Real Salt Lake

The club was one of the most successful in the MLS, consistently building teams and getting them into the playoffs. With stars like Nick Rimando and Kyle Beckerman, RSL made back to back MLS cups in 2013 and 2014. They would lose both to Sporting and the Red Bulls, respectively. They consistently hung around, but eventually fell behind with the retirement of Rimando and Beckerman in 2016. They were replaced by former Tampa Bay Rowdies teammates Luke Mulholland and Jeff Attinella, and RSL tried to rebuild. After a year in financial purgatory, and a possible move to Calgary, they got out of it using their own system, cutting down on cost. They had a good youth system that brought in talent in immediately. For 2017, they featured two rookie defenders, and a striker that they loaned to Charlotte. They were alright, but the players got some needed experience. They added a player from Honduras to help at attacking midfield, and left back that had been in the NASL to put in reserve of the starters.

Going into 2019, the team was trying to deepen themselves. Using the MLS free agent market, they brought in some journeymen from all around the league. With 24 teams, the value of players that you could rely on as subs was very high. They picked up a player from Seattle and one from San Antonio to put up front. With no real stars, the team banded together and shocked the sports writers. They were over achieving, beating teams that were geared for the championship like Portland and LA. At midseason, they brought in a youth striker that had been training in Las Vegas. They had a chance to make a deep playoff run, so getting a talent up front was crucial for them. They made it all the way to the MLS cup only to lose to Houston. After the championship run, they eventually had a fire sale of their most expensive players. Mulholland went to Vancouver, and Attinella went to Boston. They continued to use their own system to raise players. They made a deal with Real Madrid to harvest their talent, and earning future Spanish super stars while another team pays their fees is a great business move. The club made their clash kit all white to make the players feel like home. A few competitive seasons later, they found themselves in playoff contention, the team had an average age of 23, which was the lowest average for a playoff team in league history. Eventually the Madrid signings became less to the new loan rules. They boast a strong youth core that attracts players from all over the state. They’re still looking for their first Cup since 2009. They’re shuffled behind the high profile teams in New York and Los Angeles, but RSL is a small market team that has the pieces to make a run, they just need a manager to get them there.

I hate the blue side of their reds. I made the whole thing symmetrical with heavy on the red and navy accents. The clash is all white like I said. I made a minor change to the logo, which is make the wordmark-less crest the primary since it’s much cleaner than the current.