Featured / MLS / Union

Kit Craziness: Final

Thirty kits, two finalists. After nearly a month of polls, the PSP Kit Craziness tournament has its finalist. While we could all guess that Philadelphia would find itself in the finals, it’s a surprise to see Austin’s home shirt as their opponent. Let’s take a quick look at how the voting broke down before we move onto the finals.

Probably the most objective poll of this tournament. LA turned in an excellent shirt for 2021 and was unfortunate to run into Philly before the final. A deserved run that perhaps ends too soon for the Galaxy.

A closer semi-final than the first, Austin beat out a genuinely good San Jose shirt that had a surprisingly deep run after some incredibly close early polls.

Here’s a look at the bracket and how each shirt got to the finals.

Now onto the finals.

Chris: The hard part about building a franchise from nothing is connecting with fans in meaningful ways. A new team has no lore to hand down, no institutional passion, and no brand recognition. When a team is born out of the scorched earth of a franchise nearly stolen as Austin FC was, this process is made even more difficult.

And yet, the Mighty McConaugheys are as recognizable after two games in MLS as many of its older clubs. This is largely due to their jersey, a green and black statement that is unlike any other templates on this continent. For some fans, it will harken to LA Galaxy’s former brand. But as a stake in the ground, the color scheme is now Austin’s to lose.

Thomas: While the center stripe was iconic for years, Philadelphia have since moved on. In their 4+ years without the bib, they’ve tried various looks that have been largely uninspired, especially when it’s come to the away kit. That’s changed this year with a shirt that saw fans involved in large part of the design process.

Signal blue, with highlights of yellow and sublimated lightning bolts, the Union’s away shirt this year is undeniably Philly. Despite being one of the loudest jerseys in the league, not a single design element feels out of place, a feat that’s rarely accomplished. It’s hard to imagine a shirt that’s so recognizably Philadelphian.

 

As usual, voting will be up on PSP shortly after this article goes live, and embedded polls should be live shortly after that!

2 Comments

  1. Jeremy Lane says:

    This is one of those situations where all of us homers are going to vote for our club’s jersey because obviously, but we will also be objectively correct to do so.

  2. can we never wear it at home again though please, after the miami loss?

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