The Alternate Soccer Universe: Ligue Première De Football -- Corsaires (January 22)

[MDGP]

So, as it turns out, writing and composing music isn't something I have the time to devote to at the moment. However, I've still been hard at work, and I'm excited to present a sneak peak of Parts 2 and 3 of the ASF series (which probably will have to be renamed). I'm happy to unveil the league logos for the French Ligue Première, and the Spanish Liga Del Sol. These are just previews for now. The league histories will be posted during actual league presentations.

The Ligue Première is known for its speed and high scoring, while La Liga Del Sol is renowned for its combination of traditional soccer and modern aesthetics.

As always, I'd love to hear what you guys think.

[Roadrunner8ball]

Those are awesome logos. Does the Spanish league translate to the Spanish league of sun?

[Berlin Wall]

Awsome. Just amazin'!

I can't wait to see what you'll make out of it.

[VictoriaGooner]

Amazing league logos! I can't wait either for the future of both leagues

[MDGP]

Thanks for the comments, guys! Glad you like the logos.

Those are awesome logos. Does the Spanish league translate to the Spanish league of sun?

That is correct, sir. The direct translation is "The League of the Sun."

[Naoned Pride]

Just a small grammar issue, while the spanish one is right, the french one should be "Première Ligue de Football" (and not "du").

The Ligue Première is known for its speed and high scoring

Funny when IRL the Ligue 1 is considered slow and has a lesser average scoring per game than other big euro leagues !

[MDGP]

Just a small grammar issue, while the spanish one is right, the french one should be "Première Ligue de Football" (and not "du").

The Ligue Première is known for its speed and high scoring

Funny when IRL the Ligue 1 is considered slow and has a lesser average scoring per game than other big euro leagues !

Damn it! This is eerily similar to my three years of french class. You'd think having numerous family members who speak French would help me somewhat, haha.

Thanks for pointing that out, I'll get that fixed soon.

[nas1787]

I think a shorter font for the French league, with a wide kerning, would look great. It would allow the wording to fit in with the logo more.

Great stuff though!

[MDGP]

After a brief delay, I'm ready to officially present France's Ligue Première de Football!

Officially founded in 1931, the LPF is the oldest of Europe's "Power 5" (France, England, Spain, Italy, Germany), and has had arguably the most stable history, surviving hiatus during World War 2. Prior to the league's formation, soccer in France was a loosely formed coalition of amateur teams who played for a Pseudo-National Championship each year, starting as early as 1921. At this time, teams from Five cities: Reims, Nancy, Lille, Amiens, and Paris competed against one another in a tournament spanning three weekends as a short break from the national rebuilding efforts. Playing on a makeshift pitch, the team from Reims came out on top, winning what is now officially recognized by the LPF as the first Coupe Nationale. The league recognizes each winner as a "national champion" prior to the league officially using the Cup as its championship (The cup didn't receive an actual physical trophy until 1928). In 1931, the league officially formed with 20 teams, 17 of whom exist in some capacity today (though most are no longer top flight).

The LPF has historically been considered Europe's elite league, hosting teams that have won the most European Champions League (13) and being home to to the international governing body known as FIFA (Apparently some things don't change between alternate universes, though I like to think this one isn't super corrupt).

Starting in the late 1980s, French owners began paying exorbitant amounts of money on youth training programs, creating a youth system that is unrivaled by any other country in the world. Furthermore, the league generally consists of this home-grown talent combined with the top stars from other nations, resulting in high-paced, exciting soccer that has resulted in the highest league viewership in the world. France is the reigning World Cup Champion, defeating a completely unexpected Swedish team 3-1 in the Cup final.

(NOTE: The league will feature a team chart, much like the ASF's, but I'm having some issues with inkscape at the moment, so it will not be up right away.)

(Note 2: I also liked nas' idea about using a shorter font for the design, I just haven't found the right one yet, and didn't want to delay the series due to such a small issue.)

[MDGP]

Originally known simply as Reims, Reims C-A was formed in 1919 as a loosely organized amateur team that played games together against any opponent it could find. As the post-World War situation improved, the team became more structured, and eventually was able to set up the Coupe Nationale (as it was later called) with several other teams, winning two (1921 and 1924).

Reims C-A is the LPF's most consistent team, being the only franchise to have never been relegated, since pro/rel was established in 1949. Since LPF formation, the team has won an impressive 9 titles, though it is officially considered to be 11-time champions due to the pre-league cups. The team's high point came at the turn of the century when it won three straight league championships from 1999 to 2001. (NOTE: Interestingly enough, 2001 is actually a shared title with Bastille. The squads finished tied in points, goal difference, head to head, away goals in head to head, goals scored, and every other tiebreaker. The league decided to award both the league championship). Since then, the team has struggled by its standards. Most recently, the team finished 7th, it's 4th straight season out of the Champions League. Rumors of financial issues of its owner Remi Dubois were confirmed this season when the team was sold to Scottish businessman Danny Kelly, who brought in famed Irish coach and former Reims C-A winger, Bobby O'Neill. By all accounts, the fan base has been reinvigorated, and are expecting to compete for a league title this season.

(Click to enlarge)

CREST

As many of you may recognize, Reims C-A competed in last year's ESCC tournament, in which it placed 7th. Upon arrival, the new ownership decided to update the crest slightly. Derived from the local history of the Champagne-Ardenne region, the crest features a large circular medallion upon a red shield. The medallion itself is derived from two separate elements. First, the green cross represents the Croix de Guerre, which was presented to the soldiers who fought in World War I and II. Reims was a critical location in both wars, and Allied victories signified the downfall of the German army in both wars (officially in World War 1 and symbolically in World War 2).

In the middle of the cross is the Calice du Sacre Tau, representing the royal history of the city during the 1500's through the 1600's. Behind the Calice are two crossed swords. These swords, along with the muted yellow, do not represent war or royalty, but the industry of the region. Reims is one of the world's leading producers of Champagne. The swords at the bottom are two sabrage swords, which are used to ceremoniously open bottles of champagne.

As noted, this is the most noticeable change from the previous crest, as the Calice is located within a yellow circle, and the sabrage swords are much more prominent that in the previous crest, in which they were relegated to the bottom of the crest.

Currently, the bottom of the crest features 1919, the year that many consider to be the first season of modern football in Reims.

UNIFORMS

(No idea why photobucket added this large white space at the bottom)

PRIMARY

Reims' primary crest underwent a major change from last season. The team kept what is basically the same design, featuring the team's iconic sleeve stripes, and stripped it down into a much more simple design. The uniform is monochrome white, and the pinstripes from the previous season have been removed. The numbers on back are now single colored to simplify and modernize the look. The shorts and socks also feature the same triple stripe pattern as seen on the shirt. Lafarge (an actual French company that was too fun not to use) remains the shirt sponsor, and above the crest are three stars, two green and one red, signifying the 11 Coupes Nationales the team has won.

CLASH

The clash kit is extremely similar to last year's design, featuring a green monochrome with a vertical chest stripe under the crest. This striping is another homage to the soldiers of France, and mimicks the bands upon which medals were hung. The crest is meant to resemble a medal upon the chest of the players. However, below the sponsor logo, the striping takes a twist, literally. Upon the arrival of the new ownership and coach, Nike decided it wanted to honor the duo. The company created a Celtic-style striping pattern that is meant to allude to both the Celtic ancestry of the two men and well as the Celtic origins of Reims. Originally, the company pushed to have this as the primary uniform, but the ownership, coach, players, and fan base all refused to stop utilizing the red/yellow/green striped primary uniform.

Also of note, on the clash, the stars would not fit above the crest due to striping, so nike placed the stars to the right of the crest, hoping to establish a new trend in soccer design (it won't).

[MDGP]

Founded as Grenoble's second franchise in 1962, Bastille (as it is referred to by pretty much everybody) aka FCBG, has been the city's premier team. While FC Grenoble has fallen into tier 2 mediocrity since its relegation in 1973 at the hands of its rival, Bastille has not been relegated since its return to the top tier in 1972. In that time, the team has been relatively successful, winning three league championships and a somewhat surprising Champions League title in 1997.

The team's name and identity are derived from the city's famed landmark, La Bastille de Grenoble, which is located in the mountains overlooking the city.

CREST

Bastille's crest features two main elements, a castle and an abstract seeming design. As many might point out, the castle itself doesn't quite look like the actual Bastille, which does not feature such tall towers. The team's ownership, however, decided on that specific design for reasons that they describe as "International marketing." The four shapes above the fortress represent the Grenoble-Bastille Cable Car, which features circular "bubbles" that carry passengers from the city to the Bastille.

The crest also features an oddly shaped top, which is meant to represent the steep incline of the Alps, between which the city is nestled. Below the crest is a banner that simply reads Bastille, as this terminology made it easier to pick the two teams apart. Above the crest are three slanted stars that, unlike most clubs, are an official feature on the crest, and used in all applications.

UNIFORMS

PRIMARY

Bastille is outfitted by adidas, so we get to look at all those unnecessary shoulder stripes. The main shirt is sky blue, featuring navy blue accents. This color scheme was originally adopted to contrast FC Grenoble, who wears red. Though the team has historically worn somewhat plain kits, adidas convinced the squad to add a design to the front of the shirt for the current season. The zig-zag sash is made up of several lines that are a navy-to-white gradient. This design was described as representing both the Alps, as well as the team's "rise to elite status in French soccer," which isn't entirely truthful from a historical standpoint. The team features Carrefour, a French retailer that is the 4th largest retail group in the world. Upon the back of the neck are the words "Les Gardiens," further representing the role of the Bastille in the city's history, as well as the nickname of the players who play on the squad.

CLASH

Originally, Bastille would never have been caught dead wearing red upon their uniforms. However, since FC Grenoble has not competed at the top flight since a one-year stint in 1984, the team has begun wearing clash uniforms featuring the color. The current clash is based upon the city flag and Rhone-Alpes crest/flag (interestingly choosing to use the regional configuration of yellow and red). The uniform features navy shorts and accents, also derived from the regional flag (and main color scheme). Due to visibility problems in recent seasons, the LPF asked Bastille to alter the back of their uniforms, as officials had trouble identifying the numbers of the players during games. To remedy this, adidas simply moved the red/yellow split towards the left, leaving the numbers entirely within the yellow portion, while still keeping the split design. The socks also feature the split design, and have resulted in players wearing the wrong color sock on the wrong leg on some occasions, leading CCSLC members to throw fits. "Les Gardiens" is featured in navy.

[sparkychewbarky]

I liked both these crests right from the start.

You'd think putting crossed swords on top of a cross would look cluttered, but ...not at all on that Reims C-A logo.

Nicely done.

I liked the Bastille crest even more after reading your explanation of the symbols!

So, let's see...you managed to render a castle, the Alps, a starry night, and a freakin' cable car all in one super-clean crest.

Super job!

[JTernup]

Wow, this whole thing is... mind-blowing amazing work all around. The histories are fantastic, the jerseys are superb and the crests for each team are even better. There have been a lot of great concepts on these boards but this is by far my favorite.

[MDGP]

Wow, guys. I really want to thank you for the comments, that's some serious praise that I'm not sure I really deserve. I really am flattered and glad you like the new stuff.

I liked both these crests right from the start.

You'd think putting crossed swords on top of a cross would look cluttered, but ...not at all on that Reims C-A logo.

Nicely done.

I liked the Bastille crest even more after reading your explanation of the symbols!

So, let's see...you managed to render a castle, the Alps, a starry night, and a freakin' cable car all in one super-clean crest.

Super job!

Thanks, Sparky!

It's funny actually, Reims was extremely cluttered with the swords behind the cross, and it was all fixed by simply changing the center circle from green to yellow. It's funny that sometimes the simplest change is the most effective.

Wow, this whole thing is... mind-blowing amazing work all around. The histories are fantastic, the jerseys are superb and the crests for each team are even better. There have been a lot of great concepts on these boards but this is by far my favorite.

Thanks a lot for this comment! It's not every day you have someone say your work is their favorite, so I was extremely happy to read this. Hopefully I keep keep up the consistency the rest of the way!

[MDGP]

It's been nearly a week, so it's time to present team #3:

Like Bastille, Strasbourg is the second team founded in its city, and the more dominant of the two clubs. Obviously founded in 1949, the club needed a way to distinguish themselves to avoid confusion. Players and Coaches started writing the year in front of the city name, and referring to themselves as 1949 as shorthand. Soon, this became the common nickname of the team, and 1949 Strasbourg became the official team name. Fans regularly call the team simply, 1949, and many English-speaking fans have taken to referring to the squad as the "Forty-Niners," resulting in an unsuccessful lawsuit by the San Francisco 49ers during the early 90s.

1949 is known for its success in two eras, the 1960s and the 2000s, winning two championships in each decade. Unlike most squads, who utilize speed and flair, 1949 is a defense heavy team holding a record for most clean sheets (24 in 2007) in an LPF season, and the the most since 2000 (124). As evidenced, 2007 was the most dominant defensive performance in the modern history of the sport at the professional level in any country. The squad dominated its way to both a league championship and a champions league title (in which it had a perfect record). After the season, 3 veteran players retired, reducing the dominance of the defense. Though still relevant, 1949 has not won a title since.

CREST

1949 is generally regarded as the LPF's most "unique" team in both style and branding. The main circular shape of the crest is a circle, influenced by German crests. Strasbourg has numerous historical ties to Germany, and even the city's name is an anglicized-German name. The top of the crest features six red segments. These segments are designed to represent railroad tracks running around the top of the crest, which is an important industry within the city. Originally, the crest featured these "tracks" all the way around, creating a "hub" (ala, the Boston Bruins) that also represents other transportation important to the city. However, in 2001 the crest was altered to represent Strasbourg's importance in EU politics. The crest now features a half "track" in order to help mimic the design of the EU Parliament building in Strasbourg. The halfway point was chosen in order to keep exactly 5 black marks between the red segments. These black spaces represent the five championships won by the club. As a result, the squad does not feature any stars above the crest.

Within the crest are a crossed hammer and paintbrush. The hammer further represents the industry in the city, particularly highlighting the rail and river transportation industry. The paintbrush is representative of the important art culture in the city. Not only is Strasbourg for opera and theater, but it also has a large number of art museums for a city of its size. Designers decided to utilize a paintbrush to represent the entirety of the cultural influences.

At the bottom of the crest is the city's Alsatian name, Strossburi, which is one of the official languages of the region, and a recognized minority language of France.

UNIFORMS

1949 Strasbourg is outfitted by Under Armour and features Roche as a shirt sponsor.

PRIMARY

1949's primary kit is extremely simple yet modern. The chest features a segmented red stripe that is a modernized interpretation of the segments on the crest. The stripe is also featured on one side of the shorts. The rest of the uniform is black, featuring white numbers with a red name on back, matching the stripe/sponsor color pattern on the front.

CLASH

The clash uniform is much more unique, but still somewhat simple. The front of the shirt is directly based upon Theo van Doesburg's design of the ceiling of the Aubette dance hall. Each season, the team creates a design that is directly influenced by a piece of art or architecture within the city in order to "bring the pride of Strasbourg on the road." The rest of the uniform is plain white, in order to draw the eye to the front of the jersey. The name on back and number are in black.

THROWBACK

1949's third kit is a throwback to the squad's 1960s uniform. The uniform is loosely based upon the city's flag, which is white with a diagonal red stripe. The primary design of the era followed this design, and the clash was the same design but in red, as seen here. The throwback is based upon the team's clash jersey, which was worn the day the team clinched both the 1960 and the 1966 championship, making it extremely famous within the fan base. Since there is a shirt sponsor, modern logo, and modern numbers, the throwback is not a perfectly historically accurate design.

[mbannon92]

That clash uniform is unreal. Not only is the idea behind it really cool, but it turned out looking awesome.

The rest looks good as well. The crest is really sharp and definitely Germanic, which seemingly works with this city.

[Naoned Pride]

I like that you used the alsatian name of Strasbourg, hope you'll keep that detail with breton and corsican teams (can't wait to see Nantes... Naoned !).

Though I don't like the clash jersey, I don't know if you're familiar with soccer kits, but these kind of super-innovative colourful design are always hated by the fans. I think you should have stuck with two to three colours maximum.

[MDGP]

That clash uniform is unreal. Not only is the idea behind it really cool, but it turned out looking awesome.

The rest looks good as well. The crest is really sharp and definitely Germanic, which seemingly works with this city.

I like that you used the alsatian name of Strasbourg, hope you'll keep that detail with breton and corsican teams (can't wait to see Nantes... Naoned !).

Though I don't like the clash jersey, I don't know if you're familiar with soccer kits, but these kind of super-innovative colourful design are always hated by the fans. I think you should have stuck with two to three colours maximum.

Honestly, this is exactly what I was going for with the clash: A design that would be polarizing to the viewer. I actually spent a pretty good amount of time examining clash uniforms like this, and wanted to go with something that some fans might not like, but that others would. Basically, it's my way of pushing the envelope, while still trying to make it looks somewhat professional.

In regards to the names, I'll definitely be looking into using the names featuring the local languages of regions, but I can't 100% guarantee anything regarding anyone at this point in time.

[Naoned Pride]

Well, your away kit is realistic given the artistic masturbation some manufacturer go through just to sell it.

Concerning the names, I can provide them to you if you need any help. You will find dozens of regional languages, but most are obsolete and with very low amount of speakers nowadays (I'm talking hundreds for some) and don't have a popular backup to actually have them institutionalized.

I'd suggest you only take into consideration breton names, basque, corsican, alsatian, catalan, savoyard, and maybe occitan (though it's probably the least supported of the seven).

[Beluga4]

Once again, thanks for the comments, guys! I really appreciate them!

In regards to TheBigCahuna's comment, I actually started thinking the exact same thing about halfway through the concept. I think PSG would look pretty good in that design.

And now I'd like to present the American Soccer Federation's 20th and final team,

Fort Vancouver U.S.A. Was founded in 1962, leading to a large influx of teams on the west coast in the following years. Originally the team was slated to play in Seattle, but at the last minute, the city council of Vancouver, Washington made the offer to the new owners to pay for the new stadium in its entirety. With a new home established, the team needed a name, in order to avoid confusion with Vancouver, Canada, and to harken back to the city's foundation as a trading post and military base, the team was named Fort Vancouver U.S.A.

Despite the team's relative lack of championship success, it remains one of the most popular teams in the league, capitalizing on both the Portland and Seattle markets being close by.

CREST

Vancouver's crest consists mainly of a pine tree designed in a modern style, using chevrons to make the basic design of the tree. This, like the name, harkens back to the military history of the city. Above the tree is a sublimated chevron, representing a distant Mount Rainier, which was named by explorer and city namesake, George Vancouver.

UNIFORMS

Vancouver is the league's only team to be outfitted by Under Armour, which shocked many in the uniform industry, due to the team's close proximity to Nike. The kits themselves are based heavily upon the crest design. The jersey sponsor is Starbucks.

The primary uniform is sky blue featuring a single chevron upon the chest. The clash is green and features three sublimated chevrons. Both kits feature brown shorts and socks the match the main shirt color.

The clash uniforms are all white and feature three stripes on the torso, one of each color. This design is not classified as a throwback, but does allude back to some of the team's earlier uniform designs.

----------------------------

Well there ya go, the 20 teams of the American Soccer Federation have been finished. However, that does not mean the series itself is over. I have a few more things coming in the next few days, and it's more than possible that Europe might see a few leagues.

I love you man! Vancouver is in between Portland and Seattle but it is practically in the Portland Metro Area, some people call this area the Portland-Vancouver Area so putting a team in Vancouver would be attracting fans mostly from Portland, from Seattle to Vancouver is two and a half hours. That's fine though because Portland fans have much more passion and devotion than the puke green Seattle Flounder fans