Final week, Washington Soccer Crew president Jason Wright instructed The Washington Put up‘s Nicki Jhabvala that whereas the crew will proceed to make use of the “Soccer Crew” moniker for the 2021 season, the franchise will debut its new nickname in 2022. After years of stress and resistance, the crew lastly introduced final 12 months that it meant to retire the crew’s former nickname on the conclusion of its “thorough evaluation” of stated nickname. 

“The crew employed Code and Idea, a digital artistic company, to information it by way of the rebranding course of, which has included 40,000 submissions from followers, a number of focus teams, surveys and a digital rollout to provide followers perception into the method,” Jhabvala writes. “The brand new title and brand will likely be revealed in early 2022, Wright stated, and can retain the normal burgundy and gold colours which are entrenched within the crew’s historical past.”

The crew had beforehand steered that it might use the “Soccer Crew” moniker completely, however that won’t be the case. After all, there are some points for the membership to untangle because it searches for a brand new title, because of a person named Martin McCaulay, who has been squatting on the emblems of a number of attainable names for years. As of July of final 12 months, McCaulay had filed for 44 completely different trademark purposes of names Washington might probably select. McCaulay indicated final 12 months a potential willingness to provide the emblems to the NFL without spending a dime to facilitate a reputation change, however then modified course after he was not contacted by anybody from the league or the crew.

Earlier this offseason, some season-ticket holders have been polled on a listing of names, together with: 

• Aces
• Ambassadors
• Anchors
• Archers
• Armada
• Aviators
• Beacons
• Belters
• Brigade
• Commanders
• Defenders
• Demon Cats
• First Metropolis Soccer Membership (FCFC)
• Griffins
• Guardians
• Icons
• Majors
• Monarchs
• Pilots
• Presidents
• Razorbacks
• Redtails
• Redwolves
• Crimson Hogs
• Renegades
• Riders 
• Rising
• Royals
• Rubies
• Swifts
• Warriors
• Washington DC Soccer Membership (DCFC)
• Washington Capital Metropolis Soccer Membership (CCFC)
• Wayfarers
• Wild Hogs
• 32FC (W32)
• Soccer Crew

With a brand new title across the nook, we used the house beneath to run by way of a few of these names, in addition to among the hottest ideas from years previous. A few of them might work, however there are additionally some that appeared logical on the floor however in all probability cannot occur (and thus weren’t included on the checklist despatched to followers.)

Hogs / Crimson Hogs / Wild Hogs

Naming the crew after the famed offensive linemen that helped energy them to a few Tremendous Bowls within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties looks like an attention-grabbing thought and there is already a built-in affinity for the title from the fanbase, however there’s additionally far an excessive amount of potential for … completely different interpretations when you title a crew after the hogs. Cannot say I would suggest any of those. (Our personal Michael Bohlin additionally steered the Warthogs final 12 months, which was the title of Washington’s indoor soccer crew.)

RedHawks / Redwolves

Miami (Ohio) College helpfully steered this one, all the way in which again in 2014. Whereas it might make for a easy transition for CBS Sports activities Director of Programming Eric Kay, who’s each a Washington fan and a Miami (Ohio) alum, it appears unlikely that the crew would select to turn out to be the second to make this precise title change. (i.e. “Redskins” to RedHawks) Redwolves appears… effective, I suppose. However there’s nothing Washingtonian about it. The Crew can do higher.

Senators / Presidents / Monarchs / Royals

This appears unlikely for a few causes. Initially, the Senate has a disastrous approval ranking, so I am unsure anyone would wish to root for the Senators. Extra importantly, the Washington Nationals nonetheless personal the moniker “Washington Senators,” so it would not be attainable even when Snyder needed to pay tribute to the town’s unique baseball crew. (Except he purchased the title from Randy Lerner. However that appears much more unlikely.) The present president has a considerably increased approval ranking than the earlier one, nevertheless it appears unlikely that the crew will wish to immediately related itself with whomever is within the White Home at any given time. In the meantime, the monarchy is way more carefully related to England than the USA, so these names appear higher served for a possible future London Franchise than for renaming the Soccer Crew.

Individuals / Generals / Armada / Brigade / Commanders / Defenders / Guardians / Different military-themed names

One of many different groups in Washington is known as the Capitals. Naming the crew after the Senate (or the Home of Representatives) looks like a horrendous thought. However it’s based mostly in our nation’s capital, so you recognize some persons are going to counsel naming it both after the nation itself, or one department or one other of the armed providers. Personally, I feel groups needs to be way more artistic than this. You may title a crew the Individuals or Generals or any of those different names in any metropolis within the nation. The title needs to be particular to Washington in a roundabout way.

Bravehearts / Warriors / Renegades

Every of those names has the advantage of not altering the crew’s total aesthetic an excessive amount of. They may in all probability maintain the spear brand, which truly appears actually cool on helmets, for instance. (Simply ditch the feather, in all probability.) With the Renegades, the crew might additionally maintain the “R” brand in place. They would not have to vary their colours and the struggle music might simply be tweaked to switch one phrase, and any of those choices would work. That is in all probability the only route the crew might go with out making any drastic modifications. 

Redtails / Aviators / Pilots

Redtails is the title that received a design contest a number of years in the past, and actually, I dig it. It is a nod to the planes flown by the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-Black squadron of fighter and bomber pilots who fought in World Struggle II and have been the primary Black navy aviators in the USA Armed Forces. Three of the primary 5 admitted Airmen have been from Washington, which provides the Redtails title a particular connection to the town. The crew might simply maintain the colours and the “R” brand, whereas additionally transitioning from a reputation with potential detrimental connotations to 1 with extraordinarily optimistic connotations that honors the town, the armed providers, and Black Individuals. Going with the Aviators or Pilots can be a method to nod towards these Airmen with out immediately naming the crew after them.

Aces / Anchors / Archers / Belters / Demon Cats / Griffins / Icons / Razorbacks / Rising / Rubies / Swifts / Wayfarers

These are the grab-bag names that may symbolize a reasonably dramatic shift for the crew away from its former id. A few of them appear fairly good (Demon Cats sounds superior), however others much less so (Rubies, Swifts, Rising). Razorbacks appears notably unlikely because the probabilities of the crew changing into essentially the most well-known Razorbacks soccer crew are fairly slim, given the existence of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Belters is not less than evocative of Washington (i.e. the Beltway), nevertheless it simply would not appear to be a soccer title. Aces, Anchors, and Archers appear too plain, and Wayfarers are sun shades, not footballers. 

First Metropolis Soccer Membership (FCFC) / Washington DC Soccer Membership (DCFC) / Capital Metropolis Soccer Membership (CCFC) / 32FC (W32)

If they’ll use certainly one of these, they could as effectively simply persist with the Soccer Crew. 

This story has been edited to mirror new data relating to the crew’s title change.