My introduction to Nashville Football Club

I thought he was too pretty to be trusted, but current Nashville S.C. President, Chris Jones, ended up being a strong organizing force in the rebirth of soccer in Nashville when I met him in 2013. Nashville had no professional soccer team to pull for at the time, with the dissolution of the Nashville Metros in 2012 after over 20 years in action in the Professional Development League.

Fleet Street Pub in downtown Nashville was a cauldron back then. It was the birthplace of a majority of the soccer supporters clubs in the city up to that point. A soccer supporters club is a group of die-hard fans officially affiliated and recognized by their professional soccer club. They can often be found at the crack of dawn ordering pints of Guinness at local American watering holes, all set to watch their favorite teams duke it out before most folks get out of bed.

Fleet Street were the first ones to open early consistently for English Premier League matches in our city. Since there is a 6 hour time difference between Nashville and England, soccer here was and still is a morning affair. And while there were many expats watching in smaller numbers in pubs and living rooms around the city, Fleet Street provided a place to organize and bring everyone together. Many times it brought opposing supporters together that despised each other. And while it prompts a heaving chest thinking about it now, the energy and spirit in those matches in which rivals shared the same pub was intense and memorable and beautiful and exhausting.

I connected with Chris Jones there, who was on a mission to create a soccer team that was member owned by the fans, modeled off teams like the Green Bay Packers in their ownership structure. They weren't looking for a benefactor, they wanted to own the team themselves.

Nashville F.C. Logo Lessons

Chris Jones trusted me to help with the initial logo for the amateur team Nashville Football Club that competed in the NPSL or National Premier Soccer League. I was as green as the idea of a supporter-owned team in Nashville, just a couple years out of art school. There was no creative brief. I learned quite a bit during this logo process. I learned that research and collaboration are key. I learned that the supporters drive the club. I learned that logo design and branding are two different things. I learned that stars above your logo mean that you've won a league or cup title. I understood much of the beautiful game, but I didn't fully understand the visual language of soccer identities.