Lower League US Soccer

[Brian in Boston]

56 minutes ago, Digby said:

I absolutely love it (another Matthew Wolff joint I think?) but remain flummoxed at the name of the club, itself. 

The club’s name appears to echo the moniker that’s been applied to an economic development region of central North Carolina that stretches 120-plus miles  from just west of Winston-Salem to Fayetteville.

 

https://nccarolinacore.com/why-the-core/location-infrastructure/

 

 

[Green27]

On 7/22/2023 at 11:23 AM, vtgco said:

The branding for the new USL League 1 team in Spokane has been released.

 

 

 

Glad it's not "Spokane FC" but this name and the logo leave a lot to be desired.

I know it's supposed to be Spokane Falls, but honestly the logo looks like Nevada.

Who designed this? A graphic designer from 1992 Arena Football or the local city council that didn't want to spend more than $400 on the project?

[vtgco]

And now the women's side for Spokane has released its branding:

Not the best either IMO. The waves on this are a bit better than the men's counterpart IMO, and I imagine this will look much better without a container, but I wish the text were placed differently, especially that "FC". Could make for a cool jersey pattern though!

[Dilbert]

The womens side in Tampa Bay also released their branding. Both Spokane and Tampa Bay will play in the new USL Super League, who is aiming to be womens Division 1 alongside NWSL, however USL Super League will be follow an August to June schedule with a midseason break to avoid the harsh part of winters.

 

[vtgco]

 

Apparently the Chattanooga Red Wolves of USL League 1 have been successfully sued for trademark infringement by Arkansas State University. Kinda hard for me to understand since "Red Wolves" seems pretty generic, but I'm no lawyer.
It sounds like most folks just want Chattanooga FC to bail on their upcoming move to MLS Next Pro, and replace the Red Wolves in USL, but barring that, it will be interesting to see how they rebrand.

 

 

On 11/5/2023 at 10:02 PM, Dilbert said:

The womens side in Tampa Bay also released their branding. Both Spokane and Tampa Bay will play in the new USL Super League, who is aiming to be womens Division 1 alongside NWSL, however USL Super League will be follow an August to June schedule with a midseason break to avoid the harsh part of winters.

Such a nice logo! Do we know who designed it? And will this team play at the Rowdies' stadium at first?

[ORLMagic86]

On 11/20/2023 at 3:54 PM, vtgco said:

It sounds like most folks just want Chattanooga FC to bail on their upcoming move to MLS Next Pro, and replace the Red Wolves in USL

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't CFC turn down an opportunity to join USL years ago?

[vtgco]

22 hours ago, ORLMagic86 said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't CFC turn down an opportunity to join USL years ago?

I think so! Apparently the CFC ownership used to be really sour on the now-dead MLS/USL alliance and that influenced their decision, but the situation is different now so I'm sure there's been some buyer's remorse.

On the other hand, no idea if it's true, but I've also heard a rumor that, during those CFC/USL talks, the Red Wolves ownership group actually swooped in and gave a better offer to USL that CFC was unwilling to match. 

[Digby]

from the mothership, on the new Rhode Island FC team coming to next year's USL-C.

 

IMO these feel like designs from 20 years ago, and not sure going with a navy home kit is a smart idea when your whole thing is that you're a half-hour away from the Revolution in Foxboro, but ok. Does anyone think lightning bolts when they think Rhode Island?

 

 

[BrySmalls]

 Rhode Island FC doesn't have a partnership with the New England Revolution , so this is a moot point.

I pointed out the kit colors in the comments section of the article,

Quote

Also, the clubs kit colors are a bit of a homage to the Rhode Island Stingrays which played in various U.S. Division 3 leagues, e.g., USISL (1995-98) and USL Professional Development League (1999-2009) before folding. The Stingrays wore blue and white home kits while wearing yellow and blue road kits.

 

As for the choice of lightning, Rhode Island has had significant lightning strikes over the years due to severe storms. A bolt hit the state capitol building years ago. Also, the club crest has lightning bolts in it attached to the side of the anchor.

[ORLMagic86]

On 12/6/2023 at 11:06 PM, Digby said:

IMO these feel like designs from 20 years ago, and not sure going with a navy home kit is a smart idea

Navy blue and gold are their colors 

[pepperbb]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:06 PM, Digby said:

from the mothership, on the new Rhode Island FC team coming to next year's USL-C.

 

IMO these feel like designs from 20 years ago, and not sure going with a navy home kit is a smart idea when your whole thing is that you're a half-hour away from the Revolution in Foxboro, but ok. Does anyone think lightning bolts when they think Rhode Island?

 

 

the yellow kit has that "CustomInk Stock soccer jersey" feel to it

[Digby]

On 2023-12-07 at 10:32 AM, BrySmalls said:

As for the choice of lightning, Rhode Island has had significant lightning strikes over the years due to severe storms. A bolt hit the state capitol building years ago. Also, the club crest has lightning bolts in it attached to the side of the anchor.

 

I am a lifelong New Englander and I have never heard Rhode Island associated with lightning bolts. I mean yeah, there are thunderstorms there, but there are thunderstorms most places. I love the crest, but I figured the "bolts" were just supposed to suggest a badass-looking grappling anchor. 

 

Making the bolts so prominent on the jersey makes it look like an unlicensed Philadelphia Union kit.

 

(Also tragic that the sponsor is some low-cost airline that'll fold in 3 years, and not a classic RI brand -- give me a Narragansett jersey, or Del's Frozen Lemonade)

[ORLMagic86]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

(Also tragic that the sponsor is some low-cost airline that'll fold in 3 years, and not a classic RI brand -- give me a Narragansett jersey, or Del's Frozen Lemonade)

It's funny you mention this because I know a couple of higher-ups at Del's. According to what I was told, Del's reached out to the team a few times to express interest in sponsorship but never received a response.

[Digby]

23 hours ago, ORLMagic86 said:

It's funny you mention this because I know a couple of higher-ups at Del's. According to what I was told, Del's reached out to the team a few times to express interest in sponsorship but never received a response.

 

Everything about RIFC's ownership and their attempts to build a still-vaporware stadium in Pawtucket has suggested baaaaaad vibes. But, nothing screams Rhode Island like stupid decisions.

[Discrim]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:17 PM, MilSox said:

 

That one didn't even make it into the finals. But some of the ones that did? Yeesh.

 

Here they are according to the official team website:

-Milwaukee Tall Boys

-Milwaukee Barons

-Milwaukee Brigade

-Goodland

-Lake Effect

-Fresh Coast

-Milwaukee Iron

-Cream City

-1846 Milwaukee

-Milwaukee Industrial

 

I'm solidly behind Milwaukee Iron. But the Bucks can't wear cream anymore and those Cream City jerseys were quite popular, so I'd be okay with that too.

I'd be straight with Fresh Coast or Lake Effect...really, not a bad name in the bunch here though.

[Dilbert]

Sporting Club Jacksonville, aka Sporting JAX has announced their name and logo for their new USL Championship and USL Super League squads. Both teams are supposed to start in 2025

 

[GriffinM6]

36 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

Sporting Club Jacksonville, aka Sporting JAX has announced their name and logo for their new USL Championship and USL Super League squads. Both teams are supposed to start in 2025

 

Dumb logospeak aside, this is a good crest. It's relatively simple, but the colors pop and are eyecatching.

[Brave-Bird 08]

Resident Chattanooga soccer thought leader here: 

 

When Red Wolves came into the picture, they actually snatched up one of the key front office members from CFC and did their best to literally just absorb CFC's front office/operations people as whole. As well, they attempted to secure Finley Stadium for home games which threatened CFC's existence. As an NPSL club, CFC truly relies on playing at Finley as a reason for why the club has seen so much success -- match days in town are pretty great, surrounded by breweries and other things to do. It's a huge boon for them to be there. 

 

USL L1 ignorantly thought that just declaring a professional soccer club would mean the end of CFC. It totally backfired. They failed to absorb all of CFC's people, and the brash attempt at a takeover got folks so riled up that CFC used the tension in the room to spark a fundraising campaign so that they too could be a professional club if they found a fit (soon after joining NISA). CFC are essentially now the Green Bay Packers of soccer, and this campaign even cultivated a relationship from Bundesliga side  Wolfsburg in Germany (both clubs have been sponsored by VW which has obviously a massive presence in Wolfsburg and, as well, in Chattanooga). Or in short, Red Wolves absolutely played themselves. 

 

Instead they had to settle for building a small but decent venue off of I-75 over in East Ridge. It's not a nice area, but it does have a considerable hispanic population that theoretically makes it a place to plop down a soccer team. But there's not really anything Chattanooga about it. 

 

Just about everyone I know says they would support CFC over the USL L1 team even if they dropped back into being a semi-pro team or even completely amateur (and that they hate the USL as a whole). The best thing that the Red Wolves franchise has going for it is actually its relationship with the town of Dalton, GA, which is a soccer hotbed and has become a foundation with their academy and USL L2 team, Dalton Red Wolves. They probably could have built the same stadium there and actually see the same numbers at the gates as they do being in East Ridge.

 

But in terms of being a "Chattanooga" team, nobody in Chattanooga gives a s---- they exist. I type all of this to say, it might be best if the club completely rebrands...maybe adopt a generic name that doesn't declaratively say they're a Chattanooga team, but instead something more geographic to north Georgia/Tennessee line. There's already a similarly branded team in that league with South Georgia Tormenta, who most people simply refer to as Tormenta. 

[Dilbert]

USL League One 2025 expansion club for Sherman Texas reveals their identity, Texoma FC

 

[ORLMagic86]

On 12/13/2023 at 2:36 PM, Brave-Bird 08 said:

But in terms of being a "Chattanooga" team, nobody in Chattanooga gives a s---- they exist. 

 

Based on your 5-paragraph rant on them, you could have fooled me.