Behind the Crest: Greenville Triumph

From the standpoint of someone from a larger city, placing a professional team in a city of 70,000 might seem odd.

Nevertheless, the USL announced Greenville as the location of the third team joining its new third division league, USL League One.

But if you zoom out a bit, you find a surrounding urbanized and suburban county with over a half a million people in an Upstate region of about 1.5 million. The smaller city of Greenville is just the centerpiece of the larger region.

Located off Interstate 85, about halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte, Greenville was one of the fastest growing cities in the country between 2010 and 2020. It’s quite the success story after being devastated by the decline of the textile manufacturing industry between 1970 and 2000, like many smaller cities in the south.

Redevelopment centered around attracting corporate headquarters, and high value manufacturing, along with arts and entertainment. With the region on a massive rebound, and growing population exceeding previous highs, it seemed a perfect place for a third-division professional soccer team.

It was around reinvention that the Greenville Triumph name and crest were born.

Like many new teams, ownership and management wanted something that reflected its community.

Lucky for the new team, its owner, Joe Erwin, was a marketing executive. Joe had no shortage of talent from which to draw, including his son Doug Erwin, who also has a marketing background.

Doug, the current Vice Chairman and Chief Branding Officer, led the branding team. The team used community feedback and focus groups to narrow the finalists out of about 20 names. According to Doug, the most common feedback was that the brand “needed to be a reflection of Greenville and Upstate South Carolina.”

From a group of finalists, including Sporting Club, United, Alliance and Ascent, the team landed on Triumph. The name reflects the region’s ability to evolve and rebound after a period of decline. Said Doug in 2018:

“…the spirit of the people of the Upstate to reinvent ourselves and pick ourselves back up after facing adversity, to reinvent the region as an international manufacturing hub, to reinvent the downtown to become one of the most desirable, vacationable small towns in America — one of the best places to live and raise a family — speaks to the triumph and spirit of human will.”

Color me green

Greenville Triumph shares a crest explainer on its website. According to the explainer, the gradient green “represents the beautiful green landscape” of the Upstate South Carolina region, while the navy blue comes from the South Carolina state flag.

The mountains represent the geography of the Greenville region, situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with light blue to represent the rivers and lakes that “add to the natural beauty and allure” of Upstate South Carolina.

The white T takes on a double-meaning: Triumph, obviously, but it also represents a rough shape of the state tree, the Palmetto. The T “rises triumphantly from the mountains” in the same way that the region has risen from adversity to acclaim.

SC stands for soccer club and South Carolina, and the shield represents pride in the region.

Supporter group runs on local pride

Like the team they support, Reedy River Riot also runs on local pride. The group adopted the name of the river that runs through Greenville, and incorporated the green and blue from the team’s branding into its own for a unique, but related logo.

The group started even before the team was announced, striving to showcase the passion fans would have if the USL approved a team in the city. The group’s existence is owed to a shared passion for the game, the team and the city.

To the moon: the alternate kit

In 2023, the team introduced the Lunar Kit, paying tribute to Slater Mill. This Greenville facility developed a heat-resistant fabric for space travel, used in the Apollo 11 moon landing. The alternate kit for the 2023 and 2024 seasons features a lunar surface pattern, reversed American flag, and a color-matched crest.

Like with the Lunar Kit, Doug said he wants to tell stories with Greenville’s kits.

“We want our home jerseys to have connections to the region, even if it’s just a small touch somewhere on the design,” he explained, mentioning the 2022/2023 home kit’s digitized waterfall pattern.

“Not all kits all the time,” he continued, but a “tribute kit to something unique in our region.”

As far as what we can expect this season and beyond?

“I think our fans will be excited to see some similar nods to Greenville and the Upstate on our new home kit next month and in other ones we have in the years to come.”

But wait! Isn’t there a car involved?

This is usually where the crest story ends, but Greenville Triumph has another piece to its branding: the car.

The team unveiled its official vehicle in 2019, a fully restored 1961 Triumph TR3A convertible.

Team owner Joe Erwin worked with a local custom shop to restore and brand the car to match the Greenville brand, right down to the color scheme.

We asked Doug how this came about, and he said “kind of unintentionally.”

The team name had no relation to the classic car brand, but after the branding became public, Joe tracked one down and finished the restore in time for the inaugural match.

“My dad thought it would be cool to have one as a team vehicle,” explained Doug.

It serves as a visual for the club, a match-day fixture outside the gates where fans can admire it and take pictures. Eventually, the car will have a name and feature more into graphics and brand identity.

Success expected as Greenville Triumph moves into its sixth season

Greenville Triumph has yet to miss the playoffs. This sets the standards and expectations high each season.

While long-time coach and USMNT legend John Harkes departed this off season, his assistant Rick Wright took the reigns, bringing decades of coaching experience. The transition is expected to be a smooth one, and a strong returning core is joined by notable veterans and college standouts.

The team is hopeful a stadium can be secured in the coming seasons. But for now, they call Furman University’s Paladin Stadium home, at least through the 2024 season. This provides more stability after last year’s announcement of the transition from Legacy Early College to Furman was delayed.

But in the near term, we’ll look forward to that kit announcement in March.

Greenville Triumph opens its season at home on March 9th vs. Spokane Velocity.