Soccer in a football world: The American Soccer League (Defunct as of 1/06/21)

[WarriorFight]

For Kearny only the crest is loading for me.

 

It's rad as hell though.

[Xibalba]

I'm currently writing some league lore & history, which I will post on here as soon as it's done, but I've come across a small problem. I'm having a hard time coming up with other names for the clubs, since I want them to fit in more with the already existing clubs.

 

So I could use your help in finding a good name without going full eurocentric and just sticking F.C or United in front of the name. For some I have some suggestions but for others I really have no idea. Here are the clubs I'm struggling with:

 

California Sunshine 

They are based in Orange County, and played their home games in Santa Ana. In the 60's there was a well know amateur club, who won the U.S Open Cup called Orange County S.C. So my plan is to revive the name. 

Carolina Lightnin' 

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm tempted to go with either Queen City S.C or Charlotte Bolts 

Cincinatti Comets

Drawing a blank on this one to be honest

Cleveland Bruell (Hungarian-American)

The city's nickname is the Forest City so maybe something like Cleveland Forest

Columbus Magic

Since it is Ohio's capital maybe something like Columbus Buckeyes

Dallas Tornado

Maybe the Dallas Texans or Dallas Lone Star

Houston Stars

I was thinking maybe something space related, Houston Cosmos (or Cosmo's) or maybe sticking to the original name

Indianapolis Daredevils

The city has a lot of racing history some I could go with Racing Club Indianapolis. Other options can be Locomotive Indy (based on one of it's nicknames "Railroad City" or just Indianapolis Devils, based on the original name

Las Vegas Seagulls

Seagulls just seems like a weird name for a team from Las Vegas. I was thinking maybe something like the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, like the NASL team.

Miami Americans

I'm also drawing a blank here, maybe Miami Panamerica or something along those lines

Milwaukee Bavarians

Tempted to go with Milwaukee Brewers even tough it's the same name as the baseball team. Due to it's location on Lake Michigan, Milwaukee Lakers could also be a possibility as well as.  

Nashville Diamonds

Same as with Cincinatti and Miami, so all feedback is welcome

Oklahoma City Slickers/Stampede

Oklahoma City Stampede seems okay to use, other then that I don't have any ideas.  

Sacramento Gold

Maybe Sacramento Bears after the flag of the state of California

San Diego Toros

Either San Diego Missions or San Diego Saints both seem like good options, something alluding the city's long history with the Navy also could work.  

Utah Pioneers

Not really sure what name I could use here either.

 

All feedback is welcome, so if you have any good suggestions just shoot! 

 

 

 

 

[RasmV]

California Surf, Cleveland Rangers, Indianapolis Racers, Nashville Sounds maybe.

I like Las Vegas Quicksilvers and Milwaukee Lakers,

[_DietDrPepper_]

Orange County S.C.

Queen City S.C.

Cincinnati Lions S.C.

Cleveland Forest

Buckeye S.C. (Cleveland)

Dallas S.C.

Houston Cosmos

Racing Club Indy

(I’m not sure about Vegas)

Miami International S.C.

Music City Sounds

(Not quite sure about Oklahoma but I’m thinking something respectful about Natives could work)

Gold Rush S.C. (Sacramento)

Toros de San Diego

Salt Lake S.C.

 

[WarriorFight]

2 hours ago, BellaSpurs said:

Orange County S.C.

Queen City S.C.

Cincinnati Lions S.C.

Cleveland Forest

Buckeye S.C. (Cleveland)

Dallas S.C.

Houston Cosmos

Racing Club Indy

(I’m not sure about Vegas)

Miami International S.C.

Music City Sounds

(Not quite sure about Oklahoma but I’m thinking something respectful about Natives could work)

Gold Rush S.C. (Sacramento)

Toros de San Diego

Salt Lake S.C.

 

 

Only difference I'd say is "Houston Apollos" and Racing Indy (without the club). Oh and also just Music City F.C., but otherwise I agree. Solid list.

[sky1324]

On 10/11/2019 at 5:48 AM, Xibalba said:

California Sunshine 

They are based in Orange County, and played their home games in Santa Ana. In the 60's there was a well know amateur club, who won the U.S Open Cup called Orange County S.C. So my plan is to revive the name. 

Carolina Lightnin' 

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm tempted to go with either Queen City S.C or Charlotte Bolts 

Cincinatti Comets

Drawing a blank on this one to be honest

Cleveland Bruell (Hungarian-American)

The city's nickname is the Forest City so maybe something like Cleveland Forest

Columbus Magic

Since it is Ohio's capital maybe something like Columbus Buckeyes

Dallas Tornado

Maybe the Dallas Texans or Dallas Lone Star

Houston Stars

I was thinking maybe something space related, Houston Cosmos (or Cosmo's) or maybe sticking to the original name

Indianapolis Daredevils

The city has a lot of racing history some I could go with Racing Club Indianapolis. Other options can be Locomotive Indy (based on one of it's nicknames "Railroad City" or just Indianapolis Devils, based on the original name

Las Vegas Seagulls

Seagulls just seems like a weird name for a team from Las Vegas. I was thinking maybe something like the Las Vegas Quicksilvers, like the NASL team.

Miami Americans

I'm also drawing a blank here, maybe Miami Panamerica or something along those lines

Milwaukee Bavarians

Tempted to go with Milwaukee Brewers even tough it's the same name as the baseball team. Due to it's location on Lake Michigan, Milwaukee Lakers could also be a possibility as well as.  

Nashville Diamonds

Same as with Cincinatti and Miami, so all feedback is welcome

Oklahoma City Slickers/Stampede

Oklahoma City Stampede seems okay to use, other then that I don't have any ideas.  

Sacramento Gold

Maybe Sacramento Bears after the flag of the state of California

San Diego Toros

Either San Diego Missions or San Diego Saints both seem like good options, something alluding the city's long history with the Navy also could work.  

Utah Pioneers

Not really sure what name I could use here either.

I like California Sunshine. No complaints there.

For Charlotte, definitely not the Bolts. Queen City SC is nice, but kind of basic. I've come up with plenty of ideas for Charlotte so here are some of the best ones: 

• Hornet's Nest SC/FC
• Superbird QC (named after Richard Petty's famous car)
• Charlotte Stock FC (named after stocks, like banks, and stock cars, like NASCAR)
• Rolling Thunder Charlotte (named after the sound of racing cars)
• Charlotte Chase FC (named after NASCAR's playoff system)
• Charlotte Towne FC (city used to be Charlottetowne, there's a Charlottetowne Ave., I like how it sounds)
• Charlotte 43 FC (named after the amount of cars in a NASCAR race)

I got nothing for Cincinnati or Cleveland, to be honest.

For Columbus, something like Arch City FC or Columbus Discovery FC? 

Nothing for Dallas either.

I like the idea of Houston being space-themed, so how about something like FC Ground Control or Houston Command?

I think I saw V8 Indy once, I liked that, also Pole Position FC could work.

Las Vegas could lean into its atomic history more, like the Las Vegas Atoms or Atomic City FC.

Nothing for Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, OKC, or Sacramento.

Maybe San Diego Vigilance FC or San Diego Missions? 

Not sure what you could use for Utah.

 

I hope these suggestions helped! I love your work so far.

[Darknes]

Orange County S.C
Charlotte Towne
Queen City Rangers (Cincy)
Cleveland Forest
Columbus Discovery
Dallas Lone Star
Houston Cosmos
Racing Indy
Atomic City S.C
Atletico Miami
Milwaukee Brauers (Brewers in German)
Nashville Pitch
Oklahoma Riders 
Gold Rush S.C
St. Brendan S.C (Patron Saint of Sailors and Mariners) (San Diego)
Promontory United (Utah was the middle ground for the Union-Pacific line)

[Xibalba]

First of all, thank you for the feedback! I will try to involve the community more in this project. So far the names I've decided on are:

 

Orange County S.C

Charlottetowne S.C

Cleveland Forest 

Dallas Lone Star

Houston Apollos 

Racing Indianapolis

Las Vegas Atoms

Milwaukee Eagles (crest is already finished)

San Diego Mission S.C 

 

[MilSox]

I tried to choose names that would evoke the eras in which the city would have seen its first wave of pro sports clubs.  So, generally, the northern cities will reflect early 20th century origins, California and Texas will be WWII/postwar-era, and the sunbelt cities will be 1970s or beyond.

 

California Stars
-I see this team as having origins as Hollywood Stars FC, then switching it up upon moving to Anaheim.

 

Carolina Vulcans, Carolina Flight, Carolina Aviators, Charlotte Spirit
-The area has a history with racing and, thus, vulcanized rubber.  But the Vulcans name can also lend itself to an identity that has nothing to do with racing if you go with that theme for Indianapolis.  Flight and Aviators have more to do with the area's Aviation history.  Spirit was the original nickname for the NBA team that eventually became the Charlotte Hornets.

 

Cincinnati Regals
-Any monarchy themed name would work here.  But this one seems to lend itself more to soccer than any other option.

 

Cleveland Foresters, Cleveland Lakeshores, Cleveland Shoremen
-I feel like a Cleveland club would have began as Forest City FC or Lakeshore FC and acquired one of these nicknames.

 

Columbus Scarlets
-Many early 20th century teams acquired nicknames based on their colors  There's a good chance a Columbus club would have aquired equipment from Ohio State  and possibly shared facilities at some point.

 

Dallas Pegasus FC, Dallas Wingsteeds
-My inspiration came from the Akron Wingfoots basketball team, named for their sponsor's (Goodyear) logo.  Mobil Oil is a company I could see sponsoring a soccer team and also has an iconic logo of Pegasus, the mythical winged horse and a civic symbol for the city of Dallas.  Pegasus could concievably work for a soccer club the way New York Apollo did in the 1970s.  But I feel like Wingsteeds is such a unique name that could have only come from the mid-20th century.  If that seems too ambitious, Wings or Pegs could work.

 

Houston Apollos
-This was the name of a short-lived minor league hockey team and, as mentioned earlier, has real life history in soccer.  You seem to want a space-agey nickname fo Houston, and this works better than Cosmos, which would feel wrong if used anywhere outside of New York.

 

Racing Indy FC
-I see this team as having 1970s or 1980s origins, shortly before or after the Indianapolis Racers of the WHA.  They would have adopted this name befor the WHA club, or after it folded, then rebranded in the mid-2000s when European-style names became en vogue.  Fortunately, this one isn't a reach and makes total sense for a place like Indianapolis.

 

Las Vegas Flash, Las Vegas Atoms
-Las Vegas probably wouldn't have had a team until at least the 1990s and Flash would be a fitting nickname for that era.  It would have carried over to now because it would have been the first major pro sports operation in Las Vegas and the fans wouldn't want to divorce themselves from that success.  If Miami and Orlando can get by with Heat and Magic, Flash isn't too much of a stretch.  It also fits the "odd" category you seem to want for Vegas.  Either name lends itself to a cool crest based on the over-the-top "atomic age" road signs from Vegas' heyday.

 

Miami Internacionales, Miami Flamingos
-Not surprisingly, both are related to the Miami's probable real life soccer brand, and for good reason.

 

Milwaukee Bocks, Milwaukee Herons, Milwaukee Gulls
-Bocks is a great name if you don't want something too close to Brewers, but still references beer.  Plus, it could lend itself to a cool crest based on a goat.  If you want to go more the Lake Michigan route, any marine bird native to Wisconsin would work.  Herons and Gulls are two that are very common in Milwaukee.  The oldest soccer club on record in the city is Milwaukee First Ward, which would have been based in a district near the lake and is something you may want to consider.

 

Nashville Cumberlands, Nashville Showmen
-Cumberlands sounds more early 20th century, but the backstory could be that it's a tribute to an early soccer club in Nashville called Cumberland FC.  Showmen feels more like something that wouldn't have been out of place in the NASL.

 

Oklahoma 66ers, Route 66 FC, Mother Road FC
-Stampede feels appropriate, but a name based on Route 66 would lend itself to an interesting badge design.  Soccer is probably also the only sport where you could base a brand on the famed route's "Mother Road" nickname and get away with it.

 

Sacramento Solons, Sacramento Rivermen, Sacramento Ursine FC
-Sacramento is a tough one because there's not really anything you free-associate it with other than it's in California and it's the capital.  Solons is an old PCL team nickname that could make for an interesting soccer identity.  Maybe part of the back story is that some of the old PCL clubs operated soccer teams in the off season.  Rivermen is because Sacramento is one of many cities that claims River City as a nickname.  Ursine is a bear reference that fits more modern soccer club naming conventions.  I see a crest that would involve the Ursa Major constellation, which could be pretty cool.

 

San Diego Santos
-The Raiders original nickname was the Senors, so it's not exactly a stretch that a team in San Diego would have gone with the Spanish version of "Saints." I do like the possibility of Toros as well.

 

Utah Swarm, Utah Mountaineers
-Swarm is a nickname born out of the 90s when I could see Salt Lake City acquiring a team, and it references the Beehive State.  Mountaineers should be pretty obvious.

[Xibalba]

First of all, I like to thank everyone for their feedback. It's been really helpful with giving the new teams their name. For the moment I've been working on some concepts for the different cities. Here are some previews.

 

1. Milwaukee Eagles

This is more or less a finished design. In the end I went with Eagles instead of other ideas. Since it is in theory a continuation of the amateur Bavarian Soccer Club, going with an eagle to represent it's German ancestry seemed like a good idea. I tried to replicate the German style of crest design without going a bit to simplistic. The club's colors are blue and white (taken from the Bavarian Flag) and black. 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Las Vegas Atoms

I really like this name, I think it fits a Las Vegas team. So starting from there I drew up an atom type shape with a soccer ball at it's center. I also tried to incorporate an A into the overall design. While I think i had the overall design right, it felt like there was nothing representing the city of Las Vegas in the design. So I added in the other shape, which is based on the famous "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign. I'm not quite sure about the colors used however. Some neon colors accompanied with a darker shade would work well.    

 

 

 

 

 

2. San Diego Santos

This is maybe the crest that's the most rough around the edges, but most of the main things I want to implement are already there. I wanted to base it off the classic designs found in Brazil but with a twist. The top of the crest shape is based on the Mission San Diego de Alcalá bell tower with it's distinctive shape. above that is an  

Aureola to represent the club's name. I tried to incorporate more elements from the bell tower in the top half of the crest but it just seems out of place. For the wordmark I'm not sure what font to use but the one used here is a place holder until I can come up with something better.  The colors I used are Brown and Yellow but I also want to use White somewhere in there. 

 

 

 

 

[_DietDrPepper_]

I think for Las Vegas, centering the sign in the middle of the atom would look better, it’s an awkward shape with where it is now. For San Diego maybe adding an actual bell into the blank space could work, and if you make it yellow and make the Santos wordmark white I think it would balance out those colors really well. I love the look of it so far

 

Milwaukee looks great I don’t really have much else to say! I’m excited for the rest of them.

[TheBW91]

i actually kinda like the las vegas logo it reminds me of a UFO

[MilSox]

Milwaukee and Vegas look great, and I like where you're going with San Diego.  Maybe a stylized "SD" or "SDFC" monogram in the brown space above the sash?

[RasmV]

I'm sorry to say that I don't really like Vegas and San Diego. I feel like they are a different series, a different universe to all your previous clubs. I think the previous clubs in this series all have the "old school", historic feel - like it is some clubs that has been around forever. Both Las Vegas and San Diego looks more like something newer. They don't fall in line with the historic feel of clubs like "Brookhattan" or "Philadelphia Field Club"...

 

But that's just my two cents

[MilSox]

53 minutes ago, RasmV said:

I'm sorry to say that I don't really like Vegas and San Diego. I feel like they are a different series, a different universe to all your previous clubs. I think the previous clubs in this series all have the "old school", historic feel - like it is some clubs that has been around forever. Both Las Vegas and San Diego looks more like something newer. They don't fall in line with the historic feel of clubs like "Brookhattan" or "Philadelphia Field Club"...

 

But that's just my two cents

 

I don't know that I agree with you on San Diego. That looks like a quintessential traditional soccer badge to me.

 

As far as Las Vegas... keep in mind that its metro population didn't even reach one million until 1995. So we should expect that their badge would have a more modern look. It's not as if Vegas would have had its own soccer league that a team would have evolved from in the pre-WWII days.

[Whitefoot]

I think the Las Vegas badge would look better without the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign detail. It seems unnecessary and clutters a great design (great colors). As a Las Vegas resident I'm glad you did not go with a gambling theme. I am part of a LV soccer supporters group that used to be called the Atom City Army, but changed it's name once the Lights came to town with the USL.

[Xibalba]

I've got some more work done on the LV team. Mainly focused an using an other color scheme. I went with Midnight Blue/ Pink/Light Yellow to evoke the feeling of the city's many neon signs. I also expanded the space between different parts of the atom logo in the center, and flipped the welcome to LV inspired the other way round so it looks more like a traditional soccer badge. I've also added in the S.C abbreviation on the bottom part of the shape. I'm pretty satisfied how it turned out, I'm still stuck with San Diego Crest. 

 

  

[MilSox]

@Xibalba I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't resist experimenting with your Santos badge.



I think you might be best off putting a SD monogram in the "bell tower," then moving the sash up and letting the stripes run longer. 

[Xibalba]

27 minutes ago, NicDB said:

@Xibalba I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't resist experimenting with your Santos badge.



I think you might be best off putting a SD monogram in the "bell tower," then moving the sash up and letting the stripes run longer. 

 

I don't mind, if you want I can give you the illustrator file. This looks good, I tried something simular but I think I need to take the angle out of the sash because otherwise it does'nt quite line up. Do you mind if I use your monogram? 

[MilSox]

10 minutes ago, Xibalba said:

 

I don't mind, if you want I can give you the illustrator file. This looks good, I tried something simular but I think I need to take the angle out of the sash because otherwise it does'nt quite line up. Do you mind if I use your monogram? 

Not at all... go for it.