The excitement was palpable in the premises of Cirque Éloize, a few hours before the unveiling of the name and logo of the new professional women’s soccer team in Montreal. But there was no stress related to the public reception.
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The Montreal Roses gang, which is growing visibly, has so much confidence that this bilingual name will please the community that only pride was there on Tuesday at Dalhousie station.
After the mixed reactions to the disclosure of the names of clubs in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, including the Victoire de Montréal (several members of the team were also present), it would have been normal for soccer people to feel a little of anguish.
“Not at all, we are very excited, we are so proud of our brand [marque]launched President Annie Larouche, honored to experience this historic moment in the company of the elite of Quebec and Canadian sports. It is our identity. It was worked on and thought through. Each element is thought out and has an explanation, a justification.”
“He who rubs against it gets pricked”
Pink is a symbol reminiscent of the rose window of the City of Montreal and its blue color echoes fleur-de-lis and winter. On the logo, we find modernity in the “MTL” of Montreal and tradition in the “FC”, the international abbreviation of “Football Club”.
Red and blue pay homage to the sporting and cultural heritage of Quebec and Canada, while touches of black, gold and white complete the palette.
“Roses are strength and finesse. There are thorns. Whoever rubs it gets pricked, explained co-owner and entrepreneur Isabèle Chevalier. It’s also something that spans the ages, you can be into classical or rock. It’s timeless. The rose is unique and unifying, it represents diversity, and it can be of all colors.”
There is an undeniable link to be made with the iconic “Farine Five Roses” brand, which has been part of the Montreal landscape for more than 75 years. The writing is also strongly inspired by it.
“We feel the thorns in the typography and the petals,” added Mme Knight. This concept is resilience, perseverance.”
“When I look at this refined logo, I see robustness, finesse, roundness, spice, I see this side expanding, seeing far. [….] Everyone will be able to make it their own, because it brings out several things,” added sports director Marinette Pichon, grateful to the founder of the Super Ligue du Nord, former player Diana Matheson, as well as the Montreal co-owners.
Not too feminine
For one of them, Jean-François Crevier, he did not find that this name sounded too feminine.
“On the contrary, it is a name that evokes power. The thorns immediately struck me. We wanted a name off the beaten track, outside the norms of traditional sport,” replied without hesitation the businessman, who can already count on several investors, including Julie du Page, Eddy Jr Savoie, Christiane Germain, Bruny Surin , Patrice Bernier and Maxime Crépeau.
Months of work
This name was not found over a glass of rosé. It is the result of nearly a year of consultations and reflection.
“We went looking for a lot of feedback [rétroaction] and we tried to have something that is perhaps a larger pool for women’s sports and women’s soccer. We think we have responded to what people told us,” assured Mr. Crevier.
Montreal was the last of the six teams in the new Canadian professional women’s soccer circuit, whose season will launch in the spring, to have revealed its name. The other teams are Calgary Wild FC, Halifax Tides FC, Ottawa CF Rapide, Toronto AFC and Vancouver Rise FC, with whom Canadian legend Christine Sinclair collaborates.