The defending USL Cup champions, Orange County SC, are joining forces with legendary punk band Social Distortion for a celebration later this month that will include a special-edition warmup jersey and other merchandise collaborations.
The jerseys will be worn prior to OCSC’s home match on Friday, May 13, against Tulsa FC. The evening will also feature an appearance by Social Distortion front man Mike Ness and music curated by the band.
The warmup jerseys are black with orange stripes down the sleeves. An orange brush stroke with a grey drop shadow wraps around the jersey, starting at the front left shoulder and running around to the back left hem. Below the brush stroke is a tonal pattern of Social Distortion’s mascot, Skelly, kicking a soccer ball. Skelly also appears larger on the back of the jersey in white with an orange ball.
The jerseys feature the USL Championship logo on the left sleeve and an OCSC badge on the right sleeve in the style of Social Distortion’s logo (seen below). The logo of sponsor Hoag, a health care provider in Orange County, appears on the front in white.
“Community is at the heart of everything we do,” said Dan Rutstein, OCSC’s Senior Vice President of International, in a press release. “Social D are part of the fabric of Orange County, and we wanted to celebrate them and their fans with this special partnership. We can’t wait to have the guys at the stadium and share a celebration of music and sport.”
OCSC and Social Distortion also teamed up with brand Official League to create four other pieces of merchandise: a hoodie, a T-shirt and two hats. Limited quantities of each item are on sale now at ocscshop.com, with more available at the May 13 game. Proceeds from the sale of these items will go to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County.
OCSC plays its home games at the 5,500-seat Orange County Great Park Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, California. They won the 2021 USL Cup last November with a 3-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The club has a strategic partnership with Rangers FC of the Scottish Premier League.
Social Distortion was founded in 1978 in Fullerton, California, about 20 miles north of Irvine. They’ve released seven studio albums to date, and are still actively touring. They’ll kick off a European tour on May 30 in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy.