Updating Football Crests.

Updating a football crest can be an extremely difficult and ‘touchy’ process. With fans holding the identity of the club that they love so close to their hearts, there can be widespread reluctance to any change. With some clubs famously updating their crests in recent years, we take a look into the do’s and don’ts when bringing change to the table.

Perhaps one of the most unpopular updates in recent times was released in January this year by Leeds United. After 6 months of research and consulting 10,000 people, they released their new badge which featured a player holding his fist over his chest/heart. The concept represented the fans at the heart of the club, but was met with an instant backlash and a barrage of negative feedback. In turn the club scrapped the proposed update, have gone back to the drawing board, and have promised to consult the fans with any new concepts.

Another recent update was that of Juventus, which was met with a much more divided opinion. The club presented the crest at the unveiling as “The future, tonight” and with the tagline “Life is a matter of Black and White” – emphasising the simplistic nature. The update was far from a subtle change and took little inspiration from the crests that preceded it. It was however a very simplistic and sleek design that has been hailed as “staying ahead of the competition”, and… I’d have to agree! As a designer, I love the new crest, but I can see why some fans would be disappointed that the heritage of the club, which is so important to some, was not considered.

Do’s & Don’ts when updating a crest

Consider the heritage

The heritage of a club, its ethics, its success, how it was founded… all of these should be considered when updating the crest. It’s not just design elements that should be considered, if there is a unique part of the club’s history that could be represented in the crest, then it could be used. A recent example of this, was when Manchester City launched their new badge in 2016; they went back to their roots with a circular badge and a series of iconic Manchester symbols – the ship, the three rivers and the red rose of Lancashire. A throwback to their past but with a brilliantly modern design.

Be ahead of the game

As mentioned above, Juventus were hailed for “staying ahead of the competition”. A football crest is likely to be in place for a number of years, so making sure that you future proof it is essential. Not going with something that’s ‘in fashion’ at the moment, but thinking beyond the now and creating a timeless design that will be seen on the terraces 10, 20 or 50 years from now.

Don’t ignore your fans

Probably the most important point. The fans are the heartbeat of any club, ploughing in their hard-earned cash and supporting through thick and thin …for life. A club crest may have been a shrine to many people for many generations, and will more than likely even be tattooed on a fair few! So making fans feel included in the process is somewhat essential. They don’t need to design the crest, but to consult them and to find out how they’d like it to look will mean the chance of a backlash is hopefully minimised.

We recently took on a crest update for Welsh side; Guilsfield Football Club, and thankfully the result was a hugely positive one. We made sure that whilst we modernised the look and feel, we kept the key elements that were important to the club’s identity. Once the final 3 options were chosen by the club, they were put to a public vote so that the fans could have their say on the matter. The launch coincided with the club’s 60th anniversary, and was on shirts at the start on the 17/18 season, which was amazing to see! Click here to take a look at the Guilsfield FC case study.

Want to see how we can help with your club’s crest update or design in general? Head to our Project Planner to get started.