Revs Should Complement New Uniforms with Throwbacks

The New England Revolution introduced their 2012 uniforms to the public on Saturday.

And though I can't say I'm a big fan of the new threads,* I was disappointed for another reason: The New England Revolution (and the MLS in general) appear to be missing an opportunity to introduce most of its fans to a rich history of American soccer that predates both the MLS and the NASL by complementing their 2012 jerseys with a jersey that gives a nod to, say, 1921, the year in which professional teams in leagues such as the American Soccer League kicked off the "Golden Age of American Soccer."

An exhaustive search on the Maine Memory Network Web site yields but one lone photograph of a soccer game between those hotbeds of Maine soccer, Biddeford and Saco, circa 1912. And if American soccer ever gets face time on ESPN Classic, you're more likely to hear the live play-by-play call of a late-night international against Grenada than you are to hear a leather-throated baritone conducting a melodramatic voiceover about the spectacular exploits of Archie Stark.

Considering this mass media and cultural blackout blanketing the history of soccer in America, it's no wonder that even the most passionate soccer fans among us possess a gap in our knowledge, an ignorance of the long roots of professional soccer in the U.S.

The Revolution, then, would do well by taking at least one home game to adopt the throwback uniforms of the Fall River Marksmen (see above) and give us fans an excuse to talk and learn about how this sport has a much richer history in this country than a lot of us appreciate.

Until that happens, though, I suppose I'd settle for the Revolution to take a cue from the Philadelphia Union and at least recognize on their Web site that professional soccer in New England did not just begin with the birth of the MLS in 1995.

- John C.L. Morgan

* Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the new uniforms, I do appreciate the Revolution's efforts to incorporate the flag of New England on the back of the jerseys. It's small, but the official adoption of iconic regional imagery is another step in the right direction for a team still looking to be considered part of the so-called MLS 2.0 brand.