Historical Football Kits

 

Major League Soccer 2013

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 (contested by only four teams), their only route into the CONCACEF Champions League (CCL). MLS is unique in that it operates under a single-entity structure with teams centrally owned by the league and run as franchises.

MLS is organised into Eastern and Western Conferences: teams play each other twice, home and away with additional games organised within each section. 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.

It is widely known that the MLS favours a second franchise in New York and the re-formed New York Cosmos, who start playing in the NASL this year were the most likely candidates until a rival bid was but together by Manchester City FC and the New York Yankees baseball team in May.

This year MLS has introduced "Jersey Week" (25-28 February) during which twelve clubs launched new kits. All 14 teams are expected to participate in future. An unwelcome development is the introduction of "replica" and "authentic" shirts for sale to supporters, the latter being $35 more expensive. In HFK's opinion, this is blatant exploitation and we hope Adidas will not try the same trick in the UK.

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Logos are the property of the respective MLS franchise teams. Opinions expressed on this page are those of HFK and not contributors.

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.

Their kits are unchanged from 2012.

 

CD Chivas USA (Western Conference)

chivas usa home kit 2012

Home

chivas usa 2013 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. Their policy is to recruit only players of Hispanic or Mexican descent.

The updated away shirt has a new badge with symbols taken from the Los Angeles crest. (Shorts and socks to be confirmed.)

 

Colorado Rapids (Western Conference)

colorado rapids 2013 kit

Home

colorado rapids 2013 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.

Two new strips are introduced for 2013 and a white star, signifying their 2010 MLS Cup win, now appears over the badge. The bands on the home shirt are made up of the names of the team's 1,451 season ticket holders. Colorado are the only MLS team never to have had a shirt sponsor.

 

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 retained both of their strips from last season.

 

DC United (Eastern Conference)

dc united 2012 home kit

Home

dc united 2012 away kit

Away

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 retained from 2012.

 

FC Dallas (Western Conference)

fc dallas advocare sponsored home kit 2012

Home

fc dallas advocare sponsored away kit 2012

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Advocare

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 play at Pizza Hut Park in the City of Frisco, a northern suburb. FC Dallas have won the US Open Cup once (1997). The team are wearing last season's strips with the sponsor that first appeared last July.

 

Houston Dynamo (Eastern Conference)

houston dynamo 2013 home kit

Home

houston dynamo 2013 away  kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor:

houston crestHouston have introduced new home and away strips in orange and white, dropping the "space city blue" trim accent colour. The flag of Texas is discretely placed on the front and "Forever Orange" is repeated on a ribbon inside the collar.

 

Los Angeles Galaxy (Western Conference)

la galaxy 2013 home kit

Home

la galaxy 2013 away kit

Away

la galaxy 2013 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Herbalife

la galaxy crestSo it's farewell to Beckham after he helped the team to the MLS Cup last season for the second year in succession and their fourth championship overall, equalling the record of DC United. The home strip is unchanged, a new change kit is introduced. The third kit was designed by a fan, Carlos Rodriguez, whose design (one of 8,000 entries) was chosen from a shortlist of five finalists by suppporters. The red, green and yellow trim represent the colours of the flag of Los Angeles.

 

Montreal Impact Impact de Montréal (Eastern Conference)

montreal impact 2012 home strip

Home

montreal impact 2012 away strip

Away

montreal impact 2013 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

montral impact crestIn their first MLS season, Montreal finished a respectable seventh in the Eastern Conference. There is no change to their first and second choice strips but a new third kit was launched during Jersey Week.

 

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" strips are unchanged.

 

New York Red Bulls (Eastern Conference)

new york red bulls 2013 home kit

Home

new york red bulls 2012 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Red Bull

new york red bulls crestThere is speculation that if New York Cosmos do ever join MLS, the owners will rebrand their franchise as New Jersey Red Bulls since they play in Harrison, NJ and draw most of their support from the Jersey area rather than New York city.

Minor changes have been made to the home strip.

 

Philadelphia Union (Eastern Conference)

philadelphia union 2012 home strip

Home

philadelphia union 2012 away strip

Away

philadelphia union 2013 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bimbo Bakeries

philadelphia union crestPhiladelphia have retained their very distinctive first and second strips. The new third kit is a tribute to Bethlehem Steel FC, one of the oldest and most successful sides in the US until they disbanded in 1930.

 

Portland Timbers (Western Conference)

portland timbers 2013 home kit

Home

portland timbers 2013 away  kit

Away

portland timbers 2012 third strip

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Alaska Airlines

portland timbers crestThe Timbers have introduced two new strips that maintain the themes from their previous versions. The home kit in ponderosa green is meant to evoke the Oregan forests while the away shirt, with a thorn motif, suggests the cultivation of roses for which the city is famous. The third strip with a simplified crest is retained.

 

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 are keeping both of their strips from last season.

 

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 won the 2012 Supporters' Shield with 66 points and under a conventional league system would have been champions. Under the MLS' rules, however, they were knocked out in the Western Conference semi finals by Los Angeles who had finished 12 points behind them and in fourth place. Their compensation is a place in the CONCACEF Champions' League.

 

Seattle Sounders (Western Conference)

seattle sounders 2013 home kit

Home

seattle sounders 2013 away kit

Away

seattle sounders 2012 third strip

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: XBox

seattle sounders crestSeattle have introduced a pair of smart new kits for 2013. The home strip has less fussy detailing than its predecessor while the away shirt has an interesting vertical stripe made up of diagonal strips that grade from green to blue. The deeply unpleasant third strip is, unfortunately retained.

 

Sporting Kansas City (Eastern Conference)

sporting kansas city 2013 home kit

Home

sporting kansas city 2013 away kit

Away

sporting kansas city third kit 2013

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Ivy Funds

sporting kansas city crestKansas City won the Eastern Conference for the second year in succession in 2012 but were knocked out of the play-offs by Houston. They did, however, win the US Open Cup.

The unusual design of the new home shirt represents the Kansas-Missouri border and is mirrored in the team crest. The away strip is unchanged apart from the addition of the new shirt sponsor. The third kit, with a distinctive Argyle pattern across the shirt, is a deliberate attempt to blend street and sporting fashion.

(David Price)

 

Toronto FC (Eastern Conference)

toronto fc 2013 home kit

Home

toronto fc 2012 away kit

Away

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bank of Montreal

toronto fc crestToronto finished 2012 with the worst record in MLS. but they still qualified for the CONCACEF Champions' League after winning the Canadian Championship for the fourth successive season.

Toronto introduce one new strip every season and this year the home kit has been updated with an intriguing sublimated design based on a maple leaf.

 

Vancouver Whitecaps (Western Conference)

vancouver whitecaps 2013 home kit

Home

vancouver whitecaps road kit 2011

Away

vancouver whitecaps 2012 third kit

Third

Designer: Adidas

Sponsor: Bell Canada

vancouver whitecaps crestWhitecaps made it to the Conference West knock out phase, an improvement on their first season in MLS.

Only their first choice strip is updated this season.