Richmond Kickers of USL League One Take A Big Leap Forward With New Crest

The Richmond Kickers of USL League One are taking a big leap forward with the unveiling of a new crest and a refreshed brand identity.

The Virginia-based club, which plays in the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, rolled out the new crest and identity on their website and social media channels on Wednesday, January 29. The Kickers said on their website that the crest “honors the city of Richmond, its community and the club’s long-standing history.” It was designed by Alex Kocher, creative director at Easy Friday Co., in collaboration with Kickers director of branding and marketing Alyn Carr.

The centerpiece of the new crest is a white interlocking “RK” monogram, which sits in the middle of a red roundel. “RICHMOND” is written out in a slab serif font on the upper half of the roundel, while “KICKERS” is written out in the lower half. The number 93 sits just to the right of the monogram, denoting the year the Kickers were founded. The whole roundel has a navy blue outer stroke, reintroducing a color into the Kickers’ palette that had been absent since 2012.

“One of my favorite details in the monogram is the flowing legs of the R and K,” Kocher said on the Kickers’ website. “Historically, the river and its falls were the reason Richmond was established at this location, and today, the James remains an integral part of life for so many Richmonders. Incorporating this element felt essential in weaving the river’s significance into our narrative.”

Along with the crest, the Kickers also released a suite of secondary logos. Most are different combinations of the monogram and the wordmark. But among them is a new kangaroo silhouette logo, which is a nod to the club mascot, Kickeroo.

Courtesy @Kickeroo / Twitter

“Refreshing the Kickers brand identity required a much different process than creating something from scratch — there is over 30 years of history to take into account. We wanted the new identity to reflect that storied heritage but also to communicate the vision for the Kickers’ future as well. During our creative process we prioritized the connection between club and community and visually we wanted to show that through the interlocked monogram. Our previous identities focused on the Kickers, but we know that the club wouldn’t exist without Richmond and that felt like an important distinction to make.”
— Alex Kocher

The Kickers were established in 1993 as an expansion team in the United States Interregional Soccer League (now USL League Two). They won U.S. third-tier regular season championships in 2006, 2007, 2013 and 2022; third-tier playoff championships in 2006 and 2009; and even a second-tier regular season title in 2001. In 1995, they won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

The Kickers used the same crest from 1993 to 2011 before introducing a new crest that eliminated navy blue for the 2012 season.