ORLANDO, Fla. – When Orlando City Soccer Club takes the pitch for the first time as members of Major League Soccer next year, they’ll do so while paying homage to their past, likely in front of a robust and growing number of fans.
Orlando City founder and president Phil Rawlins told MLSsoccer.com Wednesday that the club is nearing 9,000 season ticket holders, which already doubles the number of season ticket holders during the club’s peak in USL PRO.
“Our goal is to get to 14,000 season tickets if we can,” Rawlins said. “We’re well on track to do that and we’re slightly ahead of where Portland was during the build up to their first MLS season, so I’m confident we can get there.”
The Lions will play their first MLS season at the Florida Citrus Bowl, where they spent three seasons before moving to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney due to stadium renovations. A new, soccer-specific stadium is slated to be ready for the start of the 2016 season.
On Wednesday, Orlando City became the first club in MLS to put the league’s new crest on its 2015 kit, which was unveiled at Orlando Health’s downtown campus. Orlando Health is entering its fifth season as the club’s official medical team and primary sponsor and will again have their logo featured on the front of home and away jerseys.
Stylistically, the new jerseys recognize the club’s roots as it forges forward in MLS.
Rawlins outlined some of the intricacies of the new jerseys in front of fans and members of the media while players Kevin Molino and Tommy Redding posed in the home purple kits.
Appearing inside the neckline of the home jersey are the words “This is Orlando” which Rawlins said is “a nod to our fans from the Iron Lion Firm,” referring to one of the club’s recognized supporter groups. The away jerseys will be inscribed with the phrase “Forever Our City” as used by The Ruckus, the club’s other official supporter group.
- Check out more Orlando City news at OrlandoCitySC.com
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the new jerseys is the placement of the old Orlando City badge on the inside of the shirt, serving as the flip side to the new crest “which is symbolically placed next to the player’s hearts so they know who they played for,” Rawlins said.
“It’s a very unique jersey. We wanted to make it a very classical design, wanted to keep it very simple and wanted to pay homage to our history,” Rawlins said.
