March 22, 2022 – LEXINGTON, KY – The USL League One soccer club awarded to the city of Lexington last October announced today its new name and crest design. The club will be named Lexington Sporting Club (Lexington S.C.). Its crest, designed by renowned crest designer Christopher Payne, features a vibrant green stylized horse figure set against a dark green background.
“We’ve spent many months working hard to develop the name and crest of Lexington’s professional soccer club, and we have relied heavily on the input and opinions of residents around the region,” said Bill Shively, Owner of Lexington Sporting Club and Managing Partner of iVisionary Capital Partners. “From day one, it has been critical to us that this club represent our region and its people in every way possible, which is why we spent significant time listening to community voices during our branding and naming process. We’re thrilled with the final outcome and hope that our fans and supporters will be, as well.”
The process to design Lexington S.C.’s crest involved 14 listening sessions with members of the local community, more than 300 responses to brand surveys, and more than 1,500 responses to stadium surveys. The information gathered during this months-long process revealed several common themes, including pride in Central Kentucky’s winning heritage, the region’s unparallelled landscape, and its horse and bourbon industries. Each of these themes is represented in the final crest design, which is explained in full in this video.
“It was important to design this crest with input from the Lexington community. We spent hours and hours listening to the community and asking questions to make sure we got this right. In the multiple listening sessions, we heard many many great things about Lexington, but it struck me how proud the local community was about horses and the horse industry, and so I wanted to build a brand identity around this much loved icon of the community,” said Christopher Payne. “I think that we have created something that everyone can be proud of, a design that is strong and powerful, as well as being modern yet traditional. It is a new identity that will represent Lexington, locally, nationally and internationally.
I am excited to see the club grow and this design to be used by players and fans in Lexington and beyond.”
In addition to introducing its name and crest, Lexington S.C. has also unveiled a new website and an initial range of Lexington S.C.-branded merchandise. Additional merchandise will become available in the coming weeks.
Lexington S. C.’s inaugural season will begin Spring 2023. The club will play initially at a local collegiate facility. Fans interested in placing a deposit on tickets for the 2023 season can visit https://lexsporting.com/pages/tickets.