Jamaican footballing star Onandi Lowe joined the Kansas City Wizards during the the 2001 season of MLS.
His time with the club was brief, as he played in just 13 games in the league after marking his debut with a stoppage time goal on May 24th, 2001 against the MetroStars. He also started in all 3 playoff games that season.
The forward wore two numbers in his short tenure in Kansas City; #23 and #32. He began with #23 before swapping to #32 at some point during the season.
Lowe tallied 4 goals and 3 assists in 1034 minutes in the regular season, and 2 goals in 270 minutes in the playoffs against the Miami Fusion. He also scored 2 more goals in the Copa Merconorte, both against Sporting Cristal from Peru.
The club ultimately decided to part ways with Onandi Lowe after the season and loaned him to Rushden & Diamonds in the third division of the Football League.
Onandi Lowe poses for the team photo wearing the #23 he wore early in his tenure with the Kansas City Wizards in 2001.
Onandi Lowe’s jersey is the first to enter my collection with the 2000 MLS Cup Champions patch on the sleeve.
This patch was utilized by the Wizards in 2001 after their triumphant 2000 season, but was later replaced for the playoffs so that a patch honoring the victims of 9/11 could be worn instead.
The 2000 MLS Cup Champions patch worn by the Kansas City Wizards to honor their MLS Cup title from the previous season.
This jersey was used by Lowe early in his stay with the Wizards and features his initial #23. There aren’t enough photos and videos to be able to track when Lowe swapped from #23 to #32, but he was wearing #32 for the entire playoffs at a minimum.
Onandi Lowe’s shirt has some signs of wear with some fading in the tags and bleeding and fraying in the patches. There is also a light scuff mark on the chest below the KANSAS CITY wordmark.
The Kansas City Wizards wore these blue primary jerseys for the second straight season in 2001. Most of the jerseys worn had an addition — the gold star above the crest signifying their MLS Cup title the previous season — though not every shirt worn had the star.
These mono-blue Wizards shirts ushered in a new era of style for the club; by 2002 the club had moved completely away from the rainbow motif they had worn on various jerseys for their first six seasons.
To date, the club has yet to return to the rainbow design on the field in an actual match.