Pele ended his stellar playing career with the New York Cosmos a generation ago. Yesterday, the greatest soccer player ever came to the Copa NYC final in Flushing Meadows Corona Park to announce that arguably the most famous defunct team in history is making a comeback, with a Cosmos re-boot.

In the 1970s the Cosmos gained world-renown with a star-studded roster and larger-than life image, led by Pele. They won the 1977 NASL title in his last competitive game as a player; but now he returns as honorary president of Cosmos organization that claims it’s dedicated to inspiring and developing player, investing in grassroots and youth soccer before eventually joining MLS.

“As global ambassador for the game, and as Honorary President of The New York Cosmos, it’s a great privilege to be able to give back to the future of the sport that gave so much to me,” Pele said. “The return of The New York Cosmos will inspire footballers in this country, and embrace people around the world who love this beautiful game as much as I do.”

English businessman Paul Kemsley bought the name and image rights for the Cosmos from Peppe Pinton, and at halftime of the Copa NYC Pele announced the club’s return. They’ve already agreed to a partnership with Queens-based powerhouse youth club BW Gottschee, and the Cosmos Academy will field teams from U12-U18 and participate in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

They’ve also acquired the Copa NYC tourney, and plan to expand it both domestically and internationally. They’ve launched a website, will have Cosmos gear available this summer, and will work with the City to provide equipment and facilities so that more kids can play soccer.

“Now we are going to work with the base. All the new generation will be part of our family,” said Pele. “The second generation, the third generation; we are going to work and give the support to them.”

The ultimate goal, the proverbial brass ring, is clearly to get an MLS club. And MLS commissioner Don Garber _ a Montclair (NJ) resident _ has repeatedly said the league’s priority is to get a second team in New York.

“We very much want a second team here,” Garber said two weeks ago, never specifically mentioning the Cosmos by name. “I continue to have discussions with the Wilpon family of the New York Mets about seeing whether we could convince them that soccer would be better in Queens than hockey. We have work to do with the city to get their support for building a stadium.

“I think if we’re able to really make a lot of noise here, get lots of people to come out, have this team resonate throughout the tri-state area, it will be that much easier to convince everybody we need to convince about that second team.”

The Mets-owning Wilpon family has had on-again, off-again discussions with the league about a team, although the recession and losing a significant sum of money in the Bernie Madoff scandal had put actually acquiring a team on the back burner for awhile. But building a stadium near Citi Field could still be a possibility, with Kemsley as a team-owning partner.

Additional reporting by JOSEPH STASZEWSKI