Could Toronto FC Be The Next MLS Team With A Kit Inspired by Their City Flag?

Toronto FC are expected to announce their away kit for the 2016 season soon. Could it follow in a recent trend of kits designed by Adidas?

For Toronto FC supporters, having BMO Field become more blue this next season is one of their biggest fears. With the Toronto Argonauts moving in, TFC fans have made it clear that they expect MLSE to keep their promise and have no traces of the CFL tenant on MLS match days.

However, blue may end up being a welcome colour for Toronto FC on game days for a completely different reason: it could be the colour of their away kit for the 2016 MLS season. The club are expected to launch their new away kit within the month, but very little has been said or leaked about its design.

A kit based on the Toronto city flag is believed to be one of the options that Adidas considered for the kit, and could ultimately end up being reflected in the final product, Waking the Red has learned. The new kit will replace Toronto's onyx away uniform launched in 2014.

The Toronto city flag, pictured above, is mainly blue and features a white "T" with a red maple leaf in the middle. From a purely speculation standpoint, this leaves Toronto with two colour scheme options. They could go with a white kit with blue and red trim, somewhat similar to their away kit from 2010.

Considering the flag is mostly blue, they could become just the latest Toronto team to dawn the colour. For what it's worth, the logo created for Toronto FC's tenth season also features a blue trim, although evidently that could be a complete coincidence.

Toronto's kit being inspired by the city flag would certainly be in line with other Adidas MLS kit designed launched recently. Examples of this include the Columbus Crew away kit based on the Columbus city flag, Colorado Rapids kit last season based on the Denver flag and New York City FC encompassing the blue and orange of the New York flag.

Instead of following city tradition and making their colours blue, Toronto FC initially launched with red and grey as their primary colours in 2007. Since then those have been featured on the majority of kits that the club has worn. The only digression was the aforementioned blue trim in 2010, and the onyx kits that are set to be replaced.

The club also does not currently have a shirt sponsor, as their deal with BMO has expired. This may be one of the reasons that the shirt has yet to be released. Toronto and BMO signed a deal very late last season which may have led to some retailers, and even Jackson for a match earlier in the season, having kits that did not have sponsors on them.

It is likely that Toronto will use these new kits when the kick off the season on March 6 as one would expect the New York Red Bulls to wear their red kits at home to start the year. This would mean evidently mean Toronto needing to wear an alternative colour.

Whether or not that ends up being blue, or resembling the Toronto city flag, remains to be seen. However either way TFC supporters will soon have a new shirt to spend their hard earned money on.

Montreal Impact acquire midfielder Harry Shipp from Chicago Fire

MONTREAL -- American offensive midfielder Harry Shipp was acquired by the Montreal Impact on Saturday in a trade with the Chicago Fire.

Chicago got general and targeted allocation money in return. The trade is pending receipt of his international transfer certificate.

Shipp, 24, has played two seasons in Major League Soccer with the Fire, scored 10 goals and added 14 assists in 66 regular season games, including 55 starts and 4,917 minutes.

"We are very pleased to have been able to acquire Harry and we are looking forward to him joining our group," said Impact technical director Adam Braz in a statement. "He is a player who has already shown he can produce in this league and we feel that he will fit well into our team and into our style of play."

Shipp finished second in the MLS Rookie of the Year voting in 2014 after leading his team with six assists, while finishing second with seven goals.

In 2015, Shipp led Chicago with eight assists in 33 games, and finished tied for first with 29 games played and second with 2,571 minutes of play. He scored three goals, including two game-winning goals. He also started four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup games.

Happy Valentine's Day from Whitecaps FC!

What's the best way to celebrate Valentine's Day? To send the Whitecaps FC fan in your life a cheesy 'Caps-themed card, of course! Take your pick below. 

Happy Valentine's Day from everyone at the club!

Be a part of the best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver! 2016 Whitecaps FC Season Tickets are on sale from $39/month all in. In addition to Season Tickets, Whitecaps FC offer a flexible range of ticket products, including Half-Season Packs, 5-Packs, a Youth Soccer Half-Season Ticket, and single match tickets. For more information, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.