The Canadian Premier League is honouring champions past and present with two new patches that will appear on team jerseys starting this season.
On Wednesday, March 16, the CPL announced that its defending champions would sport a gold “North Star Badge” above the club crest on their jersey chest, while previous years’ champions would have the right to wear a “Legacy Patch” on their sleeves.
The North Star Badge — which will adorn the jerseys of 2021 champions Pacific FC, based in Victoria, B.C. — is a golden maple leaf with a prominent North Star in the middle. It’s based on the CPL logo, which also features on the league’s championship trophy, the North Star Shield.
“We keep evolving around our stories, and our communities,” said CPL vice-president of marketing Roy Nasrallah on the league’s website. “Listening to the fans and players is important, and we decided this year is when we should innovate and celebrate the champion in a new way. For us the North Star is something unique, but the star (for winning a title) is part of a global soccer tradition.”
Meanwhile, past champions will wear the Legacy Patch on the left sleeve of their jerseys. It is a gold CPL logo with a number inside denoting how many titles the club has won. The only club to wear a Legacy Patch in 2022 will be Forge FC, based out of Hamilton, Ont., who won CPL championships in 2019 and 2020.
“It was important for us to bring a new tradition like the legacy patch, and Forge will have the patch for the first time, and hopefully other clubs will wear it in the future,” Nasrallah said. “It was important to recognize the new champion in a new and unique way, and at the same time keep celebrating the previous achievements of other clubs as well.”
The CPL and Macron will unveil new home kits for all eight of its teams on Thursday, March 17.
Feature photos courtesy CanPL.ca