Johnston United
Johnston United is the second club to be featured in the 100 NC Soccer Clubs series. The club itself will be based out of Smithfield, which is synonymous with pork barbecue and home to several popular eateries, including White Swan, Holt Lake, and — of course — Smithfield Foods. The team would call the SRAC Soccer Fields home, as the complex will have added bleachers and other amenities.
The name Johnston United comes from an established youth soccer program in the area — Johnston United Soccer Association. When I was looking over the list of cities for this project, Johnston County only had two entries, Smithfield and Clayton, making the use of united more palatable to me. 1771 was the year that Smithfield courthouse was created, making the town the seat of power in JoCo. The flames and utensils are both homages to the North Carolina barbecue Smithfield is known for, while the color scheme used is inspired by the colors of charcoal.
For the jersey mock-up I went with a Nike base. Grey is a color that I don’t see used often in kits and fits the motif perfectly, so I thought using that would help them stand out along with the red on the sleeves and shorts. The red diagonal stripes near the bottom of the jersey are meant to represent the transition of coal from hot burning red to a cooler grey tone.
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.
