Where exactly does our name "United" come from?

Somebody at MLS headquarters probably came up with it. Ask Doug Logan?

Actually, I remember some kind of poll asking fans to name the team. There were 3 options one including the word "United", one naming the team the "Wizards" and another one which I don't remember. My guess is that this poll was probably just to allow some fan-wanking to keep people excited and that the names were dreamed up by some Madison Ave advertising types that ran all their ideas through focus groups. Then again, maybe that would have been too much effort.

At least the league didn't start with super-sized goals to promote more scoring (it was seriously proposed).

 

Good Lord!!! The name is definitely NOT a tribute to England! Ich! I will go disinfect my uniform right now to ensure their is no contamination. Ich!

 

I believe the story I have heard is that the PTB at United during it's inception wanted the team to have a more traditional feel. They felt that was a better marketing tool especially in light of the horrible uniforms and names of the teams in the first year. United while not paying homageto england is representative of a more traditional football club name

 

The story is something like this. The original name floated for the DC team was Freedom with some fairly garish uniform combo. However, Kevin Payne decided that he didn't like it and changed the name to United for a more traditional feel. He also switched uniform suppliers from Nike to Addidas because he liked the idea of a black, white and red color scheme.

If you think back to the 1996 uniforms and team names, you will notice that United is the only one to even approximate a traditional team name, color scheme, uniform design, etc. Clearly, that was no accident.

Sachin

 

Thanks God they chose that name because DC is the only team in MLS that have a real soccer name and the rest are a bunch of silly jokes. rapids,galaxy,fire,wizards,earthquakes etc.......these are some really silly names to put on a pro soccer team.

 

Correct, that's how I heard it too. In addition to thanking the much maligned visionary of DC United--Kevin Payne--for the name "United" we should also thank him for a few other things.

1. "United"
2. "DC" rather than "Washington"
3. Rejecting the horrendous 1996 Nike uniforms and creating the design for DC United and approaching Adidas to make it happen
4. Ceaslessly and single-mindedly persuing Bruce Arena to be coach long after everyone was calling for the team to find a coach
5. Giving the coaches enough autonomy to build a winner.

The name "United" was selected because it appealed both to the city being the Nation's Capital and it had a traditional soccer sound (i.e. like a tribute to English soccer). DC was chosen nominally because the residents of the city usually call it "DC" rather than "Washington." But, I think the more significant reason is that DC sounds much like "FC" or "AC" that also appear with many traditional soccer team names. Thus "DC United" resembles "AC Milan" or "Liverpool FC" or a million other well-received soccer names, but at the same time it fits the American sports convention of [City] [Nickname].

The selection of the shield was, again, to give the team a more traditional soccer feel, while incorporating the symbol of the US. Kevin Payne wanted to build a soccer team, not a combination of the XFL and Jolt cola. So he resisted all of the "marketing gurus" genius and insisted that DC United be a traditional soccer brand that also fit in with the American conventions.

When you think about it, those 5 things are exactly why we support DC United. Not only is it a great team and a local team, but it is a truly class organization. Much of that started at the top, and Kevin Payne is the guy that did it.

I realize that it's "popular" to criticize Kevin Payne, but I'm not having any of it. His vision, passion and acumen built DC United brick by brick. In my book, he's the single best soccer executive in the United States. If DC United were going to lose him, I'm glad to see that he want to AEG, where he can continue helping MLS.

-Tron

 

I wonder if anyone in MLS will name a franchise "City" like Manchester City or Birmingham City. Or better yet (one of my personal favorites), when will someone name their team Dag & Red like club from the English Nationwide Conference.

 

wasnt there also something (most probably post decision pr) about united referring to the metro area. ie: this is a team (small tear welling in the corner of my eye) that brings together the warring disparate factions of the old dominion, the free state (down w/ prohibition), and the last colony. god bless united, the district of columbia, the mid atlantic, and the usa.


btw: does anyone have any more info on our brush w/ nike hell? perhaps pictures or a description of the rejected uni.

 

wouldn't NY/NJ count for that.

 

I heard when they were picking names, DC Spies was one of the leading canidates.

 

The consensus on the above-referenced thread seems to be that the Europeans think that it is better for the Americans to have their own names rather than copy European names. However, DC United is the MLS name I have always liked the best. I ripped off the graphic design for the youth indoor team I coached a few year ago and the players really liked it.

So if FC stands for Football Club, what does DC stand for? This is fodder for the rivalry's forum I would think.

 

Other cool names from England:
Rushden & D'monds
QPR
Leigh RMI

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/clubs?section=england&cc=5901

Where do these names come from?

 

At least it wasn't AC/DC.

Here's the thing - All you've gotta know is that DC United's name was chosen for much the same reason as Manchester United chose its name. It sounded good.

http://www.redcafe.net/club/history/newton-heath/1901-1902.php3

 

That's pretty cool. Except I think that the real name is Scum United.

 

QPR is short for Queen's Park Rangers. I'm not sure what the story is with Rusden and Diamonds. And Leigh RMI is the name of some British corporation, I think.

 

district of columbia

district because though we (500,000 of us) pay federal taxes we are not a state and do not have the ultimate say in our own politics. this is possibly due to the fact we are a majority minority city. (thus both parties lie when it comes to dc).

columbia (not colombia which is the country where carlos llamosa immigrated from and in which all citizens of age have the right to vote) from christopher columbus.

DC from the sobriquet locals call the city

one day it will/should be NC United (although it then might cause issues with North Carolina)]

DC though might also stand for...

dominion of congress
defiant crackheads
death from convey

 

Aw, man. You're just begging for Lowecifer to break out that picture again, aren't you?

 

Break it out! Break it out!

 

The selection of the original nazi-esque shield was interesting - very retro, which is considered cool nowadays. But then to revert to the 70's - 80's Firebird logo from the hoods of those hideous cars was ridiculous. 30s - 60s is retro "cool." 70s -90s is retro "suck."

And as I like to say before every nightime home match: "Everybody have fun tonight, Everybody Wang Chung tonight."

 

Does anyone have pictures of the original Nike uniforms? If they were lik any other of the Nike unis that year they must have reallly sucked!

Please, Please, Please find pictures! Or, at least, give a description.

Thanks in advance

 

Is this what you are looking for?

 

No. Those are our first year Adidas kits. The ones they're looking for where never made. They were supposed to be made by Nike.

 

Were they that bad?