By FRANCO PANIZO
Out with the old, in with the new.
The San Jose Earthquakes have announced that they will unveil a new logo and new uniforms on Jan. 30 as part of their 40th anniversary party. The party will be held at San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose and is a free event that is open to the public and will include a live concert.
“We couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this momentous occasion with our fans at one of San Jose’s most iconic venues, San Pedro Square Market,” said Earthquakes president Dave Kaval in a statement. “As we celebrate 40 years of Quakes soccer and with the new stadium scheduled for completion this year, we felt this was the perfect time to unveil a new look that embodies the true spirit of this club. We look forward to a memorable night that will highlight all of the great things that make this club special.”
The Earthquakes were scheduled to begin playing in their soccer-specific stadium later this year, but complications with construction caused delays that pushed its opening date back to 2015.
What do you think of the Earthquakes’ decision to unveil a new logo, uniforms? Like the move? What do you think the new logo, uniforms should look like?
Share your thoughts below.
40th anniversary? I guess that is counting the Blackhawks and Clash in with the original quakes and the new quakes. Slight bit revisionist as is the trend on the west coast. It seems to me that if I was married to my wife from 1984 to 1988 and then I hooked up with the neighbor lady, then my wife disappeared and my neighbor lady thing fell through so I hooked up with someone from down the street, then she changed her name to my original wife’s name, I really couldn’t get away with celebrating a 40th anniversary. Just sayin’.
Just supporting our local boys that represent the south bay soccer community. Times get thin, leagues fold…before you know it, you’re rooting for a semi-pro team. There’s been some continuity with managers, coaches, front office guys… I don’t get too hung up on the names. A lot of locals, “Quake” fans if you will, were really upset with the original MLS Clash name, they finally corrected the problem. The original mascot for the Clash was a Lobster/Scorpion creature…WTF!!! The league used a roomful of 10 year olds to come up with the original MLS team names, mascots and colors. They thought the demographic for the fan base was kids and families. It is funny though, when MLS first started, the league didn’t want to be associated in any way, shape or form with the old NASL, due to the failure of that league. Over time MLS has completely flopped their stance and now want to embrace and hype the old NASL legacies. It has been a bumpy ride in SJ for sure, but with the new stadium, we finally have a home…we should be on the straight and narrow for many years to come.
That’s not exactly how sports teams work. The club can move around and keep its record. Tennessee Titans, LA Dodgers, SF Giants, anyone?
The rumor is the home kit will be all blue with the away being primarily red with the old Quakes logo maybe similar to the throwback…I think the all black kit is gone. I heard the same thing, possible offset chevron motif similar to the one on the 40 year anniversary scarf.
The announcement for the new Quakes logo/uni presentation on the club’s website features a chevron pattern and the addition of red (representing the NASL Quakes) to the current black and blue color scheme.
http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2014/01/quakes-unveil-new-logo-and-uniforms-jan-30
Chevron… red/black/blue… That is damn classy.
Thank god. Ive been a quakes fan since the league started. I was at the league opener, the Championship win vs the fire, and the famous 5-4 over LA. That said, I could never bring myself to put that pathetic logo on my bumper or proudly wear a quakes uniform. Blue and black, without a third complementary color (like Inter’s yellow trim) is about the worst color combintion possible.
Hopefully, Billy Beane, who is involved in the Quakes management, will pull in some design talent from his connections at Tottenham and produce a truly worldclass logo. The fact that they saw something wrong with that logo is a sign of good things to come for the
marketting of the new stadium.
Nix the blue altogether, black as a primary color with teal accents, maybe with a burnt orange as a secondary accent color for small details or stitching. Similar to the SJ sharks colors. I’m picturing thin horizontal teal stripes on an all black kit. Like Chicago’s second kit with the red stars replace by tasteful little seismograph blips.
I wish someone would have a legit leak for the logo/uniforms. Anyway, this is a much needed rebranding. I agree with people bashing the Crew logo, it could definitely use an upgrade, but I think FCD isn’t bad at all. My team is Colorado, and I love the logo for the most part, but I wish they would replace the soccer ball with something else. Besides them, only the Revs and RedBulls have a ball in their logo, and I think it’s kind of corny looking.
Quakes have part of a ball on the current logo.
Return of the Clash!
Not without Joe Strummer, you don’t.
Dallas’ is solid. Not sure what the stink with theirs is. Ever see the Burn?
New Earthquakes official logo
http://www.google.com/search?q=smurf+crest&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=pMnFUorsK83joASW8oGYBg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1269&bih=610#q=smurf+soccer&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ES2a9zHC90pMUM%3A%3B03Tjn2LR0wyANM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwrist-craft.com%252Fgraphics%252Fsmurflogo.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwrist-craft.com%252F%3B316%3B367
About time, that logo is outdated.
Any links to the new speculated logo?
http://theoriginalwinger.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Lenhart.jpg
how about a new name? Earthquakes has to be the most cringe worthy name ever for a soccer team. Arena football? Fine. But soccer? Ugh.
Why?
IMO I hate names that are based off of natural disasters, it just feels wrong. They could be called San Jose dorks for all I care but naming it after something that usually kills a lot of people and cost millions to repair is not something that I would support.
So I vote the San Jose Smash Brothers =P
Yeah let’s name them San Jose United FC. That sounds so cool and original.
Or Sporting Atletico Real San Jose United FC?
Paris Saint-Jose……..perfectly comical MLS name.
Around here earthquakes are a way of life, not a disaster. “.com Bubble” That would be a disaster.
I agree it’s a lame name, but the fact they’re one of only a handful of MLS teams with NASL lineage, it’d be a shame to see them drop it. 40 years is a long, LONG time in American soccer history.
So The Quakes can celebrate their 40th anniversary without too much of an incident, yet we criticize Cosmos fans who speak about their team’s lineage in the same way.
Not to mention the Cascadia teams
Which one never went out of business?
Excellent point… With that said I would like to see the uniform, colors and logo be more in line with the original Earthquakes.
That’s what I was thinking too. I found a fan-fic version of the logo on line that was a hybrid of the NASL and MLS logos. It still had the crest shape, but the soccer ball was cracked. It looked really sharp. I’m not so sure about switching back to red/white, the blue/black is just more intimidating.
This is the one I was thinking of, of the fan-fic/concept logos I’ve seen, I think it is the coolest.
concept logo
Common Man! Is that cool? In the 80’s?
They need something more recent and appealing…
The logo needs to be freshened up. There have been several releases of Photoshop since the last one dropped.
Still don’t get naming a team after the gravest existential threat to the community: Earthquakes, Tornados, Hurricanes, etc.
Would love to see a Bay-area derby with the San Francisco Quisps. Although this version of Quake looks like he is from Columbus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-sTnm_aPBY
Yeah I always wondered how the name would go over after a massive earthquake destroys part of the city… Gonna be awkward.
It shouldn’t be an issue, we’ve had plenty of quakes rock the town. That’s kind of the idea behind the name.
How’s about the San Jose Silicon Surfers? Or the IPO’s?
I never had a problem with the logo.
I have a problem with thier thuggish style of play.
Speaking of that, their new logo leaked:
http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/5128/362337-ssbb_logo.jpg
Ha! I would have gone for Lenhart giving an off-the-ball headbutt then diving.
Cool news, but I’m more interested to see who’s wearing and sponsoring the uniforms than anything else.
about time. Logo was bad. Uniforms and colors are good though
Yeah. Worst logo in MLS.
That and the Crew. Though I would prefer the Revolution to change theirs. Its not terrible, but I think it could be so much better. FC Dallas could do better too.
I’m a diehard Revs fan and I hate our logo. Big time.
+1
When we finally get a new stadium I would honestly be happy with a rebrand for the Revs. New logo, new name (preferably with Boston in it), new colors maybe.
So never then?
Hahahaha most likely
lol, nice
Im not a fan of theirs, the crews, FCD, SJ. Revs should change it up
The FCD logo isn’t THAT bad IMO. But I hate it still because the crest is shaped like a toe nail. The Crew’s logo is just inexplicably dorky. SRSLY, I wonder what the graphic designers were thinking when they designed it. So ugly. But I guess that’s why Crew Fans like it.
FCD would look better if the longhorn was facing forwards and not a side slanted profile. CREWS is bad, just some random guys on a logo.
Not an FCD fan, but I like their crest. It’s exponentially better than the Burn logo. But hey, if we’re updating relatively new crests, I’d like to see LA do something with its boring, cheesy-looking shield too.
+1, thank God. MLS 1.0