League du Nord redux [Finished!]

[JMtexan09]

nice going with rest of uniforms! I liked Plymouth's crest looking sharp there

[-kj]

Two more today, two more on Monday, and that's the end of Division 2.

Uptown FC

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Uptown is an area of Minneapolis south of downtown; in the early 1980s, Prince wrote a song about it. Uptown FC plays on this connection by wearing purple, while their badge uses a piece of paisley pattern to symbolize the nearby lakes.

The team's kits are supplied by Le Coq Sportif. The home kit is all purple; the shirt features a sublimated paisley pattern on the front. The away shirt is white with "lake blue" sleeves and another sublimated paisley pattern; the kit is completed by lake blue shorts and socks. Twin-Cities-based Caribou Coffee sponsors the Purple.

Wolf's Head FC

Duluth, Minnesota

Bitter rivals to Duluth FC, Wolf's Head considers themselves the people's alternative to "the big club on the hill". The name of the club refers to a nickname of Lake Superior, given due to the shape of the lake looking abstractly like a wolf's head. The club's crest includes a stylized wolf head, shaped similarly to Lake Superior itself.

The home kits for the Wolves consist of a brown shirt and socks with cream shorts, while the away kit is a cream shirt with black stripes, black shorts, and cream socks. Supplied by Under Armour, the kits are sponsored by local brewery Bent Paddle Brewing.

[-kj]

Two more to finish out Division 2.

Woodbury FC

Woodbury, Minnesota

Woodbury's crest features a W with wings in the style of the hairy woodpecker.

The Woodpeckers' kits, supplied by Carbrini, are sponsored by 3M. The home shirt has black and white stripes, and is joined by black shorts and white socks. The change kit is all red.

Worthington Town FC

Worthington, Minnesota

There's an interesting story from Worthington's early days about the conflict between the Temperance movement and other town inhabitants that revolves around a funeral for a keg that was destroyed with an axe on the Fourth of July. Town's crest pays homage to that keg.

WFTC's home kit includes a maroon shirt with orange detailing, orange shorts, and maroon socks. The away kit is all white with maroon and orange trim. The Keggers' kits are supplied by Diadora and are sponsored by JBS, a meat processing company which is a major employer in Worthington.

[Whittier S]

As a former Uptown resident, I heartily approve of those uniforms and would swoop them up in a heartbeat if I could.

[FC Everett]

looks sick

[tajmccall]

Kev, this is one fine friggin thread. Kudos and congrats. It's so painstakingly well-thought out, even down to the sponsors.

Really something to be proud of, sir.

Awesome, awesome stuff.

[JMtexan09]

Woodbury's crest! wow that one is awesome!

[-kj]

Thanks, y'all.

There's going to be a bit of a break before the Division 3 rollout starts. Mostly it's so I can have a few designs in reserve in order to maintain the two-a-day releases; but there's also a little burnout happening. No worries, I'm still planning on finishing it; just need to recharge a bit.

Feel free to continue offering feedback in the interim.

[-kj]

Ok, time to get back to it. It's been a little harder finding interesting things about some of the cities in Division 3, but I'm muddling through.

Alexandria FC

Alexandria, Minnesota

Alexandria's crest is based on the shield held by Big Ole, a large Viking statue in the city.

The kits for the Trail Blazers are supplied by Joma. The home kit is all red, while the change is all yellow. The club is sponsored by Brenton, a packaging manufacturer based in Alexandria.

Blaine FC

Blaine, Minnesota

Blaine's crest features a stylized lower-case B with the slogan "Forward", loosely based on an old city logo.

The Blues' home kits, supplied by New Balance, are all blue with a bright green sash. The change kits are white with green socks. The club is sponsored by Medtronic, a large medical equipment company whose US headquarters are in nearby Fridley.

[-kj]

Coon Rapids FC

Coon Rapids, Minnesota

The Coon Rapids crest includes a CR monogram, with the tail of the R doubling as a raccoon tail. This monogram is on a blue-and-white shield with wavy stripes, representing the eponymous rapids.

The kits for the Raccoons are made by Puma. The home shirt features blue and white hoops in the same wavy style as the crest; white shorts and hooped socks complete the kit. The away kit is the same pattern in black and gold, including a tonal crest. The club is sponsored by regional furniture sales chain HOM Furniture, which is headquartered in Coon Rapids.

Fairmont FC

Fairmont, Minnesota

The five blue circles on the Fairmont badge represent the five lakes around which Fairmont was founded.

The Lakers' home kit consists of a green shirt with blue shorts and socks. The away kit is all-white with a fading blue pattern on the front of the shirt. Supplied by Macron, the kits are sponsored by Mayo Clinic, which has a large facility in Fairmont.

[-kj]

Yup, still going.

Faribault FC

Faribault, Minnesota

Following World War II, the citizens of Faribault provided relief to the people of Würzburg, Germany; this relationship is reflected in the crest of Faribault FC. The flag is taken from the Würzburg coat of arms; the four quadrants:

• A fleur-de-lis, for French-Canadian Alexander Faribault, the town's founder and namesake);
• the eagle from the German coat of arms;
• two rivers, denoting Faribault's location at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers; and
• the club's initials.

The Eagles' home kits have yellow-and-orange quartered shirts with orange shorts and yellow socks, while the away kit is all navy. The kits are made by German company Uhlsport and are sponsored by Daikin Applied, an industrial air conditioner manufacturing company with a factory in Faribault.

Grand Rapids FC

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

Grand Rapids is the birthplace of Judy Garland; GRFC pays homage to her and her best-known film with a yellow brick road in their crest.

The Yellow Brickers' kits are supplied by Kappa. The home kit is charcoal gray with yellow socks; a stripe consisting of a yellow brick pattern runs down the middle of the shirt. The away is yellow with a red brick pattern, asking the question "where does the red brick road go?" The club is sponsored by UPM-Kymmene Corporation, whose subsidiary United Paper Mills (UPM Blandin) operates a plant in Grand Rapids.

[nas1787]

I really appreciate the inventiveness of your identities, it's clear a lot of thought has gone into everything. I do find some of the kit designs to be a bit, how should I say, off-putting? But that's probably to be expected from a lower division league. And they certainly aren't boring!

[-kj]

I do find some of the kit designs to be a bit, how should I say, off-putting?

I'm curious; could you expand on this a bit?

[-kj]

Hitting the home stretch now; at this pace, the last teams should be unveiled on December 24. As I've gone through this project, my respect for guys like pcgd and raysox who've done series like this in the past has grown and grown; it's a little mentally tiring doing the research and concepting this many designs. (I can only imagine what it was like for Frasier to do all of those SBNation blog logos.) The last few I've made have been a bit... well, out there. For example, today...

Granite City FC

St. Cloud, Minnesota

St. Cloud is known as the Granite City, due to its history as a mining town. The crest uses gray tones to pay homage to that history, as well as beveled/chiseled initials GC.

The kits, supplied by Jako, continue the gray theme. At home, the team wears black with a "phantom sash" outlined in gray; on the road, the all-white kit is accented by a black sash and sleeves. The Rocks are sponsored by Electrolux, which operates a factory in the city.

Hibbing FC

Hibbing, Minnesota

Hibbing's motto is "We're Ore and More", alluding to the city's history of iron mining; in fact, the entire city was relocated in the 1920s to make way for a mining operation. With that in mind, the crest for HFC depicts an I-beam turned so that it appears to be an H.

The home kit for the Irons includes a green shirt with white shorts and green socks, while the away is bright blue with green trim. Made by Carbrini, the kits are sponsored by Fairview Range Medical Center.

[jdp]

Can't believe I haven't commented on this yet. I'm pretty big on everything you've done here so far.

Bemidji Forest is, by far, my favorite. I would purchase any of that and wear it proudly. Not even from Bemidji--let alone Minnesota.

Iron Range is pretty great, too. But maybe I'm just a fan of a good-looking axe... I guess...?

The only things that are really throwing me are the Morningside crest (it's well done, but the trolley just doesn't do much for me); the Bloomington clash is too colorful, oddly enough; and the wolf in Wolf's Head could use a little work (the snout is too rounded).

Otherwise, really well done.

[-kj]

Remember when I said things were getting a bit weird? Well...

Hutchinson FC

Hutchinson, Minnesota

Hutchinson was founded in 1855 by a singing group called the Hutchinson Family Singers; the three founders are immortalized with a statue. In the early days of Hutchinson FC, the fans adopted one of their well-known songs, "There's a Good Time Coming". When the club created a crest, they paid tribute to this history with the beginning notes of the song; each note contains a soccer ball.

The kits for the Singers are made by Hummel. The home is all navy, while the change is white with an orange stripe pattern similar to other Hummel-outfitted teams. The club is sponsored by local company Hutchinson Technology.

Mankato FC

Mankato, Minnesota

Due to its location in Blue Earth County, it was only natural that Mankato adopted a blue crest for its team; the crest depicts a steamboat, a nod to Mankato's early history, and the confluence of the Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers.

The Steamers' home kits, made by Under Armour, feature a light blue shirt with navy horizontal stripes (not quite hoops); the kit is completed by navy shorts and light blue socks. The change kit is electric yellow with navy trim. MFC is sponsored by MTU Onsite Energy (a subsidiary of Rolls Royce Power Systems), which has a generator plant in Mankato.

[-kj]

The board's not letting me edit the last post without destroying a good portion of it, but I wanted to add that the Hutchinson shirts each include the phrase "There's a good time coming, boys" on the back below the collar.

[JMtexan09]

Hibbing FC's crest is not really what I'd expect out of a soccer crest. I dunno if a 3D logo is a good logo for a soccer team. Maybe I am wrong? I dunno

[jdp]

...

Worthington Town FC

Worthington, Minnesota

[image]

There's an interesting story from Worthington's early days about the conflict between the Temperance movement and other town inhabitants that revolves around a funeral for a keg that was destroyed with an axe on the Fourth of July. Town's crest pays homage to that keg.

WFTC's home kit includes a maroon shirt with orange detailing, orange shorts, and maroon socks. The away kit is all white with maroon and orange trim. The Keggers' kits are supplied by Diadora and are sponsored by JBS, a meat processing company which is a major employer in Worthington.

How did I miss this: Worthington had a funeral for a keg?! That's awesome. New favorite team. Of any sport. Ever. (I like the colors and the crest, too.)

[nas1787]

I do find some of the kit designs to be a bit, how should I say, off-putting?

I'm curious; could you expand on this a bit?

Yeah of course. I just mean that because you're being very creative and original with your designs, some don't quite hit the mark for me. Examples might be the "arm-stripe-to-side-piping" of Bloomington, or the paisley shirt of Uptown. purely personal preference. That being said, there are some really classy looks too (like Fargo or Iron Range).