via @louisvillecityfc’s instagram account.
by Taylor Sorrels (@taylorsorrels)
Pretty big day down at Sixth Street: today, Louisville City FC finally revealed its home and away kits for their inaugural season, and announced three(!!!) new player signings.
Concurrent with the kit reveal was the identification of three new sponsors: Humana, Your Community Bank, and El Jimador tequila. Humana is obviously a huge get as a team sponsor. We don’t have any idea what that might mean in terms of dollars, but having a Fortune 100 company with its name on your chest is a pretty big deal. Your Community Bank is a nice touch on the back, even if they are from Indiana, and El Jimador is a Brown-Forman brand that also graces MLS touchline screens everywhere. All in all, a nice haul for a third tier expansion franchise, no?
Now, about that kit: sure, it’s kind of a generic Adidas purple and white kit, but I think it looks good. No frills, obviously works with the team’s colors, which is more than we can say for some USL teams **cough cough St. Louis cough**. Does it borrow way too heavily from Orlando City SC’s kit? Well, sure. We can’t have everything. Still, it’s a good clean look, and I might convince myself to buy one when they’re available for sale in 2-3 weeks :(. I do wish there was an LCFC on the socks, though!
Ah, yes, the players. Two of the three new signings are some of the worst kept secrets in the league: Ilija Ilic and Cameron Lancaster, both forwards, scored goals for Louisville City in the preseason, so it was kind of hard to pretend they weren’t going to be on the roster when the season starts. The third, Greg Ranjitsingh, will be Scott Goodwin’s backup at keeper. TO THE WIKIPEDIA PROFILES!
Ilija Ilic: Born in Serbia, Ilic found his way to the States and played his college ball at Young Harris where he was named NCAA Division 2 Player of the Year and scored 27(!) goals last year, including five hat tricks. He also had 13 assists.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Here are some highlights:
Ilic came up through the ranks with a top Serbian club, Red Star Belgrade, before coming to the US for college, so he’s had some reliable development from a club that usually represents the Serbian SuperLiga in the UEFA Champions League. Kid’s gonna be a badass.
Cameron Lancaster: With a name like that, it’s no surprise he’s English (though he could also be mistaken as Westerosi). Lancaster came up through Tottenham Hotspur’s youth system and got a few first team minutes in 2011 under Harry Redknapp. Unfortunately for Lancaster, the Spurs manager position is kind of a revolving door, so once ‘Arry left/was fired in an ill-fated pursuit of the England job, Lancaster no longer had a long-term place in the team. Due to injury and Spurs’ iffy academy system, he bounced around the lower divisions of English soccer since then, and thankfully has found a home with James O’Connor and Louisville City. He also did this once, which is reason enough on its own to sign the guy:
I mean, what.
Greg Ranjitsingh: This is his first pro contract, having played college ball at Mercer University last year. Ranjitsingh, a 6’2″ keeper from Canada, registered 94 saves his senior year in college, picked up a .84 save percentage, and ended his collegiate career as one of the top keepers in the country. He played in goal for LCFC’s 5-0 win against Lindsey Wilson College, though chances are good he wasn’t particularly busy during that game. Either way, welcome to Louisville, Greg!
