It’s baaaaaack…
For the third year in a row, Major League Soccer will be running “Jersey Week”, where every club will unveil at least one new kit for the 2015 season. It’s to this journalism major/marketing minor what Shark Week is for Discovery Channel enthusiasts.
Jersey Week officially runs from February 28 to March 7, but just like last season, a few clubs have jumped the gun. For part one I looked at every new kit released before Jersey Week. For part two, I looked at four away kits released in the early days of Jersey Week. Part three recapped a busy Tuesday with six new kits unveiled. To close off my Jersey Week series today, I’ll look at the final six jerseys released from Wednesday to Friday.
Kits are organized in alphabetical order by team name.
Kit #1: Colorado Rapids Away
Egads.
The fact that Colorado’s 2007 rebrand was fundamentally built off the colour schemes of of the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets speaks to this club’s lack of identity.
To try and rediscover a true Rapids identity, Colorado decided to throw a neon blue coloured version of the state flag onto a shirt and call it an away kit.
It didn’t look good. They tried it again with yellow and it got worse.
Why they chose the neon colour scheme for the logo that they chose bewilders me, as it matches absolutely nothing else on the shirt.
As for the shirt itself, my guesses are A) The “Mile High City” club want to be seen from a mile away, and B) Stan Kroenke got an extra shipment of knock-off 2013-2014 away kits from his other club, Arsenal, and had to find a way of getting rid of them without throwing them in the fire.
I would have chosen the fire, personally.
Grade: D
Kit #2: FC Dallas Away
Just when we thought that FC Dallas, the one team that holds my belief that horizontal stripes are not out of fashion, were doing away with their iconic “Hoops”, they pull a 180 and stay the course.
It’s a fine-looking course indeed.
They really didn’t change too much from their old away kit. But the changes they made were smart. Reducing the Advocare logo to the wordmark and changing it from red to blue makes it far cleaner and makes it feel more in line with the rest of the shirt. Taking away they grey sleeves makes the kit much brighter and again simpler and more streamlined.
This shirt is a great example of simplicity. Keep it clean, but don’t leave a blank canvas.
Definitely a kit worth high marks in my opinion.
Grade: A-
Kit #3: San Jose Earthquakes Away
I’m currently paging the Portland Timbers front office.
“Hello? Hi there. Yeah, I’m calling about your new home kit. That chevron on the front looks awful. Look at San Jose to see how to properly use chevrons. Wish Will Johnson a speedy recovery for me. Cheers, bye!”
The chevron pattern was introduced last years as part of the franchise’s rebrand. It looked excellent on both the home and the away kit.
Not feeling the need to change it, the Earthquakes have kept the same pattern for their new away kit. And like I’ve said before, I’m sold on it.
I’m not sold on the lack of a jersey sponsor though.
At least Colorado’s abomination had something on the chest where a sponsor should go to try and hide things. San Jose doesn’t do that, and it still gives off an empty feeling.
Slap a sponsor on that thing and this kit is pushing A range. But until then…
Grade: B
Kit #4: Seattle Sounders Home
Seattle’s gone big ever since coming into MLS in 2009. But their new home kit is their simplest one ever.
Scaling down is fine; considering the pressure they’ve faced since day one it might be good to divert attention away. But this went a bit too far.
The new shirt is uninspired. Like Real Salt Lake, it feels like Seattle put no thought into it and just conformed to the template Adidas sent them. The rave green will always be an eye-catching colour, but having more blue to contrast could have brought it out even more.
Unfortunately, this was a disappointing effort from a franchise that routinely does the opposite.
Grade: B-
Kit #5: Seattle Sounders Away
Going off the “Seattle’s gone big” point I just made, the Sounders have always challenged expectations and thought outside the box.
Sell out a football stadium? Sure. Bring Clint Dempsey back from overseas even when he’s still of decent value? Why not? Not use a single white jersey for the first six years of our MLS existence? You’d better believe it.
For a first shot at it, I’m a fan. The rave green accents pop with the white background. The front of the shirt has a shiny stripe pattern that, though not as good as the stripes on NYCFC’s away kit or OCSC’s kits, adds some creativity and draws the eye.
Going one for two on traditional kit designs is a whole lot better than firing blank. Good work saving your rep in this column space Sounders staff!
Grade: B+
Kit #6: Sporting Kansas City Home
Word on the street is that Dom Dwyer and Sydney LeRoux were on a honeymoon picnic and spilt Tropical Kool-Aid on their tablecloth.
As Dwyer picked up the tablecloth to dry it off, LeRoux said something along the lines of “wow babe, that would look really good on you and your teammates!”
A few phone calls later, the deal was done.
That’s probably not how the story went, but kudos to SKC staff for coming up with yet another new design for their shirt. As much as I’m not the biggest fan of it, that vision has to be recognized.
When I first saw this shirt I was tempted to give it a C, but after digesting it for a bit the kit has grown on me. The double blue looks as good as ever, and I’m a big fan of the Henley-style collar.
What remains to be seen is what SKC’s season will look like if plotted on the shirt. Last season would look a lot like a mountain, with an epic freefall towards the final stretch. If they can turn that mountain into a sash that keeps on going up, I’m sure fans will be happy regardless of what their team is wearing.
Grade: B
