'Meeting Pelé each time felt very special and he was so kind to us'

When Sasha Hamrogue was a little girl growing up in Queen’s, New York, some of her earliest memories involved the greatest footballer of them all - Pelé.

Sasha’s father Martin was born in 1941, in Kinlough, Co Leitrim, and whilst still in his teens made his way to the United States, by the time of the late fifties. A diligent, popular and charismatic young man, Martin took on the responsibility of bread-winner for the family of five children following the death of their father, also Martin, and would send dollars home. 

The family is still dotted between Kinlough, Bundoran and Ballyshannon. Martin’s  brother Sean resides in Ballyshannon and his nieces and nephews are still living in the area between Bundoran and Sligo. Their late brother Donal had a garage in Bundoran and another late brother, Malachy, was a butcher and later owned the Casa Mia bed and breakfast in Bundoran, with his wife Mary. 

Martin Hamrogue with his New York Cosmos blazer

Young Martin first arrived in Florida to stay with relatives to get settled. Not afraid to graft and, having served in the US Air Force, he worked as a baggage handler for Trans World Airlines. Every day, he would walk from Queen’s - two hours one way - to and then back from John F Kennedy airport.

In an era where the rich and famous were less inclined to fly privately, Martin, who was steadily making his way through the ranks thanks to his professionalism and personality, often greeted celebrities as their feet first touched the tarmac - The Beatles, Sonny and Cher, and the Rolling Stones to name but a few. 

The football - or soccer - club, New York Cosmos, was founded in 1970  by Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, renowned executives at Atlantic Records, whose parent company Warner Communications then acquired Cosmos in 1972. 

Martin became acquaintances and then friends with the Turkish-American brothers and as a keen football follower and player, soon became involved with Cosmos, which was backed by Warner Communications President Steve Ross, who had the intent of growing the ‘soccer’ footprint in the city that never sleeps.

Martin Hamrogue arriving to work with New York Cosmos

Although it seemed optimistic at the time and with all the major clubs in Europe having failed, to really kick start the revolution Ross wanted the biggest name of them all to come on board. Even though he had not heard of him to begin with, that name was Pelé - the Brazilian who had won World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970, although had only played club football for Santos in his homeland.

Clive Toye, a former sportswriter from Plymouth, had been taken in from Baltimore to act as general manager of Cosmos and was tasked with the recruitment. To the surprise of the football world, Pelé joined Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in June 1975, on a salary of $1.4 million per year.

A New York Cosmas squad and staff photograph from the 1970s

Martin Hamrogue worked for Cosmos in a variety of roles, perhaps best termable as an advisor. Cosmos went from strength to strength, from average attendances of 3,578 at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island in 1974 to 47,856 four years later at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

As well as playing domestically, Cosmos would welcome the likes of AS Roma and Bayern Munich for exhibition matches and travelled to Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the UK and South Korea. Although Pelé signed off in 1977 with a retirement match against former club Santos, it didn’t halt a succession of stars joining.

Martin Hamrogue exchanges words with Phil Parkes, who was goalkeeper  at Vancouver Whitecaps and later for Chicago Sting

Pelé’s 1970 Brazil skipper Carlos Alberto went to the Big Apple; West Germany’s 1974 World Cup winning captain Franz Beckenbauer, who lifted three European Cups with Bayern Munich; Johan Neeskans, a brilliant mainstay of the fabulous Dutch side who reached the 1974 and 1978 World Cup finals having also won three European Cups - in his case with Ajax Amsterdam - before joining FC Barcelona with Johan Cruyff.

Italian Giorgio Chinaglia, whose club career had meandered from Swansea Town FC in Wales to a Serie A title with Lazio and Dave Clements from Larne, Co Antrim, even got Pelé to wear a Northern Ireland jersey during this stint on Stateside. Clements had previously managed Northern Ireland.

Off the pitch, there were lots of tuxedo nights at places like Broadway theatre, Studio 54. Glitz and glamour. The American Dream.

Martin's wife, Angela Hamrogue, in the company of Pelé in New York city

Martin Hamrogue married Angela Kelly, a native of Ballina, Co Tipperary, in 1977 and together had two daughters - Sasha, born in 1979, and Aisling, who arrived a year later. Martin’s employment in the airline industry meant free airfare, so the family - with dual citizenship - travelled around the world and frequently back to Ireland. 

Cosmos folded in 1985 in tandem with the NASL. Down the years, though, they always kept in contact with the Hamrogues. Even though the Cosmos dream had died, the family remained. 

“A lot of my memories are through photographs as I was very young,” Sasha told DonegalLive. “One in particular is of me as a toddler at the Giants Stadium, which is empty, with Bugs Bunny, who was Cosmos mascot. Although Pelé was gone by the time I was born, there were always reunions and I met him a few times and he and dad were friends.

Martin Hamrogue training with New York Cosmos at Giants Stadium

“Meeting Pelé each time felt very special and he was so kind to us, especially when we were very young. Even then I felt like I was in the presence of greatness. I know my parents were very, very honored to call him a friend. He was very humble despite his huge level of fame.

“Everyone at Cosmos was very much part of each others’ lives, even into the nineties. There were lots of meetups and reminiscing.”

Martin maintained his relationship with football and the family were back in Giants Stadium as Ireland beat Italy in their opening match of the 1994 World Cup, evening getting backstage access afterwards with Jack Charlton and his team.

Sasha Hamrogue

Not forgetting her roots, Sasha decided to study journalism and media in Dublin, and spent two years in Montrose with RTÉ as a researcher/reporter. In 2004 she went back to New York and worked as a director at MTV, interviewing stars from Katy Perry to Rihanna, Dave Grohl to Neil Young, as well as top tier celebrity talent from Meryl Streep to Daniel Day Lewis.

These days, as a married mother of two living in Kildare town, Sasha works as Head of Digital for the Wireless Group, whilst also continuing her interest in journalism as a writer and podcaster. 

Martin contracted lung cancer and sadly died at Harold’s Cross Hospice in 2010. Sasha’s mother, Angela, passed away five years later with the same disease.

Martin’s coffin was draped in a New York Cosmos flag. It had been even whispered at the time Pelé had been hoping to visit Martin in Dublin. Now, with the Brazilian legend having also died, in his case at the age of 82, they’ll have plenty of good times to talk about when they finally get the chance to catch up.