Chicago Fire Notebook: Michael Vang, New Logo Update, Tickets, and more

The “Vang Train” will stay in Madison, at least for now.

After spending a month with the Chicago Fire in Florida, Forward Madison star Michael Vang returned to the USL League One side on Sunday. The Fire did not offer Vang a contract.

But, it doesn’t mean the door is completely closed. The Fire’s technical staff watches every Forward Madison match, and we’re told Vang had some good moments during training camp.

Vang was on hand in Bridgeview for the Fire’s 2-0 win over Forward Madison on Wednesday.

There’s a frontrunner for the new Fire logo

It’s getting closer. The Fire released a big update on the new logo project this week, saying there’s a consensus front runner in the quest to replace the Fire Crown. Fire SVP of Marketing Kyle Sheldon said in the update the club will need a lot of stakeholders to sign off on the logo, and because of that, it might be a long time before we get another update. But, here’s what we know: The logo will have a Florian Cross, a “C”, a six-pointed star from the Chicago City Flag, and another element from the city’s flag—perhaps a bit of light blue? We’ll hopefully get to see the finished project sometime this season, before it officially debuts next season.

On the kit front, the club maintains next year’s jerseys will have to remain navy blue because of production deadlines, but we could see a return to red home kits in 2023.

Home opener tickets on sale

Tickets for the April 17 home opener against the New England Revolution went on sale to the general public on Wednesday. The Fire are only selling around 7,000 socially-distanced tickets in the lower sections of Soldier Field for the match, with an eye toward expanding sales later in the season, depending on what happens with the pandemic.

Mauri’s back

After spending the last few months at various USMNT camps, Fire defender Mauricio Pineda saw his first action of 2021 with the team during Wednesday’s win over Forward Madison. After the match, he spoke about his busy off-season, and what it meant to be back.

We should hear a lot more from Pineda tomorrow. He’s scheduled to speak to reporters on Friday at the Fire’s weekly news conference, along with head coach Raphael Wicky.