Auckland’s new A-League soccer team unveiled their official name, jersey and branding in a packed pub today.
Later this year, footy fans in Tāmaki Makaurau will be cheering for… Auckland FC.
The team will be rocking a black and blue striped kit, sponsored by New Balance. Nicknamed the 'Black Knights', they will play at Go Media Stadium Mount Smart. The logo is a black and blue crest with ‘AFC’ written near the top, also containing a mountain peak design representing Rangitoto.
The simple name was chosen from a shortlist that included names like the Auckland Volcanoes and Black Knights FC. (Our shortlist was better).
The reveal went down at The Chamberlain pub, located in the heart of Auckland’s CBD, which the team sees as a home pub where fans can come to watch games - à la the newly announced Warriors pub in Kingsland.
As soon as the news dropped, fans online shared their opinion and there is nothing close to a consensus so far.
“I’m sorry but that’s disgusting,” wrote one person.
“I might be a weirdo but I actually quite like it,” said another.
“It’s actually horrendous,” a third added.
“UP THE FUCKING JAFAS,” one more wrote.
Wellington Phoenix, NZ’s other A-league team, simply commented a vomit emoji, offsetting a few fire emojis left by fans.
The kit will be secondary to how the team performs come October 24, when their inaugural A-League season starts. They haven’t announced any player signings yet, but the team has a senior staff with a championship pedigree.
Team owner Bill Foley also founded the Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL team and they won the Stanley Cup just five seasons after starting up.
Terry McFlynn and Steve Corsia, Auckland FC's Director of Football and head coach respectively, were both players on the 2006 A-League champions Sydney FC. Corsia also coached Sydney to back-to-back trophies in 2019 and 2020.
Foley also owns Premier League team AFC Bournemouth and French Ligue 1 team FC Lorient and said he sees Auckland FC as a winning side that will also act as a gateway for Kiwi players to reach European leagues.
It’s not the most exciting name in the world but fans will just want to see Auckland FC play exciting and winning football. Can’t wait to find out if they do.
