New York City FC’s 2015 home kit is more of the same from City Football Group

The obvious choice in terms of a color scheme for City Football Group’s newest venture, New York City FC, would have been the bright blue that Manchester City, the ownership group’s flagship, wears on a regular basis. The color is prominent in NYCFC’s branding and in just about everything that Melbourne City, the ownership group’s other club, wear in the A-League.

Melbourne do have a fair bit of blue on their home kit, which is predominantly white but their away kit is a red-and-white vertically striped number that pays homage to City’s predecessor, Melbourne Heart. That kit combination shows that the City Football Group isn’t scared of stepping outside the Manchester City lines.

Unfortunately for New York City FC, it seems to be more of the same from the ownership. The new kit is almost entirely light blue in what is a very predictable design decision. That blue covers everything save for the adidas logo and Etihad Airways shirt sponsor logo, which all come in a navy blue color. The adidas stripes on the shoulders are white and each sleeve features a white band close to the hem. At the base of the shirt features an Inaugural Season badge design that is based on the mosaics found in New York City subway stations.

The new kit is manufactured by adidas, a first for the modern City Football Group, which comes as no surprise for two reasons. First, the MLS team announced adidas as an “official partner” in a press release last week. Second, it’s MLS so it really isn’t like New York City FC ever had a choice to begin with.

The shorts are white except for the club and sponsor logos as well as the adidas stripes and are matched by the socks that are the shorts’ color with light blue adidas stripes to complete City’s new home kit.

It’s disappointing to see NYCFC stick only to Manchester City’s shades of blue and not incorporate many of the colors from the flag of New York. The orange that’s present in NYCFC’s badge in particular could have really stood out as an accent on the blue body but it’s a shame to see it missing altogether. Still, for a first effort, New York City FC’s kit isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. It just doesn’t really bring any surprises with it.

Don’t expect to see the likes of David Villa, Frank Lampard, and, uh, Jeb Brovsky until next spring but it’s nice to see that NYCFC’s kit game is strong. Now let’s hope that the away kit, whenever it is finally announced, raises the bar (hopefully) a lot.