“To have effect, you must remove the name Impact.” In the name of this unlikely logic, Joy Sapoto, holder of the Montreal Impact franchise in Quebec for the Major League Soccer (MLS), announced on January 14 that he would change his team name. Founded in 1992, The Impact is now called Club de Foot Montreal, or CF Montreal.
And not doing things in halves a few days later, Club Montreal unveiled a similarly radical slogan in its simplicity: a snowflake stylized in a blue-gray-black circle colors from the franchise, registered with MLS since 2012. Designers see water, ubiquitous , Full of little M’s of Montreal and city metro arrows. They assume that the whole is a snowflake, the symbol of the city’s “northness”.
“Du cialaj”
This is a form of responding to “We are the North” of the Toronto Raptors basketball team, the 2019 NBA champions, Did not let ice supporters. There are those who do not like the result and those who do not accept in principle to touch the identity of their club. The administration was in no way bothered by the criticism, sometimes described as “whining”, but rather defended the “fruit of an eighteen-month reversal”. “Real winners are always looking to improve,” Joy Sapoto, convinced of his discovery, said during a video press conference attended by his French coach Thierry Henry.
To read again: “We are moving from a medieval slogan to a smartphone icon”
Redesigning football club logos is now a widespread process. We go from heraldry to digital, from coat of arms to application, from heraldry to symbol. In Montreal, the issue is still so far away because it has led to a historical controversy, according to political scientist Marc-Andre Hall, in a column in the newspaper. dutyBy choosing “Ignore most references in Quebec to refocus on Montreal,” the new slogan took on “a simplified, critical and questionable narrative framework,” “modeled on Canadian policy discourse on multiculturalism”.
Name changes are very common in North America, even when the franchises don’t have the names of angry minorities. They are even less evil compared to relocating clubs, such as the migration of many ice hockey teams to the southern United States or the recent colonization of Las Vegas.
European culture
At MLS, they clash because football, without necessarily acknowledging, is part of European sports culture. The clubs are called Inter Miami, New York City, DC United, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo. Fans claim to be energetic supporters, who parade, sing and stage “tivo” and cheer on their team at home and on the road. “In Montreal, they are really exciting, very present, right behind the team and always without hostility towards the opposing team, as Impact coach Marco Schallebaum testifies during the 2013 season. The 20,000 seats on the field were often there. Taken.”
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Football fans are often left-wing conservatives. They don’t like their relationship in the club getting affected, especially if it is to monetize it. Touching the name is an outright sacrilege. However, it is very frequent, including in Europe. This week, Inter Milan officially became Inter Milan, a name considered more … in the world. But this often happened in the early years, which many forgot about a hundred years later. So there were three issues before reaching Arsenal, six before Milan.
One point remains. Can a football club be called a soccer club? The term “foot” (“fotte” in French), like “hand” or “basket” is a typical French abbreviation. We are the only ones who have used these thumbnails which are considered reductionist and offensive. But also the only people who did not translate the English appellation of origin. Others say “futbol”, “phosball”, “voetbal”, “calcio”, “futebol”.
“Not to become another FC”
In North America, where football is played with the oval ball, it is natural to talk about “soccer”. Talking about ‘football’ allows you to put yourself in an English speaking world and differentiate yourself from American football. President Kevin Gilmore explained: “We have realized that the term ‘football’ is widely used in Montreal.” We didn’t want to do like the other MLS teams by becoming another team. We are the only French-speaking team in the English-speaking league. “
In Quebec, many now expect that “shoes follow the lips”, and that beautiful words follow effects in the form of results. Joy Sabuto expects to win the MLS Cup in the coming seasons. Marco Schalbaum thinks: “He is a very ambitious man, very ‘controlling’ but respectful of the technicians’ work. I coached the club in its second season in Major League Soccer, but we already saw that there was a lot of potential. The stadium is beautiful, the club is very well organized and the city is very fun to live in. There is everything to motivate the player. On the other hand, you have to get used to the winter of –27 degrees… “With the new logo, future football club players are now being warned.