Less than two months after they were accepted into the league, the National Women’s Soccer League’s newest expansion franchise has a name and a crest.
The owners of the San Francisco-based franchise unveiled its identity on their social media channels on Thursday, June 1. The club will be known as Bay Football Club and have a crest with a blackletter B inside a roundel. The B incorporates one of the supports of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The crest unveiled by the club on Thursday is dark navy blue and light “fog gray”. “Poppy red” appears in some of the promotional material and on Bay FC’s website as an accent color.
“Bay FC will be a uniting force, building a culture of belonging and shared pride,” said former U.S. national team player Aly Wagner, co-founder and co-chair of Bay FC. “We will be a beacon of hope and connection, welcoming and embracing people of all backgrounds. While community is our foundation, our love of football is our reason for being. Bay FC will have the fire to be the best, and we will show up every day with intensity, competitiveness, passion and a drive to win.”
Aside from the roundel crest, the club also unveiled a wordmark with “Bay” spelled out in a blackletter font and a small “FC” in a sans serif font to the right.
No kits were unveiled on Thursday, but Bay FC did have some merchandise available for sale on their website — including some with another wordmark on it. It consists of the initials “BFC” in the same blackletter font as the crest and primary wordmark, with diamonds in between the letters.
The club worked with San Francisco-based advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) on the identity.
“Street art and street style are central to the soul of the Bay Area and were a big inspiration for this brand,” said Benny Gold, design director at GS&P. “We designed a logo that people from all over the Bay, and far beyond, would be proud to wear and represent Bay FC.”
Bay FC will become the NWSL’s 14th club when they begin play in the 2024 season alongside the revived Utah Royals FC franchise. Along with Wagner, the club’s ownership group includes other former U.S. national team players Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne.