Anatomy of a(n Anticlimactic) Jersey Unveiling [UPDATE]

It was like any other Friday morning in November, counting the hours until the work week was over, looking forward to a well-deserved weekend, nursing a slight hangover from happy hour the night before, antagonizing over those pesky little home improvement projects that keep building up. But mostly I was chomping at the bit to find out something – ANYTHING – about when the team jerseys would be officially unveiled. We were teased with news of them being available for purchase on November 20th (only one week away!!), but I was curious to know the team’s plan to finally unveil them to the Union faithful.

Sometime mid-morning on that fateful Friday, the day took a dramatic turn and caught everyone – the team front office included – by surprise.

9:39 AM – A small, 90×90 pixel thumbnail of a Union jersey surfaces thanks to a Google Shopping search. It looked legit, it incorporated many of the details the fans wanted, but could easily be passed off as a fake. Regardless, fans jumped on the chance, and before you could say “Nick Sakiewicz” the image had made its way around the Twitterverse, even linking to the team’s Twitter page.

1:09 PM – The Union’s Twitter page is updated with a post saying “Major announcement coming today!” What could it be? Player signing? Jersey sponsor deal made? Jersey release? WHAT COULD IT BE?!

3:06 PM – The Union’s Twitter page is updated yet again, this time with the post many in the region have been waiting anxiously for … “Philadelphia Union’s home jersey is unveiled for the first time!!!” News announcement appears on the team’s website as well.

4:17 PM – A larger, higher-resolution image of the jersey is released by the team, confirming the morning thumbnail leak was in fact the real thing.

The team’s online store then showed the jersey image and it being available for pre-order.

Now, I’m totally excited and thrilled with the final product. The bold vertical stripe is something many fans have been hoping for these past weeks, months, years(?), stemming from the design of the Philadelphia city flag. It is reminiscent of a very iconic jersey worn by AFC Ajax of the Dutch Eredivisie, as well as the German national team and the Columbus Crew. Although it brings yet another blue jersey to the league, it stands out from the crowd, because let’s be honest, how many times have you seen the Crew wear their away jersey? A full description of the jersey can be found HERE on the team’s website. The usage of “JUNGITE aut PERITE” on the outside of the collar, as well as “WE ARE ONE” on the inside of the collar, is pure class. I’m happy they didn’t go with the stereotypical team name in either location. The light blue piping ties the entire scheme in with the team logo, make for a cohesive design. Well done.

I am, however, completely disappointed with how all this went down. I was eager to attend a team event unveiling the home and away kits, but I don’t see the point now if they even decide to have one. Friday afternoons are probably the worst time to release any major news item, so I feel this has been/will be lost in the shuffle. Granted, I think the Friday morning leak forced their hand as there was probably no way to ignore what had happened. This might also explain the discrepancies between the images on the team’s website and online store, which show a “lighter” navy blue and “yellower” gold stripe, as opposed to the much darker navy and gold (natural khaki) in the non-official images. They needed to release a prettier image than the shirt laid out on a table on some sheets of white paper.

Team officials have confirmed that the away/second jersey will be the reverse … gold shirt with dark navy band. Whether it has the light blue (signal blue) piping on it is yet to be determined. At the same time, any hopes for a third/alternate jersey seem to have been shot down. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s just the team blowing smoke.

[UPDATE]

And what would seem to be par for the course, the away jersey (and long sleeve home jersey) has appeared on the team’s online store without any fanfare.

Long Sleeve Home Jersey

Short Sleeve Away Jersey

(Notice the light blue piping, instead of white … YAY!)

Category: Union News