Nearly three years ago, the Backline Supporters Collective rolled out a tifo at Nashville SC’s first-ever MLS match at Nissan Stadium.
The graphic displayed longtime Tennessee resident and late singer-songwriter Johnny Cash behind a Nashville SC logo, thus setting the wheels in motion for NSC’s new “Man in Black” uniform, which the club unveiled on Friday.
Hany Mukhtar
“From the first day we started Nashville Soccer Club, we talked a lot about being ‘uniquely Nashville,’” says Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayre. “This city is steeped in music history and icons of that industry — none more so than the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash.
“From our opening match on Feb. 29, 2020 … there has clearly been a strong connection between both the Cash family and the NSC family. I don’t think there can be a greater tribute to Johnny’s place in music history or Nashville than to have a team full of Men in Black take the field on behalf of Nashville SC.”
The all-black uniform features a metallic accented version of the Adidas, Nashville SC and Renasant Bank logos on the front of the jersey and MLS, Apple and Hyundai logos on the sleeves, as well as Cash’s autograph on the back of the jersey along the neckline, and a white jocktag of Cash in front of a jail cell at Folsom Prison — a photo taken around the time he performed his live album Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison in January 1968.
Nashville SC will wear the new Man in Black kit during its 2023 home opener against New York City FC on Feb. 25 at 3:30 p.m. CST. The uniform will be used periodically throughout the 2023 and 2024 MLS seasons.
Follow Michael Gallagher on Twitter @MGsports_.
This article first ran via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
