Minnesota’s League du Nord includes 54 soccer teams divided into three divisions of 18 each, with teams scattered throughout the state and even a few across the Minnesota border. Also, it is completely fictional—one designer’s vision of what it would look like “as if soccer had developed in Minnesota in a similar manner to how it developed in European countries.”
The league sprung from the mind of Kevin “KJ” Joseph, a 40-year-old web developer originally from the St. Louis area, now living in San Diego after 18 years in Minnesota. Joseph is a longtime contributor to the concept boards on SportsLogos.net’s reader forum.
“I’ve been on the CCSLC boards since they were hosted on FanHome way back in the day,” he said.
This series in particular caught our eye because of its depth, breadth, and all-around attractiveness. Joseph first posted an 18-team version of the league, which you can find on his Behance portfolio, in 2014, then this year he expanded the league to 54, posting the final teams of the concept series just last week. Joseph estimates the series took about 250 hours to complete, which includes not only the design work, but the considerable research into team locations and background.
Each team includes a backstory to round out its identity, like the Oaks of Austin, Minnesota, whose pig-themed logo and sponsor, SPAM, pay homage to the city’s pork processing industry. (You can see all of the backstories on the concept series page.)
And even in this make-believe league, Joseph was careful to be respectful in certain situations.
“Shakopee was one I thought might be a bit controversial, since it involved a white guy like me creating something using Native American imagery,” he said. “The idea I had come up with was that the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community owned the team. I did a lot of research into the meaning behind the community’s logo and tried to tread lightly; in the end, I can only hope that I created something that, were the team real, would be considered proper.”
You can follow KJ on Twitter at @doughboy767, and check out all 54 teams in the League du Nord below.
Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
