2005-2006

Stainton Park, Radcliffe. The home of Radcliffe Borough FC. Pictured at Castleton Gabriels v FC United of Manchester.

North West Counties Football League Division Two. New Mills 0-2 FC United of Manchester. Ewen Fields, Hyde, Greater Manchester.

2006-2007

North West Counties Football League Division One. Abbey Hey 1-5 FC United of Manchester. Ewen Fields, Hyde, Greater Manchester.

At Shambles Square on the day of the North West Counties Football League Challenge Cup Final. Curzon Ashton 1-2 FC United of Manchester.

2007-2008

Northern Premier League Division One North. Bridlington Town 0-3 FC United of Manchester. Queensgate, Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Pictured at Fleetwood Town v FC United of Manchester.

2008-2009

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Kendal Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Lakeland Radio Stadium, Kendal, Cumbria.

Home of Djurgårdens IF Fotboll, Sweden. Pictured at Djurgårdens IF Fotboll v FC United of Manchester

2009-2010

FC Sankt-Pauli 3- 3 FC United of Manchester. Friendly. Millerntor-Stadion, Hamburg, Germany.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Ossett Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Ingfield, Ossett, West Yorkshire.

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. North Ferriby United 0-1 FC United of Manchester. Grange Lane, North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire.

FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. North Ferriby United 0-1 FC United of Manchester. Grange Lane, North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire.

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round. Sheffield FC 1-3 FC United of Manchester. Coach and Horses Ground, Dronfield, Derbyshire.

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round. Sheffield FC 1-3 FC United of Manchester. Coach and Horses Ground, Dronfield, Derbyshire.

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round. Sheffield FC 1-3 FC United of Manchester. Coach and Horses Ground, Dronfield, Derbyshire.

2010-2011

Friendly. Bala Town 1-6 FC United of Manchester. Maes Tegid, Bala, Gwynedd, Wales

FA Cup Second Round. Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 FC United of Manchester. Withdean Stadium, Brighton, East Sussex.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Matlock Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Causeway Lane, Matlock, Derbyshire.

FA Cup First Round. Rochdale 2-3 FC United of Manchester. Spotland, Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Friendly. Oldham Borough FC 0-0 FC United of Manchester. Whitebank Stadium, Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Northern Premier League. Mickleover Sports 2-0 FC United of Manchester. Mickleover Sports Ground, Mickleover, Derbyshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Matlock Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Causeway Lane, Matlock, Derbyshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Matlock Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Causeway Lane, Matlock, Derbyshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Chasetown 2-0 FC United of Manchester. The Scholars Ground, Chasetown, Staffordshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Matlock Town 1-2 FC United of Manchester. Causeway Lane, Matlock, Derbyshire.

Northern Premier League. FC Halifax Town 4-1 FC United of Manchester. The Shay, Halifax, West Yorkshire.

2011-2012

Pre match gossip. Bradford Park Avenue 2-5 FC United of Manchester. Horsfall Stadium, Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Burscough 3-5 FC United of Manchester. Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College Stadium, Skelmersdale, Lancashire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Chorley FC 2-0 FC United of Manchester. Victory Park, Chorley, Lancashire.

FA Trophy Second Round Qualifying. Durham City FC 1-1 FC United of Manchester. Arnott Stadium, Durham, County Durham.

Friendly. Leek Town 0-2 FC United of Manchester. Harrison Park, Leek, Staffordshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. FC United of Manchester 1-1 Marine AFC. Bower Fold, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.

Friendly. Winsford United 1-0 FC United of Manchester. Barton Stadium, Winsford, Cheshire.

Northern Premier League Premier Division. Worksop Town 2-3 FC United of Manchester. Sandy Lane, Worksop, Nottinghamshire.

See more photos by Matthew Wilkinson on his Flickr page

This is the identity that Detroit City FC have pinned themselves to. An instantly recognizable civic symbol of Detroit, and one that suggests sophisticated urbanism rather than suburban soccer.

One of the leading figures behind Detroit City FC, Sean Mann, spoke to Pitch Invasion this week about the new club, who will begin play at the fourth tier of American soccer in the NPSL this May.

You can listen to the full interview with Sean below, or over on iTunes.

Sean explains how Detroit City FC sprouted from an urban soccer league (Detroit City Futbol League) he began a couple of years ago: “When people think of Detroit, they think of a big blob of decay,” Sean said. “But in reality it’s a city with a whole slew of neighborhoods that often get overlooked. So my idea was let’s get people together, let’s build up neighborhood pride and neighborhood recognition. For me, the perfect vehicle for that was soccer.”

That vehicle, according to this piece at model D, quickly proved to be a great success:

Here is a puzzle. Create a program that can achieve the following results:

1) Rally hundreds of motivated, young Detroit residents around a single cause. 2) Highlight 22 different historic neighborhoods throughout the city, and create unique branding for each. 3) Get the crowd out to a different bar, in a different neighborhood, each week. 4) Double the number of participants by the second year. 5) Get 10 people to pack up and move to Detroit.

This sounds like a job that will need a lot of financing, committees and sub-committees, and months planning with a large team in place to implement, right? Wrong. This is what happens when you start up a soccer league in Detroit.

League Commissioner Sean Mann started the Detroit City Futbol League last year as a way to bring city residents together, to celebrate the rich fabric of neighborhoods that make up the city, and to bring the 18-and-over crowd together over something other than frustrating politics.

Detroit City FC aim, at the grassroots level of the NPSL’s essentially semi-pro fourth tier of American soccer, to tap into that urban crowd, and bring them together in the city to support a team consciously striving to appeal to adult supporters and participants already in love with the sport.

“Our core focus is on using this team to build the supporters culture, to boost the supporters culture that’s already here in Detroit and give them a bigger platform,” Sean explained.

Sean tells Pitch Invasion how Detroit City FC’s identity came about, who’s behind it and their hopes for the future. Give the interview a listen to learn about an unusual approach to building a soccer club in North America, and special thanks to Sean for joining us in a special extra episode of the Pitch Invasion podcast.

One correction: we mistakenly identify the Michigan Bucks as playing in USL Pro rather than USL PDL.

If you haven’t listened to it, the inaugural episode was released last week, and featured Wilt discussing how to start an MLS club with Montreal Impact Jesse Marsch, along with Dunmore interviewing former Supporters Direct chief executive Dave Boyle about UK and US fan culture.

You can listen below or, again, subscribe on iTunes.

It’s available to stream or download below and is also on iTunes. Please let us know your thoughts on the inaugural show in the comments below!

A significant portion of the proceeds ($10 per scarf) from all pre-orders this week of the new Pitch Invasion bar scarf will be donated to benefit the Operation Pitch Invasion charity in Portland, Oregon. Here’s why…

When supporters of the Portland Timbers, organized by the 107ist Trust and Timbers Army, announced in 2011 that they were launching a new charity called Operation Pitch Invasion to support the growth of the game at the grassroots level in Portland, Pitch Invasion’s interest was piqued by more than just the Doppelgänger.

Since its launch in 2007, a central interest of Pitch Invasion’s has been a concern with how supporters of the game engage in and build the sport in their local communities in positive and meaningful ways. To do more than consume the game, by contributing to its grassroots growth.

As Shawn Levy’s An Insider’s History to OPI explains, Operation Pitch Invasion in Portland exemplifies those values, coming out of a desire held by the Timbers’ strongest supporters to do more than just cheer on gameday as their team moved up to Major League Soccer:

About three years ago, when it became evident that Major League Soccer in Portland was likely and that the Timbers Army would become a much bigger entity than anyone imagined, those of us who worked on the day-to-day business of the Timbers Army got together to ponder the question of what we might do with all the positive power, energy, communitarianism and goodwill that a massive Timbers Army would comprise.

One way to give back to the community, it was concluded, was to help build the sport literally from the grassroots: building safe pitches for Portland’s kids to grow up playing the game on. As Levy explains:

Operation Pitch Invasion is the fruition of that vision: the use of Timbers Army fundraising, sweat equity and deal-making to give back to the community in the form of quality places to play the game. And we want you involved.

Operation Pitch Invasion is a means for anyone who cares about the community in which they live to give back by building and maintaining for soccer fields where all of us, our children and our grandchildren can play the game we love. And where, we hope, future Timbers will learn the game — from current and past Timbers and members of the Timbers Army.

Given the tie-in both symbolically and philosophically, PI could think of no better way to launch its new store and new scarf than by supporting OPI in the process. So we recently contacted the OPI board, and agreed an idea to raise funds for their charitable efforts.

To help kickstart Operation Pitch Invasion’s 2012 fundraising, $10 from every scarf ordered this week (through Monday, January 23rd) will be donated to OPI – and it just so happens, the scarf’s color scheme is rather fitting for fans of the Portland Timbers.

To support this charitable cause, order your Pitch Invasion scarf online now. Help grow grassroots soccer, one pitch at a time.

- Tom Dunmore
Founder, Pitch Invasion

The grandstand pictured has now been demolished. Hayes & Yeading vs. Kidderminster Harriers, Church Road - January 2011

Lewes FC Fans. The Dripping Pan, Lewes - January 2011

The Club Shop. Lewes FC, The Dripping Pan - January 2011

The stands at the Dripping Pan, Lewes FC - January 2011

A Walk In The Ground. Lymington FC, The Sports Ground - January 2011

For the Non-League 1%. Lymington FC, The Sports Ground - January 2011

Not A Crowded Stand. Marlow FC, Alfred Davis Memorial Ground - February 2011

Now That's A Grandstand. Marlow FC, Alfred Davis Memorial Ground - February 2011

No Standing? Thatcham Town FC, Waterside Park - March 2011

Sold Out? Thatcham FC, Waterside Park - March 2011

Lonely or Content? Staines Town FC, Wheatsheaf Park - April 2011

Grandstand. Maidenhead United vs. Dartford, York Road - April 2011

Maidenhead FC Take On Dartford. York Road, Maidenhead - April 2011

Reading Fans Seek Alternate Entertainment. Eastleigh vs. Reading XI, Silverlake Stadium - July 2011

A Lonely Supporter At Sholing vs. Salisbury City. Portsmouth Road, Southampton - July 2011

Recycle While You Support. Hartley Wintney FC, The Memorial Ground - September 2011

Save! Basingstoke vs. Hartley Wintney, The Camrose - October 2011

Cambridge City Celebrate. AFC Totton vs. Cambridge City, Little Testwood Farm - October 2011

Frome Town FC, Badgers Hill - September 2011

An Experienced Corner Flag. Andover New Street vs. Bridport, Foxcotte Park - September 2011

Sunset. Brockenhurst vs. Lymington FC, Grigg Lane - September 2011

FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Fever. Basingstoke Town vs. Hartley Wintney, The Camrose - October 2011

Not The Real Steven Gerrard. Basingstoke Town vs. Hartley Wintney, The Camrose - October 2011

Celebration! Basingstoke Town vs. Hartley Wintney, The Camrose - October 2011

Bemerton Heath Harlequins vs. Saltash United, The Clubhouse - November 2011

Gosport Borough vs. Braintree Town, Privett Park - December 2011

Chasing the Spitfire? Eastleigh vs. Boreham Wood, Silverlake Stadium - December 2011

Real Football, Fake Team. Eastleigh vs. Boreham Wood, Silverlake Stadium - December 2011

Arundel Castle Looms. Arundel FC vs. Horsham, Mill Road - December 2011

Curling It In. Arundel FC vs. Horsham YMCA, Mill Road - December 2011

All photos by Paul Paxford. Check out more from Paul at Pitchside Photo and on Flickr.

Through the weekend, you can take 20% off all the store items by entering the coupon code “PI” at checkout. The store features The Very Best of Pitch Invasion book, stylish PI stickers and buttons, and an all new Pitch Invasion scarf – an embroidered bar scarf available in very limited quantities via pre-order until January 30th.

So, please take a look around the store, shoot us any questions, and thanks for supporting Pitch Invasion.

PS – Look out for a special store promotion next week benefiting the charitable Operation Pitch Invasion project in Portland, Oregon…

In the past few days, there have been rumours that Google and Apple are both considering a bid for the broadcasting rights to the Premier League when they come up for renewal later this year. They remain just that – rumours – and it seems likely that Apple won’t bid, while there is nothing to indicate yet that Google may consider making a sizeable investment in English football broadcast rights. But with both companies expected to move further into the TV and broadcasting industry, it does show other leagues and sports that it may be worth thinking outside the traditional broadcasting methods. Indeed, for some, it may be the only way to grow and survive.

Under the current broadcast rights deal, Sky is paying around £1.6bn to show 115 live Premier League games per season, with ESPN broadcasting the final package of games. Under a deal with the European Commission, the Premier League had to ensure that the six packages were divided between more than one broadcaster. That deal has now expired, although the Premier League is unlikely to risk another legal battle by awarding all games to Sky (or, more unlikely, another broadcaster).

The amounts of money involved are quite staggering and few broadcasters can afford them. Even lower down the English league pyramid structure, where rights are nowhere near as expensive, the cost of producing live games or even highlight shows are still high enough to be questionable in terms of cost-effectiveness. Due to budget cuts, the BBC opted not to show Football League highlights during the recent festive period, despite a full set of fixtures, while in non-League Premier Sports opted to pull out of screening Darlington versus Barrow last season rather than risk sending a crew to a game that stood a possibility of being called off.

And yet with the growth of the internet and the willingness over the past few seasons for broadcasters to snap up as many sport and football rights as possible, fans have been treated to a proliferation of football across a range of platforms to the extent that it’s almost expected that non-Premier League games and highlights will be if not free, then at least readily available. Never mind that football has had its fingers burnt twice in the past with the collapse of both ITV Digital and Setanta, the expectation is there.

This, however, overlooks the fact that if non-Premier League football was thought to be profitable for broadcasters, they would be rushing to show more of it. Ratings for ESPN’s foreign league coverage are low in the UK, while the expense involved for lower league games is high. That none of the commercial broadcasters other than Sky have made a serious play for these live matches in recent years tells its own story. Only the BBC, with its public service commitments, could make a sensible argument for broadcasting lower league football, and with their proposed Delivering Quality First cuts – especially around local radio commentaries – even Auntie appears to be scaling back lower league coverage.

This, then, is the state of football broadcasting in the UK at the moment. Rights for live Premier League games are so expensive to bid for that only a small handful of broadcasters – Sky, ESPN and, given their recent acquisitions of French rights, probably al-Jazeera – are able to offer the vast sums required, while the lower leagues are too expensive to produce to make a serious challenge to Sky for the rights (or, in the case of Premier Sports and their deal to broadcast non-League football, hardly enriching for the clubs involved).

Which is why looking outside of the traditional mediums could be seen as a good thing. For the Premier League, should Apple and Google, two companies with the financial clout to challenge Sky, decide to bid then it could herald the much-needed shake-up of the current near-monopoly on top flight rights. For lower leagues, exploring non-linear options are, quite simply, a must if they are to at least stand a chance of reaching existing fans and new audiences. A new generation of internet connected app-friendly televisions are on the way powered by familiar OS and Android platforms. While it may be a tad hyperbolic to proclaim these will change the way you watch TV forever, we’re already seeing the current generation of IPTVs having a slight shift on the way we consume our television. The world of streaming, tablets, phones and TV is amalgamating as one.

Of the realistic options, Apple appear to be the most curious of those rumoured. The tech company already has a deal in place with Sky to show archive footage through iTunes, while Sky’s successful Sky Go mobile and tablet apps currently offer a slick Premier League broadcasting experience on the iPhone and iPad.

Bidding for expensive UK Premier League rights would also represent something of a risk for Apple, given football’s standing in the US, although globally, given the Premier League’s appeal, it could prove to be a sound piece of business, especially in the long term if it secures the US rights to the competition given the growing appeal of the “EPL” on that side of the Atlantic. But any movement on this, if it were to materialise, would as likely depend on the offerings of Apple TV, how it develops and whether it becomes a mass-market product.

The search giant Google, however, would seem to be much more of a natural fit for broadcasting rights. They already own YouTube, which signed a two year deal to broadcast the Indian Premier League cricket. Under YouTube’s stewardship, the channel racked up a cool 50 million views. In comparison, current rights holder Times India’s channel, which is produced in conjunction with Google, has just under 15 millions views. The appetite and familiarity with well known sporting brands is, it appears, present online and is not discouraged by a non-traditional media company owning the rights.

For Google, the infrastructure (including Android), not to mention the money, is in place, although one complication may be the ongoing copyright dispute between the Premier League and YouTube. Google have also recently shed many extra projects as they get behind their core offerings (while continuing to innovate), and the video Hangouts on Google+ raise an interesting possibility of shared viewing experiences between friends or fans of clubs through special individual channels. There are so many possibilities for sports broadcasting on Google – be it TV, apps, online or social network – it would be easy to spend a whole article speculating on what these may be, but suffice to say the barriers offered by traditional broadcasters would be broken down should the leagues be willing to do so – itself a big sticking point.

It is also worth, briefly, considering Facebook. The social behemoth may not have been mentioned thus far but they have already shown that, on a smaller scale, they can very competently handle sports broadcasting. Budweiser and the FA’s streaming of the Extra Preliminary FA Cup Qualifying tie between Ascot United and Wembley FC may have been a one-off novelty but was a smooth, entertaining and enjoyable experience. Liking Budweiser’s page was a small price to pay for a professional broadcast and the online viewing figures of 27,000 were more than even ITV4 gets for some Europa League matches.

Facebook’s goal of being at the heart of everybody’s lives would fit with acquiring sports rights (especially as the majority of work making it broadcast-ready would probably be done by the partners). It is not hard to envisage live streaming of games through the social network or via the Facebook app on your TV. Again, the restrictions here are unlikely to be on Facebook’s part but from the Premier League or any other body selling their live broadcast rights.

For the Premier League, they have the luxury of picking and choosing, such is the strength and popularity of the product they are selling. Whether they’d be willing to relinquish their grip and allow any sort of fragmentation from the new media companies potentially interested in their rights is another question. For the lower leagues, it is up to them to seize the initiative.

What would the Football League be worth if the rights were sold to Facebook or Google? Would more people be inclined to subscribe or sign-up to an app on a new generation IPTV? Could revenue be raised through pay-per-view subscriptions as well as longer subscriptions? Would lower league or non-League games attract higher audiences if they were streamed via the official page on Facebook or via YouTube? And if these games were readily available to the casual lower league fan, what impact would this have on attendances? None of these questions are easy or even possible to answer, but need to be asked or considered, at the very least.

Or could we yet see a situation where it is not the league who negotiate the deal for the rights, but an enterprising club? Think of the individual rights that are negotiated by La Liga clubs in Spain, but then fragmented and offered to a range of platforms and tech or social companies, not the traditional broadcasters.

Already the individual leagues risk being left far behind when it comes to mobile or TV app development, if they have even considered it. Broadcasters and other companies know that mobile viewing – be it on a phone or tablet – will provide a significant market in the future. Whether the leagues are following suit is debatable.

We could potentially reach a point where an enterprising club with an abnormal fan base for the division they are in – say Luton or Bradford, for example – decide to cut out the middle man and go direct to Google and stream through the official Luton Town YouTube channel and offer special Luton Town viewing hangouts with post-match viewer-engaged content via Hangouts on Google+. Or perhaps the game will be streamed via the official Bradford City Facebook page and IPTV app, with all the social benefits that this brings, not to mention the marketing advantages such a channel offers to the club.

And if these lower league clubs are successful, the bigger clubs will almost certainly want their slice of the action. Perhaps we may face a future where you purchase the Facebook app but opt to watch through the dedicated Manchester City channel rather than the main broadcast, or a host of other fragmented options, while chatting to other fans of the same persuasion during the match. Fanciful? Perhaps. But you can already see the foundations of virtual stadiums just through this method, and this probably only discusses a small part of what could be achieved.

But this does get ahead of what would currently be required. For both Football League and Premier League clubs, there would need to be a majority vote to abandon the collective agreement on income from these football rights. To do so would be hugely controversial and go against the very fabric of the game in Britain. Yet with governing bodies often some way behind clubs and technology in both adoption and thinking, the question is how prepared clubs would be to miss out if a new route makes them more money.

Certainly the aforementioned Manchester City are already leading the way, digitally. Their website is rightly lauded as one of the best in the country and their YouTube channel is both slick and engaging. Should opportunities open up for exploiting online viewing, it is clubs such as City who are likely to be at the forefront. The infrastructure and planning is in place, it is just the league itself that prevents them from maximising their online potential in terms of use of live broadcasts and highlights.

Given football broadcast rights are complicated enough as it is, perhaps we may see another layer added for tablet or TV apps rather than channels accessed through a browser. Perhaps it is these clubs may look to exploit separately rather than collectively. Could online prove an exception and break the collective agreement? Technologically, there are many attractive and exciting reasons for doing so. Legally it may prove more different, and morally it does not sit comfortably with the idea of keeping the game competitive (and would, as likely, provoke a similar reaction to Liverpool’s executive Ian Ayre raising the notion of clubs individually negotiating their international broadcast rights).

Whether these changes in technology and broadcast viewing habits would improve top flight football, or simply serve to make it more tribal and take it further away from its roots is an another question, although one you feel the clubs and league won’t worry to much about if it proves successful, even if they are unable to negotiate individual rights. In an online medium very much concerned with openness and equality, any success in this area could serve to make the bigger clubs even richer. For the Premier League it’s a welcome addition to have on the table. For the smaller clubs, it may become a necessity.

But there’s still a problem. Major League Soccer’s uniform font persists, blocking the orderly progression of good design.

The idea that the entire league would use the same font lockups is interesting to begin with. North American leagues largely allow teams leeway in customizing the look of their numbers and letters; that’s how you get Red Sox “3”s, Laker “3”s old Blue Jay “3”s and Steeler “3”s. Thousands of colleges and minor league teams have unique takes too. On the world stage, soccer is far from uniform, and international competitions showcase a range of interesting font design. Conversely, the English Premier League has been perfecting the font lockup for at least 15 years; any international soccer fan will recognize the word “Scholes” set in the Premier Leage’s first universal font (a squeezed Optima, in fact), and “Rooney” set in the present version. These aren’t just Manchester United fonts, of course – they’re league-wide, regardless of club or jersey maker. That “Premier League look” – a classy, professional font, topped off by the lion logo “bug” at the base of each jersey numeral, has gone some way towards giving the league a certain distinction and a somewhat regal air.

In some respects, the first 15 years of MLS is best described as a collection of emulated behaviors; some came from the domestic sports landscape (often the NFL) and some from international sport. In this case, MLS chose to model the English game, right down to the logo-enhanced numerals. This is a pretty good idea, in my estimation; anything that builds league-wide identity and promotes professionalism was and is good for the league. But MLS picked a very different style for the execution.

I don’t know the name of the font, so I’ll call it “Camaro Sans”. It’s fast – so fast, the wind is sweeping over every character, shearing off fore-facing corners and connectors, and even blowing the numerals backwards into italics. The “N”s and “M”s are playfully lowercase even in uppercase applications, and the “I”s have it both ways, with a cute slash that could denote a tittle. Half-piping around the numerals look more like racing stripes. And the numeral logos – not a lion, but the old MLS boot-meets-ball model – are proudly there like license plates at the bottom of each number where you’d expect them.

In short, it is the Camaro of fonts – it’s souped up and sleek and if you’re MLS, maybe you hope it ends up in a poster on an impressionable kid’s bedroom wall. But that same appeal dates quickly and now, after a few years of growing up, when the kid is 25 and wants an S-Class, it’s a bit laughable. MLS design choices may have, in the past, been necessarily bold, but at this point in the league’s history, the font presents a somewhat tacky look.

In today’s MLS, there are teams trying to be modern and sleek – and also classic, and traditional, and brazenly original. While the EPL found a look that blends into teams’ identities, the MLS lockup aggressively pushes an aesthetic onto every team that, today, rarely fits. Soccer isn’t a new idea on the American landscape anymore; the public doesn’t need to be hit over the head with “sport of the future” or “soccer is super cool!” metaphors any longer. American soccer fans are ready to accept more refined design ideas.

I think the league-wide lockup should stay. But it’s time to iterate. My ideal?

How about a look that’s distinctive, but a little less jarring and single-minded? This is set in Mentone, and it’s a simple, professional look. I really like how the x-height of the nameplate is far less pronounced, and the numerals are flat and simple – much more timeless and adaptable.

Or,

Here’s a sportier style, set in Cuprum, which gives the name a bit more prominence and allows the numerals some spring (with the offset shadows) without going too far down the racing-stripe path.

Or perhaps:

Here’s a very all-American, almost collegiate look, set in a combination of Dezen Pro (for the letters) and Inconsolata (for the numerals). The numbers retain a bit of definition with a very subtle knockout-offset.

And finally, the compromise. If you must retain that sport-of-the-future feel (or just evolve slowly from today’s look),

Update the current look with a lockup that retains the italics (as much as I dislike that idea), but brightens everything up and brings it forward to a more modern era of design. (This is set in Agency, by the way.) I don’t much enjoy this part of the design spectrum, but it may be a more practical iterative direction for MLS if they are irretrievably hooked on the idea of a speedy, brandable design.

MLS has some great individual identities, and they continue to get better. I think that their instinct to follow the Premier League’s uniform font-lockup is inspired, and appropriately unique for North American soccer. I’d even keep the logo bugs in each and every uniform numeral (the MLS logo itself is another topic). And there is plenty of theory on legibility, weight and balance to get right. But the days of appealing to some vague notion of speedy, futuristic, teenage coolness are over for MLS. They need to concentrate on fostering tradition, connection, and professionalism. One easy way to do that is with a new, league-wide font that leaves today’s model out in the parking lot to rust.