We’re starting at Hofstra University, Aug. 3. Getting that message out has been our biggest focus.

Q.

The club opted to use Hofstra University’s stadium — the same stadium that the original Cosmos started in. Is it suitable?

A.

It actually would rival some in M.L.S. right now — 13,000 seats is a good number for us to shoot at. I think we’ll be successful there. We also are very in tune with what the original Cosmos did and the path that they followed to superstardom, so we really like the idea of starting where they started.

Q.

And what about signing players?

A.

We have been clear that our goal will always be to get the top of the soccer pyramid in the United States. What that means exactly, to be honest, we don’t know for sure. We just want to put the best possible club together. Actually, what we’ve seen, very good players, great players, are reaching out to us — we don’t have to do a whole lot of recruiting. It’s managing our goal of having a modest start, putting together a sustainable business model and a sustainable club that we can grow and not trying to overdo it on players’ salaries. We are certainly on track to put a team together that would be very competitive in the N.A.S.L. and with most, if not all, M.L.S. teams.

Q.

So why return to the N.A.S.L. first? Why not join M.L.S.?

A.

The business model certainly lines up with our objectives right now. There are a lot of things that we are going to be able to do that you simply can’t do in M.L.S. — whether it’s on the commercial side of things or the player personnel side of things. There are some player transactions that we think we are going to announce here over the next few weeks, that, if they do come to fruition, I’m certain that a club wouldn’t be able to do in M.L.S. due to various rules and restrictions. And the same could be said on the commercial side of things.

Q.

The N.A.S.L. season is split — you are only competing in the second half of the season. Have you spoken to [Coach] Giovanni Savarese about his on-field goals?

A.

The two most important things for us this year are that we’re successful on the field — that doesn’t mean we have to win every game and win by five goals, but we want to put a good, successful team on the field and play attractive soccer. The other side of it is we have to fill a stadium. Those are the two priorities for 2013.

Q.

And will there be any big-name signings to help you fill the stadium?

A.

We’ve had tremendous interest. We are going to stick to our budget, which is very much an N.A.S.L. budget. We’ve had good conversations with recognizable names, but we’re not going to throw our plan out the window because an opportunity presents itself. Is it possible that there’s a name of international significance? Yes. But our focus is what’s going to be best for the organization as a whole and we’ll see how things develop over the next few months..

Q.

There has been talk of a second New York-based M.L.S. team in 2016. Is that a realistic goal for the Cosmos?

A.

We are not thinking about that at all. We are very focused on the N.A.S.L. — not only making ourselves successful, but helping the rest of the league. Whether it’s commercially or sporting-wise. To be honest, we don’t think or talk much about the M.L.S. here. We’re focused on what we’re doing.

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Q.

The Cosmos recently released plans for a $400 million stadium development at Belmont Park. Is that a viable proposal, though, for an N.A.S.L. team?

A.

Absolutely. We understand the question because the average attendance in the N.A.S.L. is not approaching 25,000, but we believe that the league has tremendous potential to grow. We think that site, with the connection to L.I.R.R., the available land, what we can do there, mixed-use development versus just a stadium, makes a tremendous amount of sense. We’ve seen N.A.S.L. or second division clubs move up to M.L.S. and do extremely well. I think we can tell a very similar story and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in a transition to M.L.S. What’s great about this sport is the opportunity through the U.S. Open Cup to prove that we have the best club in this country. We can do it on the field and it’s a meaningful competition for silverware and not friendly matches.

Q.

So the U.S. Open Cup will be a priority for the Cosmos?

A.

Whoever they line us up against, we’re very eager to play that game. If we could play it tomorrow, we would. That competition will be every bit as important as the league competition.

Q.

So you hope the Cosmos will make an impact domestically, but locally and globally this time around? Is that fan base still there?

A.

We know that people around the world know who the Cosmos are. It’s a little bit upside down of other teams in this country. That’s already there for us, we have to just start playing again and tap into that network. There’s an opportunity for us to play abroad this summer that we hope to announce soon — we were able to start negotiations for that before we even signed a player. So international connections, right off the bat, it’s there. In New York, people have so many positive feelings about the organization and we just need to communicate well with them. And nationally we have competitions that we think we can prove that we are doing things the right way in building a proper soccer club.

Q.

What still needs to be put in place before the start of the season?

A.

We have to finish the roster. Hopefully, we will have a jersey sponsor that you’ll see soon, a kit manufacturing deal and a lot of other partnerships that should help us locally, nationally and internationally. Season tickets go on sale on Friday, April 12 — that’ll tell us if what we are doing is connecting with the soccer fan in this community.

Q.

And when can fans first expect to see the Cosmos on the field?

A.

We expect to do something in the middle of July, as part of that international competition that I mentioned. That will hopefully be finalized soon. But the first real competition, when you are going to see the Cosmos playing for results on the table, will be Aug. 3, at Hofstra University on Long Island.

Jack Williams, a native of Wales, is pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University. Follow him on Twitter.