2017 MLS Kit Matchups

[Jaffa]

8 hours ago, upperV03 said:

Yeah, from my understanding the home team chooses their regular kit first, then the away team chooses theirs, then the home team picks their keeper kit, then the away team, and then the referee kits are decided on last. There are probably some special cases where that order has to be shifted around due to possible contrast issues, but I believe that's the general order of how things are chosen.

 

That's how it works in most leagues, and often it's as simple as a phone call between the two respective kit men to reach an agreement on who wears what. 

 

In this country at least the teams then submit their choices to the league for approval, though the referee on the day has the power to make a team change any part of their kit if he feels there's going to be a clash. That's quite rare, but every once in a while you see a visiting side having to borrow part of an opponent's change kit, or even have a team wear its away colours at home.

 

[upperV03]

Here's what yesterday brought us:

Mostly good looking matchups across the board, although NYRB/Chicago was tough to watch at times due to Chicago's secondaries being so light. The Red Bulls' red shorts were really a saving grace in that game, otherwise it would've been a nightmare in terms of contrast. I thought Orlando/Colorado, Dallas/Portland, and Seattle/New England all looked especially nice, but several others weren't far behind. A couple things of note; the Red Bulls' wore light blue names and numbers for autism awareness, and the Galaxy wore black warmup shirts with the LA Kings' logo on them.

[AnPheitseog]

I might have missed this, but did Columbus ditch their white jersey?

 

Im only seeing the yellow and black in the store, with the black jersey being listed as the secondary

[upperV03]

35 minutes ago, DiePerske said:

I might have missed this, but did Columbus ditch their white jersey?

 

Im only seeing the yellow and black in the store, with the black jersey being listed as the secondary

Yep, it was (thankfully) only a one year thing and the black kit has now returned to secondary status in its place.

 

And while I'm at it, here's how the final matchup of the weekend looked:

Decent looking matchup, and I guess it's only fitting that DCU's secondary would make its debut in Atlanta where they could dress up like the Falcons.

[upperV03]

A couple of midweek matches this week. The league apparently (and annoyingly) forgot to post the graphics again, but here's how the games looked:

SKC opted to wear their secondaries at home for the second time this season, but everything else was to be expected. And for the record, the keeper kits were as follows:

- Toronto vs. Orlando: black vs. light blue

- SKC vs. NYRB: green vs. light blue 

The refs wore yellow in both games.

[upperV03]

Here's what we're looking at for this weekend (the graphics for NYCFC/Atlanta and Columbus/New England haven't been made available yet so I'll have to update this post once they are).

Not really much of note this week other than Portland going with the white clash shorts and socks for the second time. They really didn't have a choice, so no surprise there. And SKC will be going with their secondaries for the second game in a row, but that was really the only practical option. I will say that I kind of wish Minnesota would've opted to wear the white shorts with the gray kits in that matchup just to enhance the contrast, but that's not all that realistic since they're the home team. NYCFC/Atlanta should be a beautiful matchup and there are a couple others that should be pretty nice as well.

[-kj]

That's an interesting shade of "white" for Dallas's shorts.

[Digby]

At least there's no more "bah" blue for NYCFC or "forrest" green for Portland?

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

At least there's no more "bah" blue for NYCFC or "forrest" green for Portland?

 

We don't know yet about that one - hopefully the graphic will be posted today. 

[upperV03]

Not sure why the graphics for NYCFC/Atlanta and Columbus/New England still haven't been posted, but I'll keep checking as the day progresses.

 

But anyways, here's how last night's game between Colorado and Vancouver looked:

A lot of white in this one, and it was pretty similar to when Colorado and RSL squared off earlier in the season. Today should bring some more appealing matchups.

[Digby]

Does Vancouver ever wear change shorts for a Tottenham look on the road? They should in cases like the above, imho.

[upperV03]

40 minutes ago, Digby said:

Does Vancouver ever wear change shorts for a Tottenham look on the road? They should in cases like the above, imho.

To my knowledge they've only ever done that once in their MLS history, on August 20th, 2011 in Portland. 

I'm in agreement with you though, I'd like to see them do that on the road against teams like Colorado, Dallas if they continue to use white shorts in the future, maybe New England, and Portland if they were to ever re-adopt the white shorts as their primary look. White/blue/white was actually the primary look of the NASL Whitecaps for the latter half of their existence, so there's some historical precedent for that particular combination as well.

[upperV03]

The league never did end up posting the graphic for Columbus/New England, but both teams are wearing their primaries. The Columbus keeper is in red, while the Revs' keeper is in green. The refs are in light blue. 

[Gothamite]

That sounds like a beautiful matchup.  

 

Hope they post the NYC/ATL graphic. 

[upperV03]

Yesterday brought some really nice matchups with Seattle/Toronto, Columbus/New England, Houston/Orlando, and RSL/Dallas all providing a terrific contrast of colors. I'd have to say Columbus/New England was my personal favorite, but they were all very pleasing to the eye. The rest of the matchups weren't bad, but definitely a step below those that were aforementioned. I was happy to see the white shorts and socks again for my Timbers, and I'm glad they have them for cases like last night's game, where they're necessary in-order to provide sufficient contrast.

Assuming NYCFC and Atlanta both wear their primaries today (still no graphic), we could be in store for one of the best matchups of the year so far. Fingers crossed. And in the other game, I'll be curious to see how Minnesota's all-gray contrasts with SKC's all-navy.

[upperV03]

Guess we'll have to wait another week to see if the league fixed the "bah" blue on the NYCFC kit lineup charts, as they've negelected to post the graphic for today's match. Dissapointing. Luckily the kit matchup itself is anything but dissapointing as both teams are rightfully in their primaries. NYCFC is using the green keeper kit, while Atlanta's keepers are in black. The refs are in the standard yellow. Really beautiful matchup.

[-kj]

The contrast in MNU/SKC was pretty decent, though the shadows made it a little more difficult in the second half.

[PaleVermilion81]

1 hour ago, Mockba said:

The contrast in MNU/SKC was pretty decent, though the shadows made it a little more difficult in the second half.

 

I wish there would've been more contrast, though. As a fan at the game, this was almost as tough as the Atlanta United game to distinguish between the 2 (although that one was also a blizzard lol)

[Gothamite]

18 hours ago, upperV03 said:

Luckily the kit matchup itself is anything but dissapointing as both teams are rightfully in their primaries. NYCFC is using the green keeper kit, while Atlanta's keepers are in black. The refs are in the standard yellow. Really beautiful matchup.

 

Sure was. 

 

 

 

That looked great.  Red & black against blue & white.  A real sense of opposition between bold colors.  That's what the Hudson River Derby ought to look like. 

[upperV03]

Yep, NYCFC/Atlanta proved to be one of the best-looking games of the season so far, if not the best. And luckily we'll likely get to see it again in three weeks.

 

And like others have said, the contrast in Minnesota/SKC was mostly fine, with just a couple of issues being created by the shadows in the second half. The only feasible way to enhance contrast would've been for Minnesota to wear their white kits, but having them change as the home team wouldn't have been ideal.

It's not the first time the two clubs have produced a slightly confusing matchup (see below), and chances are it won't be the last considering their color schemes and recent kits.