Midwestern Soccer Association: A.F.C. Cleveland (6/18)

[jaker52]

Change the name for St. Louis there is no reasoning for why they are Olympic, and change the ad, sprint should be the ad for Kansas City

Get rid of the black for Chicago except for the black outline on the outside that goes all the way around

STL hosted the 1904 games.

[Wgeddes122]

Sorry I forgot about the 1904 Olympics, like the second ever small Olympics, my freaking bad.

Sprint is a national brand yeah but there are other national brands based in St. Louis and if you don't have KC in a Midwest soccer concept then you have got to be one of the thickest people ever

[nas1787]

Change the name for St. Louis there is no reasoning for why they are Olympic, and change the ad, sprint should be the ad for Kansas City

Get rid of the black for Chicago except for the black outline on the outside that goes all the way around

Hey geddes, I think you'd receive less pushback to your ideas if you offered them up as suggestions, rather than commands. Everyone on here is looking for constructive feedback and I think you tend to make some good points, but you do need to work on your tone. Be friendly, this is a fun place.

I very much like what you've started here carson. I do agree with David however that the number don't isn't perfect. It's hard to find good fonts for soccer concepts, because tall fonts always look best. Just stretching it out can lead to everything looking wonky, so that's maybe not the best fix.

[crashcarson15]

Sorry I forgot about the 1904 Olympics, like the second ever small Olympics, my freaking bad.

Sprint is a national brand yeah but there are other national brands based in St. Louis and if you don't have KC in a Midwest soccer concept then you have got to be one of the thickest people ever

As I said at the beginning of the concept, this league exhibits promotion and relegation. That means sometimes the smaller cities get to the first division at the expense of the larger ones.

Nobody at the FA says Leeds needs to be promoted because it’s a “big city.”

Perhaps being less confrontational about, you know,

There may be other national brands, sure, but a telecommunications company is always going to be a solid choice as a shirt sponsor; look at how many kits Vodafone has sponsored across Europe over the years. Aesthetically, I liked the way the Sprint logo looked on the kits, so I went with it.

ALSO: I’ll take a look at the number font in a couple days, hopefully.

[mbannon92]

Nice stuff here, Alex. Always love a good soccer series, especially unique ones like this. (I actually have one in the works myself ?)

I don't really have much to add in terms of C&C other than what's been said. I really like the Olympic AC crest. Definitely a unique look, and and a nice tribute to the city of St. Louis and the 1904 Olympics.

[crashcarson15]

Sparta A.B.A.

Major Honors:

League Championships (7): 1960, 1970, 1981, 1986, 1987, 2007, 2011

National Championships (1): 1986

National Challenge Cups (4): 1938, 1940*, 1971, 1980

Club Info:

Founded: 1917

Joined MWSA: 1953

Stadium: Sparta Stadium (30,000)

Nicknames: Bohemians, Spartans

2014-15: 9th

The backstory:

Chicago Sparta is, both in real life and this universe, one of the more storied parts of American soccer history. In real life, they were one of the big clubs in the country from the 20s through the 40s, winning the National Challenge Cup in 1938, and tying for it in an odd ordeal in 1940, after two drawn matches with Baltimore S.C. They were leaders in the Chicago soccer scene, often playing to five-digit crowds in international friendly matches at Comiskey Park or Soldier Field.

But in contrast to the real-life demise of Sparta heading into the late 1940s — and the demolition of their stadium at 21st and South Kostner some time after 1953 — the west Chicago side, founded by Czech immigrants, continued to thrive, remaining one of the top clubs in the region, and a threat to win the National Challenge Cup every year after the War. Crowds of 15,000+ routinely attended big Cup matches and local derbies with the other Chicago ethnic clubs, and the Red and White were the region’s biggest draw. Thus, when the league was founded in 1953, everyone knew keeping Sparta out wasn’t an option.

While Chicago City has since surpassed them in terms of popularity, they still remain the city’s second most-popular club, playing routinely to capacity clubs at the historic Sparta Stadium. They’ve won their share of titles, the third-most major honors of any Midwestern club, and have over time dropped a lot of their Czech roots; however, they still honor them, with the Bohemian lion adorning the back of the kits. They won their last title just four years ago, but slipped to a mid-table finish over the last couple years.

The design:

As this was the first historic club I really dove into for this project, I wanted to try and make sure I got it right, relatively keeping the crest and kits true to the original, real-life Sparta club. When searching, I found this pennant, which seemed to feature a crest the club used at one point in time. I didn’t want to re-create whatever was in the middle, so I went for an “S” set above a six-pointed star from the Chicago city flag. (I promise this is the last use of that thing.) I cleaned up the rest of it with a different-looking typeface, and hopefully landed on something y’all think looks solid.

As far as the kits go, I found this image of an old Sparta team, which showed a dark shirt, white shorts, and I think, dark socks. I interpreted the dark colors as most likely being red, so I went from there for the home kit, with the gold thrown in as an accent. The road kit is a blue shirt on red shorts and socks, the team’s “traditional” away look, though a blue pair of each would exist in case of clash. I went with Hummel, a Danish sportswear company, to introduce something different to the league. Southwest is the sponsor; they do a lot of business in Chicago, and their colors effectively match.

David Limbersky’s name adorns the kits, as the club still has a few Czech players to tie in to its ancestry.

Home kit:

Road kit:

Next up will either be Saint Louis S.C. or A.A.C. Eagles; let me know if you’re interested in seeing either one more! Cheers, guys.

[the_grateful_ted]

THATS SO COOL I can dig those little Chevron things colors are good complete package

[Darknes]

Personally I'm curious to see what other Cities might have to offer outside of St. Louis and Chicago.

Another Question, could we see a Map of the US so we can see where each League has Territory

[crashcarson15]

Personally I'm curious to see what other Cities might have to offer outside of St. Louis and Chicago.

Another Question, could we see a Map of the US so we can see where each League has Territory

Anyway, I’m going in decreasing number of major honors won by each club, so that’s why it’s StL- and Chicago-heavy early on. (Though the region’s “fourth-best” club isn’t from either city, but is in the second division.)

[timberwolf]

I need this template! Aha Sparta is perfect! Love the arm striping!

St Louis next btw

[McCraeWilliamsProductions]

I wanna see St. Louis!

[SSmith48]

HUMMEL! I think that using Hummel to exhibit lesser-known companies is awesome! Great job on Sparta!

I wanna see St. Louis!

Look on page 1. He has already done STL.

EDIT: Whoops! ONE team from STL is done. I just saw the name for the next team. Sorry.

[Phil53]

Excellent thread so far, i rather wish this was IRL but them's the breaks. I was wondering however if you had planned to release league tables for the other leagues even if there aren't concepts for all the teams.

[crashcarson15]

Excellent thread so far, i rather wish this was IRL but them's the breaks. I was wondering however if you had planned to release league tables for the other leagues even if there aren't concepts for all the teams.

I probably will, yeah. Just sitting here thinking of a few more concepts I’d like to get to, so perhaps I may run through all 60 teams before it’s all done.

Anyway, it’s been a while, so let’s move on with this next one…

[crashcarson15]

Saint Louis S.C.

Major Honors:

League Championships (4): 1969, 1988, 1991, 1992

National Championships (1): 1992

National Challenge Cups (1): 1991

Club Info:

Founded: 1953

Joined MWSA: 1953

Stadium: Sportsman’s Park (27,000)

Nicknames: Browns, Saints

2014-15: 11th

The backstory:

If I haven’t mentioned before, there are certain elements of this series that, in ways, parallel real-life things; this is one of them. In 1953, when forming the league, St. Louis’s two MLB owners — Anheuser-Busch and Bill Veeck — both wanted to get in on the action. It meant Sportsman’s Park would be crowded, with the soccer teams playing alongside the baseball ones, but it went ahead. While Veeck sold the Browns to investors who moved them to Baltimore at the close of that 1953 campaign, he didn’t sell the soccer club for a few more years, securing a lease for the team at Sportsman’s Park, which would be taken over by the Busch family. When the Cardinals and OAC left in 1966 for Busch Stadium, the “soccer” Browns stayed put, eventually redeveloping the stadium twice into a more soccer-friendly environment.

They’ve always maintained solid support in the city, and have had their fair share of successes, winning three titles in five years from 1988 through 1992. They’ve been up and down since, challenging at the top and struggling at the bottom, and are coming off a bit of a “down” year. Think of them as like Everton if Olympic is Liverpool; generally a solid club, a good destination for players, but never going to be a long-term player at the top again. They’ve been relegated on two occasions, but bounced back straightaway both times; they were down in the 1980-81 and 2003-04 campaigns.

A note on St. Louis’s culture in this series. You’ll notice as we move along that other, smaller cities will have as many as four clubs, while St. Louis only has two. Generally speaking, the city’s best teams prior to the league were ones sponsored by local companies, say, Simpkins-Ford or Stix, Baer and Fuller, and as such, there weren’t strong loyalties to a particular club, especially not those drawn along ethnic lines. Thus, pretty much every soccer fan in the city threw their support behind one of the two teams — often paralleling the baseball club of their choice — eliminating the chance there would ever be smaller clubs in the city.

The design:

If you’re a noted historian of the St. Louis Browns, you’ll have already noticed one thing: The logo here is a modified version of one designed to commemorate the Browns’ 1944 World Series crown. Of course, this is Bill Veeck, and instead of investing time and money into a proper, new logo for his club, he simply opted to repurpose an eight-year old logo; it’s the origin of the team’s color scheme, and the logo has remained ever since, with only minor changes.

The kits are… a little loud. They’re the byproduct of a design competition held in the 1960s, with the club looking to get a little more unique in their look; they had worn plain brown shirts for the first 12 years of their existence. In 1965, however, they shifted to this general design, and 50 years later, the home kit remains largely unchanged. It came about by just playing around with various things, and finding something I kinda liked. The away kit shouldn’t require too much explanation, and a St. Louis company is, of course, on the front of these kits.

Home kit:

Away kit:

A.A.C. Eagles’ll be next up, and then we get to the smaller-market teams!

[McCraeWilliamsProductions]

I wish you incorporated more of the French heritage into the SLSC, like the color scheme.

[JMtexan09]

wow..... what a logo for St. Louis!

[crashcarson15]

A.A.C. Eagles

Major Honors:

League Championships (4): 1968, 1984, 1996, 1997

National Championships (1): 1997

National Challenge Cups (1): 1960

Club Info:

Founded: 1940

Joined MWSA: 1953

Location: Chicago, IL

2014-15: 6th

The backstory:

The Eagles, as they’re typically referred to, make up the third part of Chicago’s “Big Three” and the sixth part of the region’s historic “Big Six.” (Yes, I know they’re the fifth team revealed. That’s not a mistake.)

Unlike Sparta, Eagles’s inclusion in the new league in 1953 was far from a shoe-in. While Sparta was the most successful team of the era in town, Eagles were far from being on the same calibre; ethnic clubs like Schwaben (German) and Vikings (Nordic) were generally considered to be better sides, but with the city’s large Polish population, the white and red ethnic club politicked their way into the inaugural ten-team league. They struggled early, but finally came good in the 60s, winning the Cup in 1960, and the League in 1968. An up and down period came, but Eagles stayed in the league, and won their second title in 1984. However, five years later, Chicago’s third side was in the Second Division for the first time, spending three years down before recovering to reach the top flight.

Just a few years on, the club had its best-ever side. A golden generation came through, and in a short period of time, they went from the abyss of second-tier football to back-to-back league titles in 1996 and 1997, capping off the honors with a Gaetjens Cup win in 1997 to take home the national title. Since, they’ve regularly played toward the top of the table, but as the generation moved on to Europe and other clubs in the Americas, Eagles haven’t reclaimed their glory. While their professional side is the best-known one, they field an amateur side as well, which has taken home the National Amateur Cup on seven separate occasions, the most of any team.

The design:

Pretty simply stuff here, really. The crest is the one used by the actual, real-life club, which won the U.S. Open Cup in 1990, and I felt it was a pretty solid place to start from. A.A.C. stands for American Athletic Club, but from there, it’s Polish symbolism that reigns supreme. Unlike Sparta, their arch rivals, Eagles wear white on top of red, mimicking the Polish flag, and traditionally wear black on the road, avoiding red shirts altogether. A simple, small red stripe down the middle of the kit is also traditional, just like the element often used in the Polish national team’s kits.

I couldn’t pass up putting Woj on the back of the kits for this one, but it’s Steve, not Adrian. Think of this guy as like the Totti of A.A.C. Eagles. He broke through as a 19-year old to help lead the club to their back-to-back titles, and is entering the final season of his career. He’s a fan favorite, has never left the club, and one of the supporters’ groups is known as the “Bomb Squad”; the player’s always been known for his “Woj Bombs” from 30 yards out.

Home kit:

Road kit:

We’ll (finally) be headed east to a trio clubs from an area I know well in our next few installments; stay tuned!

[mbannon92]

Sparta ABA: Love the crest and the bold color scheme, and kits are certainly interesting. The chevron patter just seems to work, so I think it's a good look. The lack of blue on the home kit bugs me a little, but it's not a huge issue, especially if that's been a long tradition.

Saint Louis: That crest looks really nice (credit to the original designer), and the backstory behind it is even better. This is why I love these fictional series! The kits are really unique, and I can see the home look becoming really iconic over the years.

AAC Eagles: The Polish influence is definitely there, and I like the stripe down the middle of the kits. It works nicely with the templated sleeve stripes and gives the club a more unique take on Puma's new template.

[Wegason]

I love Sparta. What does the ABA stand for? Couldn't see where it stated that.