Lamar Hunt: True Original

If this were the United Kingdom, Lamar Hunt would surely be known as Sir Lamar Hunt. His contributions to soccer and sports in general in the U.S.A. were truly massive. In terms of the Columbus Crew, during his ownership of the club, his top highlight was the funding of Columbus Crew Stadium with his own money. This stadium built, finished in 1999, was the first top flight soccer specific stadium in the U.S.A. Major League Soccer teams have followed and continue to follow in this trend that Lamar Hunt has started.


This banner was done randomly, but as always I aimed to do it with meaning. In banner making, it starts with brainstorming.

Then comes the actually work. For this banner it took me two and a half days to paint. Why? Well, for the simple fact that the font I used required patience in painting it technically correct.


So this is the final result. The font used is called Outlaw. I chose this for a couple of reasons. Lamar Hunt was raised in Texas, hence the Wild Western type of theme. Also all things considered, Mr. Hunt was considered by American sports standards as an outlaw in that he promoted and was dedicated to the sport of soccer from the late 1960's onwards. The NFL thought of Mr. Hunt as an outlaw because they felt that the North American Soccer League was starting to become a threat to the fan base of the NFL. But Mr. Hunt persevered through the ups and downs of the NASL and the fruits of his labor is seen with Major League Soccer today.

The border pays homage to the western theme, as seen with stars. The True Originals idea is for the fact that the very first soccer club announced in Major League soccer in 1996 is the Columbus Crew. The first True Original soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer is Columbus Crew Stadium.