By Cesar Diaz - NEW YORK, NY (Nov 18, 2011) US Soccer Players -- With the 2011 MLS Cup taking place on Sunday, fans have been debating on whether the Los Angeles Galaxy or Houston Dynamo will win their third MLS Cup. Along with the debate, many are wondering if this will be David Beckham’s final game in Major League Soccer. All worthy topics, but we're going to talk about the Cup itself.
Richard 'Rich' Levy is the former creative director for Major League Soccer, and part of his job was designing the current trophy with Tiffany & Co who produced what you'll see the winning team holding on Sunday night. Levy now runs his own design firm, 343RLP+, and we met to talk trophies at Hoboken, New Jersey's premier football pub Mulligan’s.
Along with our conversation, I learned how passionate Levy is about American Soccer. Along with his vast knowledge and respect for the sport, he pointed out how his travels and Colombian/Peruvian heritage enabled him to fuse the different global pieces of soccer when working on MLS designs. It's the melting pot in action, synthesizing traditions to produce something unique.
Levy worked for the League from 1998 to 2008. During his tenure with MLS, he was also involved with Soccer United Marketing (SUM). In his final year with Major League Soccer, Levy was honored with the 2008 Communicator Award of Distinction – Production/Original Composition Music for the Anthem of Major League Soccer. He is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, the University of Florida, and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with degrees in graphic design, fine arts, and a masters in design management. Since leaving MLS, he has created the trophies for Women's Professional Soccer and the North American Soccer League, among others.
“When I was first hired by Major League Soccer, there wasn’t the number of departments that there is today,” Levy said. “Even though we wore many hats, I was given the opportunity to be creative in helping MLS transition from a fad to the tradition that it’s becoming today.”
“What’s ironic about where I’m at today and where I was when I first started is that I believed that MLS then had catered too much to the soccer moms and dads and not enough on the supporters culture. Now that I’m no longer with MLS, I’ve now a soccer parent,” he laughed.
When asked about the logos designed for MLS, like a proud father, he enthusiastically talked about the team logos of Houston Dynamo, an updated San Jose Earthquakes Logo, Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake, and FC Dallas. Along with the team logos, Levy designed the Western and Eastern Conference logos, MLS Futbolito, Sueno MLS, MLS W.O.R.K.S., SUM, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup logo, the current MLS league logo, and the MLS Cup Championship.
Before explaining his vision behind the MLS Cup, Levy took a few minutes to talk about Lamar Hunt.
“He was a good and caring man,” Levy said. “I recall the time Lamar had a press conference to attend and instead of heading there immediately, he showed my wife and me around Columbus as he gave a personal tour. He was a good host. From a business standpoint, Lamar always treated us with respect. One thing MLS Commissioner Don Garber and me always found humorous is that he always faxed everything over. He never sent an email and as a result, we always knew which owner was faxing us over a letter to our office. If it wasn’t for his contributions, who knows if the league would have survived because there was a period when things weren’t as optimistic as they are today?”
Along with the logos that Levy designed, he’s also extremely proud of the trophies he created for MLS during his tenure there. From designing the SuperLiga and MLS All-Star trophies, his final contribution to MLS was the Philip F. Anschutz MLS Cup.
“The purpose at time for the current MLS Cup trophy was to standout from the other soccer trophies in the United States, North America, and even the World. In most leagues worldwide, the winning team lifts a cup and that’s the kind of trophy I wanted for MLS. We also didn’t want to create a standard cup either so a lot research and creative thought went into making the third generation cup."
Enter Tiffany & Co, working with Levy and the League over 13 months to create the trophy.
"Tiffany & Co was a great collaborator in the design and manufacturing process of a true masterpiece that I am proud to have been involved with," Levy said. "Today’s MLS Cup trophy weighs 43 pounds, stands 28.5 inches tall, and definitely honors the previous trophies while having a Sterling Silver majestic identity of its own.”
Walking me through the design, Levy pointed out some things that might be overlooked seeing it on television. The first thing he highlighted are the 11 stars at the top of the Cup symbolizing the players. The gold star is supposed to represent the captain and the Championship star that the winning team will have officially earned when the cup is hoisted.
The handles of the cup represented the Eastern and Western Conference champions and it was designed in honor of the second generation MLS Cup trophy. Each handle contained 11 flutes, thus totaling the 22 players on the pitch.
Along with the top engravings of, the MLS Cup logo, and the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, the bottom base has the engraving of Major League Soccer, MLS Cup Champions, in honor of the first generation trophy. In addition, there’s enough room to engrave the players, coaches, and staff.
“The surest way to tell that anyone is holding the actual MLS Cup trophy is to look the bottom,” Levy said. “The bottom of the round base has the map of North America with meridian lines along with applied stars representing the club cities.”
So whether it's Houston or Los Angeles lifting the Cup, it's representative of the League as a whole. One that has grown from what was described at the time as a bowling ball trophy to one that respects that past while giving Major League Soccer a unique identity. It helps that it also looks really cool.
Cesar Diaz is a freelance writer for several online soccer publications. If there's a soccer topic you believe needs to be written about, please feel free to contact him. Easily approachable, you may contact him at CoveringSoccer@gmail.com and @CoveringSoccer.
