The Best of the Bundesliga: A Bike Rider's Thoughts...

For many weekends around the globe people tune in to football on television.  In America it’s the football with pads and helmets, for the rest of the world its football with kits and boots.  But soccer is not lost in America, nor is it new.  The U.S. got its first taste of international football with the now legendary New York Cosmos from the long-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL).  The Cosmos retained the talents of a cadre of international stars (albeit a bit aged) such as Italian Eddie Firmani, German Franz Beckenbauer (pictured), and of course the great Brazilian Pele.  Following the demise of the NASL, soccer in America suffered.  In the last couple of decades, the sport has rebounded.  Today, Major League Soccer is turning a small profit in the States and for the first time football in America seems to be here to stay.

Fans of the Beautiful Game, thanks to the global sports broadcasting networks, can get just about any football they want each weekend.  As the SBT crew is assembling information for this post Liverpool is on the pitch at Old Trafford against the Red Devils of ManU.  In America, due to our being a good deal west of GMT we are able to enjoy our football over our morning coffee and hearty breakfast.  But before this country was delivered English football--and La Liga, and Ligue 1, and Serie A--believe it or not, America was first introduced to European soccer with the Bundesliga.  The large worldwide sports conglomerates did not bring football to America.  It was brought to the States by the Public Broadcasting Service, yes PBS, the network of Sesame Street, Rick Steves, and Nova.  The program was called “Soccer Made in Germany.”

The show was an hour of football action from the German Educational Television Network (GETN) delivered to over 250 PBS affiliates throughout the U.S.  It arrived in 1976 and ran for one hour each week until 1988.  The show was edited with the greatest plays, shots, saves and goals from the pitch throughout West Germany from the previous week.  The host was Toby Charles and his dulcet tones gave us the names of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, (leading goal scorer in 1980-81), Klaus Allofs (the great striker), Werder-Bremen’s Rudi Voller, plus many more. 

PBS and GETN must have understood demographics.  People of German ancestry still comprise the largest percentage of American society (present company included).  Nearly 16% of the US population is of German descent--over 42 million Americans.  Next are the Irish at 11% and the Africans at 9%.   

   

Readers of the SBT blog have seemed to enjoy our rankings and lists, so to celebrate the arrival of “Soccer Made in Germany” to the States 37 years ago, the SBT crew will rank the kit patches of the current 2012-13 Bundesliga clubs.  

The scoring system: Each patch will be graded on color scheme. Normally no more than three colors and no extreme colors like pink and turquoise.  We live in a ROY G BIV world.  Next, the patch must have elements that draw the eye into the center, not outward.  You want to capture your audience, not have them wander away.  Third, legible fonts and scripts are required.  Too often designers outsmart themselves with font design and the reader is forced to squint to make out the writing.  And last, too many elements will also bring scoring deductions

So, with all of that in mind we will start with the 4^th best patch in the Bundesliga (we will save the top three until the end).

#4. FC Bayern.  Great colors and elements but encased in a plain circle keeps it out of the top three.

 #5. Sport-Club Freiberg.  The elements are a bit confusing, nice black and white contrast.

 #6. Hamburger SV.  The rectangle allows it to stand out and the colors are bold but it has no script so the unaware have no idea what it represents.  It could be the flag of a small Caribbean island.  The simple geometry is intriguing.

 #7. Fortuna Dusseldorf.  The red on white is excellent and a great “F” but a letter it doesn’t tell a complete story.

#8. 1899 Hoffenheim.  We loved the shield for its uniqueness and the blue against the white.  Loses points for the small and bland script.

 #9. Eintracht Frankfurt. The crowned eagle is excellent and striking.  But again, it's another simple two-color scheme rounded by a simple circle.

 #10. 1. FSV Mainz 05. Looks like a freaked-out peace sign from the 1960s.  It just seems like a dated design.

 #11. VfL Wolfsburg.  The big “W” stands out and we do like the open circle design.  There is just not enough there.

#12. Schalke 04.  A very minimalist approach, sometimes that works.  Not in this case.

#13. SV Werder Bremen.  It is just a “W” in a green diamond.  See #12.

#14. FC Nuremberg.  The minimalists are at it again.  We do like the fact that they are #1.

#15. Borussia Dortmund.  BVB 09.  OK, we get it.  Actually we don’t.  The black set against the yellow makes it look like a warning/danger placard.

#16.  Hannover 96.  We just don’t like it.  The design does not tell a story.

#17. Greuther Furth.  Too much going on here.  A good artist knows when to put the brush down. It is an assault on the eyes.

And at #18 and the worst kit patch in the Bundesliga: FC Augsburg.  The color scheme is strange, as are the elements: a large potted plant set on a shield.  A small Italian flag motif can be found under the “FC.”  If the team is not relegated, the patch should be.

So, with that done we can now highlight the top three patches in the Bundesligia.

#3. VfB Stuttgart.  The triangular shield is perfect.  The overly-stylized script of the “VfB” keeps it out of the top spot but it does help with the overall uniqueness.  The colors jump at the viewer.

#2. Borussia Mönchengladbach.  The black and white striping is perfect.  The simple yet bold “B” is outstanding.  It has just the right amount of design.

The most beautiful kit patch in the Bundesliga is Bayer 04 Leverkusen.  The designers avoided the cliché circle or shield design and went with two spectacular red lions to frame the very readable script.  The white, red, and yellow colors are  perfect.  It is a feast for the eyes.

As always, you may comment on any of our postings.  What is your favorite?  Let us know.

We have a clip of "Soccer Made in Germany" on our website at www.stickybottleteam.net.