by BILL REESE

Ever since the Orange County Blues of the United Soccer League were purchased by local businessman James Keston last summer, there have been rumblings of a club re-branding.

Empire of Soccer has discovered several names trademarked by the Irvine, CA-based OC Professional Soccer LLC that show a variety of branding options for the Southern California franchise.

The Blues will likely be re-branded as either Orange County Soccer Club or Orange County Futbol Club. The badges will either contain the year 2017 or the year 1889. Applying 2017 to the badge would apparently disregard the club’s history as the Los Angeles Blues from 2011 to 2013, and then Orange County Blues FC from 2014 to 2016. The logo will not necessarily be black and white, as many logos submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office are monochrome. The team’s current color scheme is a rich blue with white trim.

In December, Orange County announced an affiliate partnership with incoming MLS side Los Angeles FC. Orange County finished 8th in the USL’s Western Conference last season, knocking top seed Sacramento Republic out of the playoffs on penalties before being dispatched by eventual conference champions Swope Park Rangers.