Yesterday, we looked at the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second division of men’s soccer here in the US. Today, let’s take a look at the Eastern Conference.

Birmingham Legion

We’re starting things off on a rather low note. See this nice green-and-white kit? The Legion call it “The Sprite Kit.” Yup, their name for their kit is their kit’s advertiser. Yuck.

It does appear that the club is retaining all their kits from last year. The Sprite Kit, which is an alternate, their primary “Vulcan Kit,” which is rather nice and depicts the Vulcan statue on Red Mountain in Birmingham, and the “Lady Electra Kit,” which (like the Vulcan Kit) is an homage to the Lady Electra statue on top of the Alabama Power Building in Birmingham. Both of those kits are nice, and they’re connected to the community. But it’s totally wiped out by the existence of “The Sprite Kit.”

Charleston Battery

The Battery introduced a new kit home kit in November, for their playoff run, and that will be the team’s primary home kit for 2025. This is a departure for the Battery — historically (but not exclusively), the Battery have worn black and yellow stripes.

The club appears to be retaining last season’s away kit, which was white with yellow stripes. I really dig that striped collar, too.

Detroit City FC

Detroit City is going with a rather plain but very classy, Arsenal-esque home jersey this season, primarily DCFC maroon with white sleeves and large maroon cuffs. This is a departure from last season, which included a blue chest chevron à la 2009 Manchester United. The kit is immeasurably improved by getting rid of their old advertiser, and the effect will be even more profound on their attractive halved away kit (halved kits are some of my favorites in soccer), which they will be retaining for 2025.

Hartford Athletic

Today is the to grab your exclusive presale bundles before Kit Week kicks off!

2️⃣ Pack: Home kit + your choice of GK or warmup jersey
3️⃣ Pack: Get them all & enter to win a !

Secure yours now ➡️ https://t.co/VQnFMpLU72 pic.twitter.com/FW9E8RRBDx

— Hartford Athletic (@hfdathletic) February 28, 2025

Hartford Athletic is launching their kits this week, which is too late for this post. The Hearts will have their revenge in the Jägermeister Cup.

Indy Eleven

To make up for Hartford, Indy Eleven has released new home and away kits for us. The club has often (but not exclusively) used a checkered design in the past, to evoke Indianapolis’s place in motorsports history. And to be honest, they’ve done it better. The home kit is on the left, and the away on the right. The home kit is just a bit too wild for me — a traditional checkered pattern would’ve been better — and the away is kind of eye-searing with that blue on top of that shade of red.

Loudoun United

Loudoun United have three new kits this year. For the first time, LUFC will have a primarily white home kit, and a primarily red away kit. There’s also the black “Shadow Kit” as an alternate, complete with sublimated Pegasuses (Pegasi?) which I really like. But I dunno, I’m just not feeling the white and red kits. Capelli’s collar insets don’t really add anything, and the lack of any color on the home really detracts from everything.

Louisville City FC

 

Louisville City’s primary kit (dubbed the “City Kit”) is more purple than it has been in the past couple of years, with the design supposed to be “emblematic of connections between Louisville’s iconic neighborhoods,” which is a bit of storytelling I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at. The away kit has sublimated wave designs to evoke the Ohio River. The badges on both the home and away kits are semi-incandescent, a feature that will be mostly unnoticed during matches but will probably be a selling point for fans.

Miami FC

For those of you unfamiliar to the USL, you might be surprised that there’s a team in an MLS market — especially the MLS market backed by David Beckham and that has Lionel Messi. But Miami FC predates Inter Miami CF by four years, and has a devoted fan base. Miami is retaining their kits from last season, the teal primary and orange secondary. The home kit has a polo collar and white sleeves and blue and orange cuffs, while the orange away has a scoop collar with teal and purple cuffs.

North Carolina FC

NCFC has two new kits, their first with Mexican outfit Charly. The home kit is blue with a polo collar that sort of looks out of place on the rest of the jersey, for some reason. The sublimated design is supposed to evoke natural elements of North Carolina. I don’t really like that the shorts are a darker shade than the jersey and socks The away kit is red and, like the home kit, features darker shorts, an effect I think works better here than on the home. The sublimated design here is “The abstract lines that cross over through the front and back of the jersey symbolize the region’s nickname of the Research Triangle,” with NCFC being based in the Raleigh suburb of Cary.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

The Riverhounds have improved on last year’s home and away jerseys, and have gone back to hoops for their home while maintaining the grey-and-yellow color scheme of their away kits. The checkered design of the away kit is a first for the club. I’m not sure I love grey and yellow as a colorway, or a half-checkered kit, but kudos to them for trying something new. The home kit also has a sublimated checkered design.

Rhode Island FC

The @capellisport Rhode Island FC 2024 home and away jerseys have officially dropped!

Get yours today ➡️ https://t.co/wZXERkJdgU@USLChampionship #WickedGoodJersey | #RIFC⚓ pic.twitter.com/UiwjTQmZCt

— Rhode Island FC (@RhodeIslandFC) December 5, 2023

Rhode Island FC’s second season will see the club retain both their home and away kits, which is pretty good. The home “Energy Kit” is navy blue (or “bay blue,” according to the club) with amber lightning bolts going from the chest to the hem, and a white bolt going from beneath the badge to the middle of the hem. The amber away kit has blue shoulder stripes and is one of the better-looking jerseys in the league, in my opinion.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

Rounding us out are the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and have introduced an anniversary logo. They’ve yet to announce new kits, so I imagine they will be retaining their popular hooped sleeves home kit from last season, as well as the less-popular black-and-white road kit. The club has also announced three “theme nights” to commemorate the 50th anniversary, so I think maybe we’ll be seeing throwback kits on those dates.