Clayton United FC
For transparency, I tapped a couple of good friends of mine that live in Clayton for some guidance on this club. What better focus group than a couple of soccer fans that live in the town?
The parameters:
1) Color combination must not be blue and white. These are the colors of the local high school and are apparently rampant across town. Suggested colors: black and neon green.
2) The name should feature Clayton or JOCO. I also got the okay to name it after local landmarks or features. For a while I considered making this a team based on Neuse River, but the black and neon didn’t work well with that. Suggested names: JOCO United, Clayton United FC.
In the end I landed on Clayton United FC and the black and neon green color scheme. The crest is a wider shield than I have been using and the name expanding out of the container is something that is seen often in grassroots soccer. I did end up keeping part of the Neuse River motif with the wavy line at the bottom and a sunrise at the top.
The two options for home fields are East Clayton Community Park and Powhatan Fields. Both have lighted fields, but no stands. Powhatan has more fields for training and is more of what I think of when thinking of a soccer complex.
Finally for the kit I clearly wanted wanted to make the most of the neon green. Bright and vibrant the green will really stick out against the normal array of colors. The shirt features a speckled array of lines to keep the kit from being too bright to look at.
Special thanks to Russell Varner for his help editing.
About me
First and foremost I am an amateur with no formal training. My hope is that this series will spark other creatives to make their own versions. Learn more about the series here. I was born and raised in Middlesex, North Carolina and have spent most of my adult life living in Raleigh. I am a fan of the beautiful game who wants to see it grow at the grassroots level.
