A trip down memory lane: The greatest jerseys in Orlando City's history | OneFootball

The wait is almost over... It's kit release day!

Today, Orlando City are set to release their new away jersey to be worn on our travels for the near future. But the uncertainty may not end there.

As we all know by now, our alternating, annual home and away releases are always worn for two seasons each, but with Major League Soccer switching to a summer-to-spring season format next year - playing a shortened, fourteen-game transition season next spring - it's not yet entirely clear how long this new kit will be donned for.

Fortunately, we'd stayed entirely free of spoilers until last night, when the new rumoured design was leaked all over social media. I won't be sharing the image here just in case anyone is yet to see it, but we won't be made to wait long until we find out for real.

As an aside, there's also the recurring rumours that we'll be releasing a long-sought-after third jersey at some point this season, but more on that when the time comes. In the meantime, here are some of my favourite jerseys we've worn over our rich sixteen-year history.

Breast Cancer Awareness jersey, 2012

In my humble opinion, basically all of our jerseys worn during our four-season stint in the third tier are deserving of a mention here. Not only were they good times, but we were free from adidas' tired, copy-and-paste templates that seem to upset at least one fanbase in this league each season.

The best of the bunch, though, has got to be this one-off pink jersey that we donned in a 4-0 rout of Rochester Rhinos on 14th July 2012. Why? Because Inter Miami can't even claim to be the biggest club in Florida to have ever worn pink, let alone be the biggest club in the state.

Released ahead of that game to raise awareness of breast cancer, the game-worn jerseys were then auctioned off to fans to raise money and help fight the illness locally. I managed to get my hands on Jamie Watson's jersey some years later, although I won't be disclosing how much I spent on it.

#ComingHome jersey, 2017/18

Alright, this one's a pretty basic design. But it's actually the first Orlando jersey I ever owned, so it's pretty special to me.

Released in 2017, this home kit celebrated our long-awaited move to our own soccer-specific home by featuring the co-ordinates of the newly-built Orlando City Stadium on its right sleeve. This was also the first time our jersey sported a button-up collar, something which - for good reason, probably, in the Central Florida humidity - hasn't been seen since.

Neither of the two seasons wearing this kit really lived up to the excitement of finally owning our own stadium, but our home match with New York Red Bulls on 9th April 2017 did mark my first-ever game watching Orlando in-person, and I took home an authentic version of this jersey as a very expensive souvenir.

Technically, the jersey changed ever so slightly into 2018 when our primary sponsor, Orlando Health, changed their logo to its current spellout form. Rather annoyingly, in my quest to own every single kit in our history, this meant I had to buy both.

Parley for the Oceans jersey, 2017

Special one-off jerseys, including the seemingly endless releases of warm-up jerseys every single season, are now the norm every club in this league, but this wasn't the case once upon a time.

This special jersey, a collaboration between adidas, Major League Soccer, and Parley for the Oceans, was the first of its kind, and it remains the best of the annual Parley releases to this day.

Worn just once during our 2-1 win away to New York City FC on 23rd April 2017, this jersey was made entirely out of recycled ocean plastics, and hoped to raise awareness of the harmful impact of marine plastic pollution.

Like the pink jerseys before them, these designs were auctioned off after that game to raise money in support of the initiative. But that means they're rare, and since this was a bit before my time as a hardcore supporter, I still haven't been able to get my hands on one.

'Sea Cows' jersey, 2023

I mean, you all knew this one would make an appearance, right?

Not only was this one-off, 'Sea Cows' jersey both a reference to that infamous April Fools' Day prank and an (at the time, rare) nod to our pre-Major League Soccer history, it was one of the most memorable designs we've ever had.

Draped in blues and greens that represent the waterways of Central Florida, this new crest took huge inspiration from our original 'Sea Cows' 'identity'. Its shape resembling our crest of old, the new and improved manatee took centre stage.

It's a shame that this long-awaited jersey was only used as a pre-match top for our meeting with Nashville SC on, you guessed it, 1st April 2023. But who knows? In just two months' time we could be blessed with yet another 'Sea Cows' drop...

Legacy Kit, 2024/25

Less than a year on from that first real acknowledgement of our club's whole history, we were hit with another. This time, though, our Legacy Kit was here to stay.

Released two years ago this week, this away jersey was an unapologetic nod to that trophy-laden four-season stint in the lower leagues. Our new secondary crest was, of course, modernised ever so slightly, but the three-headed lion was back and better than ever.

Back too was our original red colourway, but this time it played more of a supporting role to (an admittedly lighter shade of) purple that was always intended to be our primary colour.

Rather appropriately, this jersey release also coincided with a sustained run of results on the field for the very first time in our Major League Soccer era. Oh-so-near runs to an Eastern Conference Final in 2024 and the final four of Leagues Cup in 2025 threatened to bring back those glory days of old, but we couldn't just make it over the line in either.

With any luck, though, this latest away release will bring with it even more success.