LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Lexington’s professional USL soccer team is set to begin play next spring. On Tuesday, we got a glimpse of what those players will be wearing when they take the pitch for the first time.
The team has been dubbed the Lexington Sporting Club. Its crest and color scheme were all revealed following a long design process led by New York City-based designer, Christopher Payne.
“We had 15 sessions,” Payne said of the collaboration with team ownership and community members from Lexington, who helped give him some ideas for colors and a logo.
“They wanted a brand that was a little different, so it’s not UK basketball or University of Kentucky colors,” he explained of his decision to go with different shades of green as the primary colors.
But something else led him down that road too.
“When you fly into Lexington, I experienced this when I came to visit, you see this tapestry of greens and different tones, and they’re separated by white fences and country roads,” he said.
He also felt compelled to add a little splash of bourbon to the mix.
“You look at the typography that says Lexington on the top and SC on the bottom. The curvature of the letters make like the curvature of the bourbon barrel,” he explained.
In addition to unveiling the colors, crest, and team name, Lexington Sporting Club announced it’ll have several partnerships with area youth soccer clubs. This is not uncommon in pro soccer as it allows the youth players to get the best training, with access to the best facilities. Commonwealth Soccer Club members and select-level players from the Lexington Youth Soccer Academy will be among the beneficiaries.
“We are very excited for the future of soccer in Lexington,” said LYSA President, Catherine Carrico.
Mrs. Carrico also noted the access to better coaching and facilities, among other things a partnership like this can create.
“It can be a pathway to college or professional soccer,” she said.
Payne said he hopes to now have a pathway into working more with the club on uniform design, a kit as they call it, and said he will most certainly visit Lexington for the team’s first game next spring.
