Historical Football Kits

 

Major League Soccer 2012

mls logo

MLS is the top level professional league in North America, sitting above the North American Soccer League (NASL), termed the "second division." There is no promotion or relegation between these levels although teams from both competitions compete in the US Open Cup. The Canadian teams play in the Canadian Championship, their only route into the CONCACEF Champions League (CCL).

MLS operates under a single-entity structure with teams centrally owned by the league and run by owner-operators on a franchise basis. Revenues are shared and players are contracted to MLS rather than individual teams while complex rules govern the composition of each squad. These measures, along with an annual players-draft are designed to prevent wealthy teams buying up the best talent and to deliver financial stability.

MLS is organised into Eastern and Western Conferences: teams play each other twice, home and away with additional games organised within each conference. From 2012 the top five teams in each section play off with the winners then meeting in a single match for the MLS Cup. The team with the best overall record at the end of the regular season is awarded the Supporters' Shield.

Montreal Impact become the competition's third Canadian team this season while MLS have made it known that they favour further expansion with a new franchise in New York in the future.

Logos are the property of the respective MLS franchise teams.

MLS 2009 | MLS 2010 | MLS 2011 | MLS 2012 | MLS 2013 |MLS 2014 | MLS 2015

Chicago Fire SC (Eastern Conference)

chicago fire 2012 home

Home

chicago fire 2012 away

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Quaker

chicago fire crestSuccess has eluded the team since 2006, when Chicago moved into Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Fire's signature chest band now appears in navy blue rather then the more familiar white. A single silver star above the crest represents their MLS Cup win from 1998. Four tiny red stars are repeated on the away shirt between narrow light blue stripes. These are taken from from the flag of Chicago.

(Chad Curry)

 

CD Chivas USA (Western Conference)

chivas usa home kit 2012

Home

chivas usa 2011 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Corona Beer

chivas usa crest Chivas USA is the sister club of Mexican team CD Guadalajara, popularly known as Chivas (Goats) in Spanish. They draw support from the large Mexican-American population of Los Angeles and share The Home Depot Center with LA Galaxy.

The new home strip was launched on a commercial flight between Guadalajara and LA, dubbed "Goats on a Plane." So no gimmicks there. Last season's away strip is retained.

(Kenneth Kapner)

 

Colorado Rapids (Western Conference)

colorado rapids 2011 home kit

Home

colorado rapids 2011 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

colorado rapids crestColorado play in Commerce City, a suburb of Denver and wear the corporate colours of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, who bought the franchise in 2007.

Their strips for 2012 are unchanged.

 

Columbus Crew (Eastern Conference)

columbus crew 2012 home

Home

columbus crew 2012 away strip

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Barbasol

columbus crew crest"The hardest working team in America" have updated their usual all-yellow home strip to Adidas' latest, attractively simple, template. The away strip, previously black, is switched to all-white with the yoke and sleeves in yellow and black.

(Kevin Wos)

 

DC United (Eastern Conference)

dc united 2012 home kit

Home

dc united 2012 away kit

Away

dc united 2011 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Volkswagen

dc united crestRepresenting Washington DC, the Black and Red are the most successful team in the history of professional league soccer in the US. Plans to build a stadium of their own have so far come to nothing and the team still play in the 45,600 seat RFK stadium, owned by the District of Columbia.

The home and away strips are only slightly changed from last time out and the red third strip is retained. The gold stars above the crest represent United's four MLS Cup wins.

 

FC Dallas (Western Conference)

fc dallas home kit 2012

Home 1

fc dallas advocare sponsored home kit 2012

Home 2

fc dallas away kit 2012

Away 1

fc dallas advocare sponsored away kit 2012

Away 2

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Advocare (from 28 July)

fc dallas crestCharter members of MLS (as Dallas Burn), the team was re branded in 2004 and has played as FC Dallas ever since. They moved into Pizza Hut Park in August 2005, which is situated in and owned by the City of Frisco, a northern suburb of Dallas. FC Dallas have won the US Open Cup once (1997). The club's official colours are Republic Red, Bovine Blue, Shawnee Silver and Lonestar White. That's red, white and blue then. The franchise signed their first ever sponsorship deal in June and the new shirts appeared a month later against LA Galaxy.

(Kevin Wos, Mike Marchand)

 

Houston Dynamo (Eastern Conference)

houston dynamo 2011 home kit

Home

houston dynamo 2011 away kit

Away

houston dynamo third kit 2012

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Greenstar Recycling

houston crestHouston played their games on the road until May when their brand new BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston was opened. They play in orange, white and "Space City Blue" and have two stars embroidered above their crest, marking their championship wins. Their main strips are unchanged from last season but a new third strip, in deep orange and, well orange really, has been introduced to coincide with the move to their new home, which is also very orangey.

(Kenneth Kapner)

 

Los Angeles Galaxy (Western Conference)

la galaxy 2012 home strip

Home

la galaxy 2012 away kit

Away

la galaxy 2011 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Herbalife

la galaxy crestLA Galaxy won the double of MLS Cup and Supporter's Shield last year to add to their impressive haul of trophies. Despite prolonged absence through injury, David Beckham played an important role in their success alongside their second designated player, all-time Irish top goal scorer Robbie Keane, and has committed himself to a further two-year contract.

The new home strip has an interesting mesh pattern woven into the sash. The MLS "scudetto" is worn above the Adidas logo.

(Kevin Wos)

 

Montreal Impact Impact de Montréal (Eastern Conference)

montreal impact 2012 home strip

Home

montreal impact 2012 away strip

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

montral impact crestMLS's newest franchise is to all intents and purposes the former NASL team of the same name, retaining the colours, management structure and Saputo Stadium (now to be expanded with a $23m grant from the Quebec government). Big games may be played at the neighbouring Olympic Stadium.

Impact's new crest features the fleur-de-lis, symbol of Quebec's French heritage and this motif is printed into the home shirt. The stars represent the four founding communities of Montreal.

(Pat Carrasco)

 

New England Revolution (Eastern Conference)

new england revolution home kit 2012

Home

new england revolution 2012 strip

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: United Health Care

new england revolution crest"The Revs" are based in Foxburgh, Massachusetts but aim to draw support from throughout New England. They are owned by Robert Kraft who also owns the NFL New England Patriots team. (The names of both sides reflect New England's involvement in the American Revolution of 1776.) The team wears patriotic dark navy blue, red and white.

A sponsor's logo replaces the Revolution logotype worn on the shirts in recent seasons.

(Kenny Kapner)

 

New York Red Bulls (Eastern Conference)

new york red bulls 2012 home strip

Home

new york red bulls 2012 away kit

Away

ny red bulls 2012 third strip

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Red Bull

new york red bulls crestAfter the franchise was sold to Red Bull GmbH in 2006 the team underwent a comprehensive re brand. They play in the $200m Red Bull Arena, paid for entirely by the parent company in Harrison, New Jersey.

Red Bull invest heavily in sport and now own four professional teams (the others are RB Salzburg, RB Leipzig and RB Brasil) all of whom wear identical strips. The new home outfit is little changed from the 2010-11 version while a navy away kit replaces the black version worn last season and an entirely superfluous third kit also appears.

(Kevin Wos)

 

Philadelphia Union (Eastern Conference)

philadelphia union 2012 home strip

Home

philadelphia union 2012 away strip

Away

philadelphia union 2011 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bimbo Bakeries

philadelphia union crestPhiladelphia's colours of midnight blue and natural khaki are based on the uniforms of the Continental Army worn during the Revolutionary War and the team crest features thirteen stars, symbolising the original Thirteen Colonies. The light blue accent colour represents the colour of the flag of Philadelphia and is much more prominent this season.

 

Portland Timbers (Western Conference)

portland timbers 2012 home kit

Home

portland timbers 2011 away kit

Away

portland timbers 2012 third strip

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Alaska Airlines

portland timbers crestPortland Timbers finished sixth in the Western Conference in their inaugural season (12th overall).

Their cleverly designed home and road strips are retained. The home strip is in ponderosa and moss green to represent the forests of the state of Oregon while the road kit is themed on the cultivation of roses for which the city is famous. The two tone shirt features a thorn motif down the centre line and carries an additional, "rose city" logo. A new third strip (with a simplified crest) is added for those who want to update their collection.

(Mick)

 

Real Salt Lake (Western Conference)

real salt lake 2012 home strip

Home

real salt lake 2012 away strip

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XanGo

real salt lake crestSalt Lake wear a gold star over their crest to commemorate their 2009 MLS Cup win. Last time out they finished third in the Western Conference and reached the play-off semi-finals.

Salt Lake's colours are officially claret red, cobalt blue and Real gold. This season red shorts replace their usual dark blue ones to striking effect. The white away kit is based on the same template.

 

San Jose Earthquakes (Western Conference)

san jose earthquakes 2012 home kit

Home

san jose earthquakes 2012 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

san jose earthquakes crestSan Jose Earthquakes inherited the record of San Jose Clash (now Houston Dynamo) when they were granted a franchise in May 2006. The two stars above their crest represent the MLS Cup wins won by the previous franchise in 2001 and 2003. Management is so keen to associate the current set up with its predecessors that "EST 1974" is stitched into the back of the shirts below the collar.

The new strips are in the usual colours with white now relegated to an accent colour.

 

Seattle Sounders (Western Conference)

seattle sounders 2011 home kit

Home

seattle sounders 2011 road kit

Away

seattle sounders 2012 third strip

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XBox

seattle sounders crestAfter finishing second in the Western Conference last season, Seattle were defeated in the play-offs by Salt Lake. They did, however, win the US Open Cup for the third season in succession.

Seattle's colours are officially described as Sounder Blue, Rave Green and Cascade Shale to represent the sea, forests and mountains of the area and are unchanged for 2012 but a deeply unpleasant third strip in "super cyan" and "electric yellow" has appeared. Despite a promise that these would be worn in non-MLS matches, they appeared against the Timbers, causing distress to at least one of our contributors.

(Kevin Wos, Quentin Benetti)

 

Sporting Kansas City (Eastern Conference)

sporting kansas city 2011-12 home kit

Home

sporting kansas city 2011 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

sporting kansas city crestKansas City won the Eastern Conference last season and reached the semi-finals of the play-offs.

Their strips are unchanged. A seam runs down the front left of the shirt to represent the Kansas-Missouri border, which is mirrored in the team crest. This sort of attention to subtle detailing is typical of Adidas' approach to kit design for MLS.

(David Stabrawa)

 

Toronto FC (Eastern Conference)

toronto fc 2011

Home

toronto fc 2012 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

toronto fc crestDespite modest performances (eighth in the Eastern Conference in 2011), Toronto's home support ensures that financially at least, the franchise is consistently profitable. As winners of the Canadian Championship for the third successive season, Toronto qualified for the CCL once again.

Toronto have a new away kit for 2012.

(Ivan Barsby)

 

Vancouver Whitecaps (Western Conference)

vancouver whitecaps home kit 2011

Home

vancouver whitecaps road kit 2011

Away

vancouver whitecaps 2012 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bell Canada

vancouver whitecaps crestVancouver Whitecaps found it hard in their first MLS season, finishing bottom of the Western Conference last season.

Last October Vancouver moved into the renovated BC Place stadium on the False Creek waterfront, which they share with the Canadian Football League team, BC Lions. Their home and away strips are unchanged but a new third kit in "arbetus brown with sky blue accents" was launched in June. The over-enthusisatics children in the marketing department would have us believe it represents a "unique land full of deep roots and the high reaching arms of the Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Mountain Hemlock, Pacific Dogwood...." Phew. To add to the confusion, the shirts worn at the launch were training rather than production versions.

(Kevin Wos, Quentin Benetti)