A-League - Domestic Cups

So this was included in the first post, and some of you really waned to know about the domestic cups. The top two are the leagues. The Westfield FFA Cup currently exists, and is between all the teams in the A-League and the teams that qualify from the regional leagues. The Kiwi Cup would be a round robin between the 3 New Zealand teams.

But the State Cup is new. I had this idea very early on. The premise would be an 8 team tournament featuring one from each state and territory. The teams would qualify in their own state before the final tournament.

Here's a breakdown of teams from the two leagues I made. Clearly the top 3 have a tougher time, but it would even out with expanded qualification from lower leagues. Just something I had an idea for, and thought I should share for the finale.

A-League - Sydney Olympic

There is a team called Sydney Olympic, but you won't really see much of a carryover. The team was heavily suggested for the 3rd Sydney team. I really don't like the Sydney Olympic logo, and I remember thinking "oh i can totally use the teal on that logo. Then when I went to make the concept, I realized that there wasn't much, but I decided to run with it anyways. The crest is a diamond with the team name and an Olympic torch. it's divided diagonally like the kits. 

I wanted to do a Monaco style slash before I finished, and so Olympic are the team it fell to. I copied the kits Arsenal wore last year, because they look so nice. The away has horizontal stripes in alternating colors.

But that's it! That's the 28th and final team from this series. Thank you all for the support and comments. I have one more design to post but here are the logos together.

A-League - South Melbourne

I think I've kept you guys waiting long enough! I'm gonna finish up this series tonight.

The 3rd Melbourne team option was a toss up between South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights. I went with South Melbourne just as a toss up. The team was founded by Greeks, so I wanted to carry over the blue and white stripes from the flag. Their current crest is a train wreck, so I wanted to give them a new look. I did a crest with a Fulham style vertical lettering and stripes. The gold stars from the current logo also made the jump.

The kits are basic. Blue Umbro striped kits with white socks to give it some flavor. The clash is a throwback to their first kit, which were white shirts and a big red V. I realize this is essentially a mix of the other two Melbourne team's clashes, but I went with history. That's sort of why I included as much blue as I did.

A-League - Wollongong Wolves

The Wollongong Wolves were the long term name of the club in the city of Wollongong. They used to play in the top league before the A-League was formed, and since they have been kicking around the regional leagues. The team is currently the South Coast Wolves, so I went back to the old name due to the amount of teams in this league, and the more specific name. The logo was an idea I had that looked like the Arkansas State logo, but it evolved to what you see below. I did a beveled border, with a red and black inside and a wolf I drew from scratch on the bottom. I used some logos like the Timberwolves as a reference.

The kits are classic head to red. I put some Nike touches to it. The clash is bright yellow and black, which is almost the literal opposite of the homes.

A-League - Adelaide City

This was one that was suggested a lot. The team is really old and they have a classic crest. This wasn't much of a rebrand, but a not to acknowledge them as the 2nd team of Adelaide. I cleaned up the crest, because there isn't any clean version that I could find online. The kits are the standard Juventus kits that the club has sported for their history. The clash was black, but when I posted Fremantle, I realized that that game would be fairly hard to watch. I went ahead and made it green, because the color isn't used as much and would work as a clash.

A-League - Ballarat Red Devils

So I finished my A-League series! I took a few weeks off because, if you didn't know, cranking out 28 concepts is not particularly easy. I took some time off to work on my next project because I was more interested in that than soccer for a few weeks. That being said, this guy sucks.

I appreciate every comment I get, both good and bad. But this one really killed me. First of all, I have a life. I don't get much time on the computer some days, and honestly, this series fell out of favor. I was always going to put everything into my last few concepts. I don't really do concepts for anyone but myself, especially for someone this rude for me taking my merry time to post concepts. Lastly, I'm not the one who made a lot of mid major cities in Queensland. I'm not done with the series, so for you, here's a team from Victoria.

Finally to the concept. I found out this team was originally colored red for Liverpool, but currently wear a kit like Manchester United. It all fits into the Red Devils nickname the current team has. I almost made this team a 4th Melbourne team but decided that this cold be something really cool. The logo is a squat badge with a crossed pick axe and pitchfork, to represent both city and club.

The kits are very plain, but I thought were striking enough. They're modeled after ManU, and so is the team, because red/white/black is a damn good look. And that's coming from a Chelsea supporter. The clash was me thinking yellow and red is underrated. I played around with some Nike type designs but ended up making hoops with red and yellow.

A-League - Sunshine Coast Heat FC

A few things about this concept. In the poll that the people filled out with team name suggestions, Sunshine Coast's top choices were Fire and Heat. I convinced myself that I liked the Heat better, but that was before I realized the Fire is the current team there. And honestly, I just went with it. Everyone is gonna chew me out for the decision, but again, I liked it better. I wanted to use a warm colored gradient originally for the A-League logos, but decided on the green and gold. That idea was moved to this concept. From yellow to maroon, this team has some warm colors. The crest is a diamond with a banner, and SCH monogram.

The kits I thought could be kind of unique. I couldn't think of a team with red/yellow/red for their kits, and I didn't want to do a gradient on this one, despite seeing how it looked, so I went with the look below. The clash is white because all the warm colors are pretty similar and this would be different enough.

A-League - Brisbane Strikers

I wanted to have another Brisbane team, just because they can most likely support two teams. OVERWHELMINGLY, the Strikers were the team suggested on my poll the most for this spot. The Brisbane Strikers were a major Australian team before the federation formed the A-League. So it would be cool if they had a chance to come back to the top. Their logo is a lightning bolt, and a soccer ball, with "Strikers" crossing over top. I gave them more of a presentable shield with all the current aspects, thrown together without a soccer ball.

One thing I noticed right away was the color scheme. I could have a lot of fun because they have 4 colors used almost all the same amount. I wanted to basically make them look like Arsenal South. The kits are pretty similar to their current looks too.

A-League - Gold Coast United

I didn't realize how big Gold Coast was until I did the concept, but they still were once a part o the A-League before folding. I relegated them, but really wanted Gold Coast to carry on the United name for logistical reasons. The big beach there is named Surfer's Paradise, so I played the crest off that. Making a surf board shape, I did a logo similar to one you'd see in Italy.

The kits are Reebok, something different and something I haven't done before. The template is pretty weird with tons of angles and stuff. I chose Telstra as a sponsor because it's the same colors. I tried to keep the home kit like the one of the former team, and then the clash was just a color scheme I hadn't used yet.

A-League - Christchurch Saints FC

What's a soccer league without a team called the Saints? There was some confusion on the poll about this team. Expand the A-League suggested Canterbury, and I thought it was a suburb of Sydney(Melbourne too). All the responses were to the tune of "Which Canterbury?" Well turns out Christchurch, New Zealand is in the Canterbury Region itself. Christchurch would be home to the 3rd and last Kiwi team. I needed to be different from the yellow and blue teams from New Zealand, so I went with red. My idea was something so boring, it looks like the team had been created 80 years ago I went with a sash, and from there on it decided the fate of the jerseys.

The home kit would potentially be iconic, white with a red stripe and red shorts, something that really could be rare. Just like River Plate. I went navy on the road to look like the flag of the country, and that it wouldn't ever clash with Auckland City.

A-League - Ipswich Dons FC

 I was working on all of these, and in my head I had a checklist of things I wanted. I wanted a team with halves as their shirts, and a team with claret and blue as a color scheme. The name Dons was suggested in the poll, and the more I saw it the more I loved it. I wanted it to seem like this team was somewhere in the English system. The logo is in quarters. There's an FC, a ball, a cross from the Queensland flag, and some stripes.

The kits are simple, they're halves with a normal and a darker shade so there wouldn't be much contrast between the two sides. The kits are New Balance, even though I think they should still fund Warrior.

A-League - Darwin FC

When I first started doing these, I had an idea of a logo not confined by a crest. I tried my best to draw out what I wanted, a boomerang over text. In my head, it was maroon and orange, something really unique. Think of it like an Aussie version of Milwall FC in London. This idea fell to Darwin because the colors seemed to fit the one somewhat major city in the Northern Territory. I looked at boomerang art, and tried to match it. I put a kangaroo, and some circular patterns on it.

The kits are basic. I used a Puma template and played around with some things. The kits are head to toe maroon, then orange and black on the clash. The sponsor is Air Asia, since the club is the closest to the Southeast Asia region.

A-League - Sporting Fremantle

So this would be Western Australia's second team, and it needed to be done. All these comments about how Western Australia looked a little lonely on the map I posted must not know how empty it is. But the name Sporting came up a lot in the poll i sent out. I finally got a chance to use it for the 2nd Perth team. I couldn't use any cues from the AFL team based in Fremantle because they're a purple, and so is the Perth Glory. I wanted to use the swan from the WA flag. Fremantle is located at the mouth of the Swan River, so it was fitting. The swan is on a yellow circle, and yellow and black would be the same scheme as Wellington so I went with a Pittsburgh Penguins color scheme.

The kits are pretty simple. I went with umbro so it was gonna be really simple. I wanted this team to be black because gold colored jerseys would look pretty bad in real life. I thought a black/white/black look would be the best alternative. The clash is light blue since not many teams use it, and it would never be worn against Sydney. I put some sublimated hoops to spice it up a little.

A-League - Cairns Flying Foxes

So if you didn't know, I posted a poll trying to figure out team names for the teams. I got a lot of great responses, and the majority of the teams were spun off from this poll. One I really liked were the Cairns Taipans. The Taipan is the 3rd most venomous snake in the world, and native to the Northeastern city of Cairns. The logo is the shape of the head, and forms the snake with the team name over it. I went with 3 shades of brown to match the colors of the snakes. Here it is.

But my friend Lachlan Sands, who is an Australian, pointed out the team already exists. The Cairns Taipans are a team i the Australian basketball team. So it was back to square one. Then @HockeyBrunch suggested the name "Flying Foxes". The Flying Fox is a nickname for a massive bat that he saw fly in bunches over the mango trees when he was in Cairns. I looked it up and it'd be so unique I had to do it.

I made a simple crest with a bat silhouette, which is different from Batman. I made the orange and white pop as much as I could. The kits are Under Armour, and I recolored the ones I made for the Taipans. I did all black for the home, then all mango for the clash because it'd be pretty unique color wise.

A-League - Tasmania United

The A-League concepts finished last night, and I heard the most about how dumb I am for not putting a team in Tasmania. Well here is that team.

Even though there is a team called Tasmania United, this is completely done from scratch. First, I saw the colors of the state are green red and yellow. I thought of an idea for a Barcelona striped look using green instead of blue. So I went from there. The crest shape is pretty similar to the shape of Tasmania. It features a banner across it, and an updated lion from the state flag.

The kits, like I said before, are inspired by Barcelona. I like how the yellow pops off the two stripes a lot, and I feel like it's unique to any colored stripes I've ever done before. I threw in a little shading in the red to make it a little less boring. The clash clashes with the rest with a nice blue-aqua color.

A-League - North Queensland Fury

I'm giving this team a second chance! The team from Townsville played in the A-League from 2008-11 before they folded due to financial struggles. A team formed after they folded, and they currently play in the lower levels as the Northern Fury. Originally I as gonna use the winged ball logo they had before in some way, but the more I worked with it, the more I realized how much it sucked. So I went in a new direction. I decided on a kelly green and dark green for the team since they used a weird lime green gradient before they folded. It's probably the reason they folded. I did a crest shape and really really played with it. I used the Colorado Springs' USL logo as inspiration. I just tried my best to make it look furious with tapered stripes.

The kits are a green version of the USMNT's bomb pop kits. Nike has the template in their catalog, and I miss the USA wearing them. The clash just has some stripes that get darker and darker as it goes down.

And since it's the last of the 14 A-League teams, here is all the logos together!

A-League - AFC Geelong

For the only team not from Melbourne in Victoria, I was told that tying the Aussie Rules team the Geelong Cats would be my best bet. They're known for their blue hoops, so I wanted to carry that over. Think of blue and white stripes as the Aussie version of the Pittsburgh teams' yellow and black. The AFL team uses a darker blue, but there was too much navy by the time I did it. So I wanted to expand the palette of the league a little.

I really couldn't think of an actual brand, so I needed to be somewhat generic for the logo. I did a crest with hoops, a ball at the top of it like the Swedish logo. I could only fit the initials and year on the crest because I didn't want a banner. According to Wikipedia, "Geelong was named in 1827, with the name derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean "land" or "cliffs"" So I threw in some boomerangs. because it needed something I thought.

A-League - Canberra United

I think this may be my favorite concept I've done. Canberra is the best candidate to get an expansion team. I'm basing that off of being a pretty large city without a team. Currently, the women's league in Australia is the W-League. They teams in that league have the same names as their male counterparts, EXCEPT Canberra United. Their logo is okay, it looks like it fits into the rest of the current A-League. So I wanted to make it my own. I made a shield, and decided on a green since the team hasn't. I love dark cool grey as a color, and chose it over black. These colors are really unique in sports individually and together. I brought over the Capitol Building in the current logo, and simplified it. Through on words, and called it a day.

The kits are pretty basic. I did monochrome green for the home. Completely unique to everything else in the league. The clash is white and grey. I accented it a little with green. I wanted to try a different stripe than normal, instead of up and down, or left and right, I made it cut diagonally from the neck hole. Hire me Nike.

A-League - Auckland City

So for the first of the expansion teams to the A-League, I chose a team that already exists. Auckland City is a powerhouse in the Oceania region. The issue is that since New Zealand is in Oceania confederation, and Australia is in the Asian, they aren't eligible for the same things. BUT, that isn't my problem because Auckland is huge, and Wellington has a team too.

Auckland's logo is a mess right now. There's stripes, initials, an anchor, a body of water, a mountain, an a landmark. I just dropped it all for an anchor. I used the logo as the basis for this, but ultimately made my own. I did a bevel effect, and a ribbon behind the crest because it felt like it needed something else.

The jerseys are pretty simple. I eliminated some colors and made them duel blues. I used some designs from my US Soccer 2030 project I liked, recolored to fit the Kiwis.

A-League - Western Sydney Wanderers

This team has the perfect brand. I love the logo, and I love the hoops. 

Both are the same, Mark from Expand the A-League is a WSW fan, and he suggested black shorts for the home kits, but I just couldn't do it. The clash is a white and grey version of the home. This was a lay up, and I promise it's a lot more creative the rest of the way.