What’s going on with #cffc and #VamosFire, the new Chicago Fire hashtags?

Chicago Fire fans woke up this morning to two new official team hashtags on Twitter—#cffc and #VamosFire. Instantly, some fans were angry the team seems to be abandoning the longtime #cf97 hashtag, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I’m hearing the team will continue to use #cf97 in addition to #cffc and #VamosFire, but #cf97 won’t get the “hashflag” treatment, where a tiny logo appears next to it. Club officials are sensitive to the fact that a lot of Fire fans don’t like the team’s new crest. If #cf97 had been added to the official hashflag list, every tweet that’s ever used the #cf97 hashtag would now have the new logo next to it.

As for #VamosFire, the club is pairing that with its new Spanish language Twitter handle, @VamosFire. That account officially launches this afternoon.

Other news and notes:

• Goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm appeared to suffer an injury before he came out of Saturday’s final preseason match against the LA Galaxy match, but I’m told he’s doing fine and will be available to play against the Sounders.
• Several of the Fire’s new international signings won’t be available, however. Gastón Giménez, Ignacio Aliseda, Boris Sekulić and Luka Stojanović are all waiting for their P1 Visas before they can officially join the team.
• Once that occurs, the team will have nine international players, but only eight roster spots available to international players. Luckily, there are a few ways to fix this. Elliot Collier traveled back to New Zealand last weekend to finalize his Green Card, which should happen soon. That would clear a spot. But, if Collier doesn’t get his Green Card before the new signings arrive, the Fire could send Collier or another international player on loan temporarily, or could trade for a ninth international spot.
• Finally, in case you missed it, over the weekend we posted a profile of new Fire goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.