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Major League Soccer expansion franchise Charlotte FC will wear the Carolina blue when it first takes the pitch next March.
The CLTFC officially unveiled its home kits for its inaugural season in 2022 on Thursday, December 9. Made by adidas, the “Carolina Kit” features a bright blue body and white sleeves. The adidas logo, shoulder bands and the sponsor logo on the sleeve are all black, while the main sponsor logo Allied financial is white. The cuffs and V-neck feature black and blue stripes.
“As our fans look forward to Charlotte FC’s debut in 2022, the new main kit represents the club’s bold and progressive philosophy and embodies the pride and passion of our community. This kit symbolizes our mission to unite fans across the Carolinas as we make history for MLS and football in the United States.
– Charlotte fc President Nick Kelly
The shade of blue used for the kits is the same one used by the Carolina Panthers in the NFL. Both teams are owned by billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper. The lower left corner of the jersey features a silver map of North and South Carolina in jock tag position, while a white “CLTFC†monogram appears on the back collar.
The shirt will be paired with white shorts, also with black adidas stripes, and blue socks with white trims. Names and numbers on the back will be printed in white.
The jerseys unveiled Thursday largely correspond to a leak since early November. Twitter user @theduohq took a photo of the kit on the shelves of a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in the Charlotte area. The only difference appears to be the collar, which was a solid white in the photo posted to Twitter.
UPDATE (8:42 p.m. MT): With authentic jerseys and replicas now for sale at MLSstore.com, the authentic versions have blue and black stripes on the collar, while the replica versions have a plain white collar. So it seems that the jersey spotted and posted on Twitter in November is a replica.
Until recently, the CLTFC website, Social media and other materials seemed to emphasize black over blue, making the decision to go for a blue house kit a bit surprising.
Charlotte FC unveiled its name and logo in July 2020. The club were due to start playing in the 2021 MLS season, but that has been pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They will play their very first MLS game on February 26, 2022, when they visit DC United, and their first-ever home game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on March 5, 2022, against Los Angeles Galaxy.
The other expansion team preparing to join the league, St. Louis CITY SC, will not enter the field until 2023. Reports this week has indicated that Las Vegas is a favorite to land the 30th MLS franchise, with owners of Premier League club Aston Villa apparently involved in the offer.
All photos courtesy Charlotte fc unless otherwise stated
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