Toronto’s first women’s pro soccer club kicks off

AFC Toronto, a founding club in the new Canadian women’s professional soccer league, the Northern Super League, has unveiled its identity.

The new club says the anchor T that centres the primary crest symbolizes Toronto, and is angled upwards to capture momentum and forward movement. The anchor T is propped up by the mirrored 7s on either side of the design honouring the founding seven members of AFC Toronto, and the original six boroughs of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), that aligns with the club’s commitment to community.

The “elemental shield” comprising 11 strokes, represents the starting players on the pitch. It’s wrapped in a shield, with the upper and lower strokes that are unbounded to symbolize the club’s commitment to continually push boundaries while creating an inclusive and fair-play environment.

In August, AFC Toronto conducted a formal RFP with a few handpicked agencies, and agency partner Sunday+Night began working with the group in September on strategy. The agency went in-depth to uncover the brand’s story through its founders, says Sunday+Night founder Israel Diaz, who’s also a former chief creative and design officer at Jackman Reinvents and Young & Rubicam.

The shop says the new brand identity for AFC Toronto is modern and simple, yet it encapsulates layers of stories reflecting the club’s ethos, the city’s diversity and the organization’s grassroots heritage.

Diaz tells strategy that from the outset, the founders of AFC Toronto aimed for being more than a football club. The group, he says envisioned a platform for social change, creating pathways for girls and women to achieve greatness on their terms.

 

“This club is rooted in community and focuses on the impact of people coming together to make a difference and achieve great things,” Diaz says. “You will see this as their brand story unfolds.”

Diaz adds that the balance between marrying sports and social change is why it avoided limiting names like ‘Toronto Tornados.” Also, it learned from the mistakes made by MLS teams that rebranded absent supporters’ input, like Montreal Impact and Chicago Fire.

“Involving those who will embrace the logo is invaluable,” Diaz says. “Brands should no longer be developed in isolation without deeply engaging with both the team’s founders and supporters. The founders wanted this brand to be built in Toronto, for Toronto by Torontonians.”

Regarding North American inspirations, Diaz says he really admires Inter Miami FC’s branding, calling it classic, rich in symbolism, yet modern and contemporary, with the use of pink perfectly aligned with the Florida city and its spirit.

In terms of ideation, a key element of the AFC Toronto project was what the shop dubbed a  “Sunday Swarm,” a proprietary all-day brainstorming event that gathered 35 anonymous “solutionists” to collaboratively develop the club narrative and identity. For AFC Toronto, this event included senior business leaders, artists, media personalities, former Olympians and community leaders from across the GTA.

Sunday+Night worked closely with Toronto-based agency Public Office to craft the brand identity. Additionally, Dré Labre, More Better Different Creative, and Floor4 Insights each provided unique contributions that enriched the branding process.