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Ladbrokes Championship

ReBrand: Ayr United FC

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AUFC badge new-01In 1910, the two rival football clubs in Ayr, Ayr FC and Ayr Parkhouse FC, determined that their town was too small to both support two senior teams and for those teams to rival the leading Scottish clubs. The result of this realisation was the formation of Ayr United Football Club. (Historically, Ayr Football Club had already formed as an amalgamation of several clubs, the earliest of which was Ayr Eglinton, formed in 1875.)

Despite the noble intentions of the two clubs that formed Ayr United in 1910, the club has never been counted among the most competitive in Scotland. Still, they continue to survive, boasting such honours as reaching the final of the 2001/02 Scottish League Cup (where they were defeated by Rangers) and being crowned champions of the second tier on six occasions (1911/12, 1912/13, 1927/28, 1936/37, 1958/59 and 1965/66). More recently, Ayr United gained promotion to the Scottish Championship after topping the League One table in the 2017/18 season.

Ayr United’s kit first featured a badge in 1938. This badge consisted of a stylised black anchor within a white shield with a black border and was used until 1948. Another badge appeared for the 1967/68 season, though regular use of a badge wouldn’t feature until 1977. From that time until 2017, some form of this 1967/68 badge was used.

In 2016, an anonymous complaint to the Court of the Lord Lyon challenged the use of the club’s badge, noting that it featured both a Saltire and the club’s initials within a shield, both a breach of an ancient heraldic law in Scotland, the same which caused bother for Airdrieonians in 2015. Reluctantly, in 2016, Ayr United opened up a competition in which fans could vote on their favourite badge from a pool of finalists. A badge designed by Jamie Stevenson, a Scottish Ayr United supporter living abroad, came out on top, ganering 48% of the vote. This new badge, seen on the left below, was then incorporated into the kit for the 2017/18 season.

The current badge utilises several features from the previous badge, including the Saltire and a football within a cord of rope, the rope recalling the town’s maritime heritage. At the bottom of the badge is the club’s nickname, ‘The Honest Men’, which comes from the Robert Burns poem ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ (1790). The second verse of the poem reads,

‘This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter,
(Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses,
For honest men and bonny lasses.)’

For my redesign, I decided to make use of some of the historical imagery of the club, though with a significant departure from the club’s current badge. The colours used—black, white and red—are consistent with the historic club colours. I omitted the Saltire in favour of a singular image of a horse rampant upon an anchor. The anchor calls back to the original Ayr United badge from 1938.

The stylised horse with a missing tail is a visual reference—which, in a badge, I prefer over an overt, written reference—to ‘Tam o’ Shanter’ and the club’s nickname. In the narrative poem, the eponymous character, Tam, is depicted as having a ‘gray mare, Meg’. In the climax of the poem, Tam, demonstrating his ‘honest’ character, is escaping from a ‘hellish legion’ of the devil, warlocks, and witches who have begun to shed their clothing (noting one particularly attractive witch, Nannie Dee, with an undersized ‘cutty-sark’ or ‘shirt’). When Tam is fleeing upon his trusty Meg, Nannie is able to grab hold of Meg’s ‘gray tail’, which is left behind.

AUFC badge-01

The home kit is based upon Ayr United’s traditional home colour scheme of a white top with black shorts. The away strip makes use of the club colours in a vertical stripe running down a dark blue kit, borrowing from the old Ayr FC’s early colours.

AUFC kit-01

AUFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

12 May 201824 February 2020 E Tagged anchor, Ayr, Ayr Eglinton, Ayr Eglinton FC, Ayr Eglinton Football Club, Ayr FC, Ayr Football Club, Ayr Parkhouse, Ayr Parkhouse FC, Ayr Parkhouse Football Club, Ayr United, Ayr United FC, Ayr United Football Club, Ayrshire, badge, Bard, branding, Burns, Championship Division, Court of the Lord Lyon, crest, Europe, football, Honest Men, horse, Jamie Stevenson, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, Lord Lyon, Lord Lyon King of Arms, Meg, Rab Burns, Rabbie Burns, rebrand, redesign, Robert Burns, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, shield, SPFL Championship, sport, Tam o' Shanter, The Honest Men, UK, United Kingdom Leave a comment

ReBrand: Arbroath FC

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ArbFC badge new-01Arbroath Football Cub was established in 1878 and as early as 1885, their shirts featured a badge consisting of a golden portcullis sewn into a large shield, representing the entrance to the ruined Arbroath Abbey (famous, in part, for its association with the Declaration of Arbroath), derived from the Arbroath coat of arms. That same year, Arbroath boasted a victory of 36-0 against the now-defunct Aberdonian side Bon Accord FC (who competed from 1884 until 1892), the largest margin of victory in world football until 2002 (the current record of 149-0 between Malagasy sides AS Adema and SO l’Emyrne was thrown, with SO l’Emyrne scoring 149 own-goals in protest to a previous refereeing decision made which saw them out of contention for the Malagasy title).

After competing in the Northern Football League for a number of years, Arbroath joined the Central Football League from its formation in 1909. Twelve years later, the Central League was incorporated into the Scottish Football League.

During their years in the SFL, ‘the Red Lichties’ have advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup on two occasions. In the 1946/47 Scottish Cup, Arbroath triumphed over Stenhousemuir, Raith Rovers and Hearts before losing 0-2 to Aberdeen, who would go on to win the tournament. Arbroath reached their second major cup semi-final in the 1959/60 season, losing 3-0 to Third Lanark.

At the end of the 2018/19 season, Arbroath finished at the top of the League One table, securing promotion to the Scottish Championship (the second tier) for the first time since their relegation to the third tier after the 2002/03 season.

For several periods from 1953 until 1992, the Arbroath kit featured some variation of the club initials, sometimes in a shield. In 1980, a single colour version of the current badge saw regular use. This badge was updated with light blue and yellow in 1992. In recent years, the colours have been more in line with the 1980 version.

I have always been impressed with Arbroath’s 1992 badge. I would commend its timelessness, if not for the dated typeface and colours. For my redesign, I stripped the shield away and retooled the portcullis so that it forms something similar to a traditional Iberian shield found in some historical depictions of the Arbroath coat of arms. I also swapped the typeface for something more Romanesque, recalling the historical significance of the town.

ArbFC badge-01

The Arbroath home shirt first featured in maroon in 1882. Typically, this was accompanied with white details and shorts, not dissimilar to Hearts kits over the years. Arbroath first used a fully maroon kit in 1997 (Hearts did not use this scheme until 2002). I decided to capitalise on the attractive look of a fully maroon kit, with light blue details. My redesigned away kit is dominated by this light blue, with black shorts and details.

ArbFC kit-01

ArbFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

11 May 201824 February 2020 E Tagged Angus, Arbroath, Arbroath Abbey, Arbroath FC, Arbroath Football Club, badge, Bon Accord, Bon Accord FC, Bon Accord Football Club, branding, crest, football, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, rebrand, Red Lichties, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, Smokies, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Red Lichties, The Smokies, UK, United Kingdom Leave a comment

ReBrand: Alloa Athletic FC

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AAFC badge new-01Alloa Athletic Football Club was established as Clackmannan County Football Club in 1878. The following season, the club changed its name to the Alloa Association Football Club. The local press misinterpreted ‘AAFC’ as Alloa Athletic Football Club, which became the club’s official name from 1883. That same year, the club was admitted to the Scottish Football Association.

In these early decades, Alloa competed in the now-defunct Scottish Football Union and then the Central Football League. After the First World War, in 1921, the Central Football League was absorbed into the Scottish Football League as the Second Division. That season, Alloa won the title, gaining promotion to the top flight for the first time. This spell was short-lived, as the club was relegated after only one season. Alloa returned to the top flight in the 1938/39 season, but with the outbreak of the Second World War, regular league football was put on hold and Alloa would not return to the top tier.

Alloa’s first shirt, from its Clackmannan County days, consisted of black and orange hoops. From 1898 until 1972, the black and orange (or gold) hoops became the club’s standard and they gained the nickname ‘the Wasps’. (The hoops disappeared for a couple of decades, apparently as a cost-saving measure.) Alloa’s kit first featured a badge in 1985. This badge consisted of a more-or-less anatomically accurate rendering of a wasp within a shield. Some version of this badge remained until the current badge was adopted in 2010.

Due to the state of the club’s current badge—in my opinion, far and away the most absurd badge in all of Scottish professional football—I have had my sights set on redesigning Alloa’s badge from several years. Ignoring the illustrative style (which I consider to be farcical, at best), I have difficulty connecting the sleeveless, muscular wasp (with only two limbs, neither of which are legs) with a football club. I toyed with utilising a more identifiably wasp-like illustration, similar to those used by the club from 1985 until 2010, but ultimately, I found the use of the wasp altogether unsatisfactory.

In searching for an alternative, the hexagonal honeycomb concept came to mind. Wolverhampton Wanderers have used a hexagonal badge since 2002 (adapted from the shape of their minimalistic wolf’s head, first used in 1979), though their badge, which sees the hexagon set at 30°, played no influence in my redesign.

The football at the centre of my redesigned badge is of nineteenth-century design, though its sharp angles are made to emphasise the modernistic feel of the new badge. The black band running through the centre of the badge, which bears the year of the club’s founding, echoes the hoop design of the traditional Alloa home shirt.

AAFC badge-01

For the home kit redesign, I went with the classic black and gold hoops, complete with a 1970s-styled collar (an admitted anachronism given that this type of collar was used during the ‘cost-saving-no-hoops’ kits of the 1970s). Clean lines throughout emphasise the modern element of the kit. The away kit a variation of the current away kit, with an inadvertent Boca Juniors feel.

AAFC kit-01

AAFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

11 May 201824 February 2020 E Tagged Alloa, Alloa AFC, Alloa Association FC, Alloa Association Football Club, Alloa Athletic, Alloa Athletic FC, Alloa Athletic Football Club, badge, brand, Championship Division, Clackmannan County, Clackmannan County FC, Clackmannan County Football Club, Clackmannanshire, crest, Europe, football, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Wasps, UK, Wasps Leave a comment

ReBrand: Queen of the South FC

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QSFC badge new-01Queen of the South Football Club was established in 1919. This new club was result of a union between three pre-existing clubs: Maxwelltown Volunteers FC (formed in 1896 and renamed 5th King’s Own Scottish Borderers in 1908), Dumfries FC (formed in 1897) and the Arrol-Johnston Motor Company works team. The name, ‘Queen of the South’, was taken from a local poet, David Dunbar, who, while standing for Parliament in the 1857 general election, called the town of Dumfries the ‘Queen of the South’ in one of his addresses.

After participating in various non-professional leagues for several seasons, ‘the Doonhamers’, as they are known (‘doonhamer’ being a colloquial term for natives of Dumfries, many of whom, in the nineteenth century, worked in Glasgow and referred to Dumfries as doon hame, Scots for ‘down home’), joined the newly-created Third Division of the Scottish Football League in the 1923/24 season.

The Doonhamers gained promotion from the bottom tier after their second season in the SFL. Promotion to the top tier came at the close of the 1932/33 season. In their first season in the top tier, Queen of the South finished fourth in the table with 45 points, behind Celtic (47), Motherwell (62) and Rangers (66). This finish remains the club’s finest performance in the top tier.

Although the Doonhamers have yet to win any senior cups, they reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup in 1949/50 and the Scottish League Cup in 1950/51 and 1960/61. In 2007/08, the club reached the Scottish Cup final, losing narrowly 2-3 to Rangers.

Queen of the South first featured a badge on their kit in 1947. This badge, found at the centre of the current badge, is strong, bearing a handsome monogram and the Dumfries motto, in Scots, A lore burne, referring to the Loreburn (or ‘muddy stream’), a stream that ran through a marsh near the town. In times of attack, this motto served as a rallying cry to the town. What I find less attractive in the current badge is the outer circle, bearing the club’s name and leaving a lot of negative space. Additionally, the current badge’s use of text within a shield is a violation of an ancient Scottish heraldic law.

When redesigning the Queen of the South badge, I struggled to come up with something that I found satisfying. I explored various heraldic motifs before settling on an updated ‘QS’ monogram bearing a ‘queen’s’ crown and featuring a football and the Dumfries motto in a banner.

QSFC badge-01

The kits make use of the Doonhamers’ traditional colours of blue (home) and red (away). The home strip is inspired in part by Bayern Munich’s handsome third kit from the 2013/14 season.

QSFC kit-01

QSFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

3 May 201824 February 2020 E Tagged 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers, 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers FC, 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers Football Club, 5th KOSB, 5th KOSB FC, 5th KOSB Football Club, A Lore Burne, Archangel Michael, Arrol-Johnston, Arrol-Johnston FC, Arrol-Johnston Football Club, badge, Bible, Book of Revelation, brand, Championship Division, County of Dumfries, crest, Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfries FC, Dumfries Football Club, Dumfrieshire, Dumfriesshire, Europe, football, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, Maxwelltown Volunteers, Maxwelltown Volunteers FC, Maxwelltown Volunteers Football Club, Michael, New Testament, Queen of the South, Queen of the South FC, Queen of the South Football Club, Queens, rebrand, redesign, Revelation, Revelation of St John, Saint Michael, Saint Michael the Archangel, Scotland, Scots, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, St Michael, St Michael the Archangel, Taxiarch Archangel Michael, texture, UK, United Kingdom Leave a comment

ReBrand: Inverness CT FC

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ICTFC badge new-01Caledonian Thistle Football Club was the result of a 1994 union between two historic Invernessian football clubs – Inverness Thistle and Caledonian, both established in 1885. In 1996, Inverness District Council requested that ‘Inverness’ be added to the club’s name. Instead of going the easy route with Inverness United FC or something of that ilk, we have the monstrosity that is ICTFC. More on that later.

Caley began life in the lowest tier of the Scottish Football League alongside Highland rivals Ross County. Over the coming years, the club would work its way up the SFL ranks, gaining prominence through their notable Scottish Cup victories over Celtic in the third round of the 1999/2000 competition as well as in the quarter-finals of the 2002/03 competition. In the 2003/04 season, Caley finished at the top of the second tier table, gaining promotion to what was then called the Scottish Premier League. The club was relegated back to the second tier after five seasons, before returning to the top for the 2010/11 season.

The 2014/15 season proved to be Caley’s finest, finishing in the third spot of the Premiership table and defeating St Mirren, Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers, Celtic and, finally, Falkirk on their road to lifting the Scottish Cup. But the good times did not last forever. At the end of the 2016/17 season, the Highland Jags found themselves relegated to the Scottish Championship, where they continue to compete today.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club. ICTFC. If the name is a mouthful, the current badge is an eyeful. In this badge, we find a thistle (the symbol of Inverness Thistle), a golden eagle (the symbol of Caledonian) and a football. It’s not so much the presence of these symbols that make this badge challenging, but that there are at least two very distinctive illustrative styles employed in their depictions. Further insult is added to injury with a very poorly designed banner bearing the club’s name.

Over the years, I have attempted several redesigns of Caley’s badge. Among all Scottish football badges, I found this to be one of the most difficult. In each attempt, I sought to employ all of the information included in the current badge and each attempt yielded a slight improvement. Still, I found my redesigns difficult to stomach.

Eventually, I realised that in my desire to capture so much in a badge, I failed in Mies’ insistence that ‘less is more’. Therefore, I have attempted yet another redesign of this behemoth of a badge. In this redesign, minimalism has been my aim. No words. No dates. Only simple lines depicting the head of a golden eagle and a thistle.

ICTFC badge-01

For the home shirt, I decided to go with Caley’s blue and red stripes, which have featured on most of the club’s kits since the union in 1994. The away shirt is inspired by the former Inverness Thistle’s home strips, with the black and red vertical stripes in near constant use in from 1894 until the union.

ICTFC kit-01

ICTFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

30 April 201824 February 2020 E Tagged badge, brand, Caley, Caley Jags, Caley Thistle, Championship Division, crest, Europe, football, ICT, Inverness, Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC, Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, Inverness CT, Inverness CT Football Club, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, Pride of the Highlands, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Caley Jags, The Pride of the Highlands, UK, United Kingdom 1 Comment

ReBrand: Greenock Morton FC

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GMFC badge new-01Greenock Morton Football Club was established as Morton Football Club in 1874, making them the sixth oldest football club in Scotland. The precise origin of the name ‘Morton’ is unclear, though it may have been taken from ‘Morton Terrace’, a row of houses where some of the players stayed beside of the club’s original playing field.

Following the formation of the Scottish Football League in 1890, the original Second Division was formed in 1893, with Morton as one of the founding members. In the 1899/1900 season, Morton finished second, one point behind Partick Thistle. The following season, both clubs were admitted into the top tier, with Thistle finishing last and Morton coming in fourth with 21 points, behind Hibernian (25), Celtic (29) and Rangers (35).

Over the coming decade, Morton would remain in the bottom half of the table, but in the 1910s, the club began to show more promise. In the 1913/14 and 1914/15 seasons, Morton came in fourth, and by 1915/16, they finished third. Morton’s finest top tier performance came in the 1916/17 season, when the club finished in the second spot. Four years later, the club’s highest honour came when they won the 1921/22 Scottish Cup with a 1-0 victory over Rangers at Hampden Park.

In the 1926/27 season, Morton finished second-bottom and, alongside last place Dundee United, returned to the second tier for the first time since the 1899/1900 season. Over the coming decades, Morton would experience more promotions (10) and relegations (10) to and from the top tier than any other side in Scottish football, with their most recent spell in top flight football ending with relegation at the end of the 1987/88 season.

The current badge, derived from the Greenock coat of arms, is strong and some variation of it has been used since 1978. Before this, from 1964, a simpler badge, bearing the club’s name and three stars, was used on occasion.

In reworking such a strong badge, I did not want to design something that would appear too similar to other badges. I considered the other clubs which feature a ship in full sail on their badge: Stranraer, formed in 1870 and one of the oldest clubs in Scotland, and Clyde, formed in 1877. The ship on Stranraer’s badge was adopted in 1961, while the ship on Clyde’s badge, from what I can tell, came into being in the mid-1930s. If I wanted to defer either to the age of the club or longevity of the use of a ship in a club’s badge, Stranraer and Clyde, respectively, beat out Morton. The shipbuilding industry is tied very closely to Clyde’s name and it is possible that the presence of a ship on their badge predates the next earliest badge design by more than two decades, so I have gone with a ship in that redesign. It is possible that I have overthought this.

For Morton, I considered using the Free French Memorial on Lyle Hill in Greenock (which honours the fallen sailors of Free French Naval Forces who were based at Greenock from 1940 to 1945), or the James Watt Dock Crane (named after the 19th-century Greenock-born inventor). Ultimately, I departed from local symbolism entirely and adopted the main colours of the current Morton badge to form a modern ‘GM’ monogram (round so as to suggest a football).

GMFC badge-01

For the home shirt, I went with the traditional blue and white hoops, which have featured on the vast majority of Morton’s home shirts from their earliest days (an aborted departure from which caused great unrest among Morton supporters in 2016). For the away shirt, the body is yellow (used commonly among many Morton away strips), with a seafoam green for the collar and sleeves.

GMFC kit-01

GMFC badge new-01

GMFC badge new 02-01.jpg

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

 

 

30 April 201824 February 2020 E Tagged badge, brand, Championship Division, Clyde, Clyde FC, Clyde Football Club, crane, crest, Europe, football, Free French Memorial, Greenock, Greenock Morton, Greenock Morton FC, Greenock Morton Football Club, Inverclyde, James Watt Dock Crane, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, Lyle Hill, monogram, Morton, Morton FC, Morton Football Club, Pride of the Clide, rebrand, redesign, River Clyde, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, ship, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, Stranraer, Stranraer FC, Stranraer Football Club, texture, The Ton, Ton, UK Leave a comment

ReBrand: Dunfermline Athletic FC

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DAFC badge new-01The history of association football in Scotland is tied inextricably to cricket. Along with clubs such as Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, St Mirren and potentially Heart of Midlothian, Dunfermline Athletic was established as a winter sporting pursuit in the cricket off-season.

The original club was called Dunfermline Football Club and was established in 1874. In order that non-cricket club members could join, Dunfermline FC broke away from the cricket club and became Dunfermline Athletic FC in 1885.

Dunfermline Athletic, or ‘the Pars’, as they are known, had a shot at their first major honour when they reached the final of the 1949/50 Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park. There, they faced their fellow Fifers, East Fife, who had won the competition two years earlier. The Pars were unlucky that day, losing 3-0, but a decade later they would have another opportunity at silverware.

On 26 April 1961, the Pars defeated Celtic 2-0 in the Scottish Cup final replay. Celtic would return the favour by defeating the Pars 3-2 in the 1964/65 final of the same competition. But the Pars’ tenacity brought the Scottish Cup back to East End Park after the club defeated Hearts in the 1967/68 final. It should also be noted that the Pars beat holders Celtic, fresh off of their illustrious 1966/67 season, in the first round of the 1967/68 Scottish Cup.

The Dunfermline Athletic kit did not include a badge until the 1958/59 season, when the club employed the skills of Dunfermline High School art teacher Colin Dymock. Dymock’s badge was thoroughly modern in shape, colour and design. It took the shape of a downward-pointing triangle and featured Malcolm’s Tower, a local landmark, as its centrepiece. This original badge was dropped from the kit in 1962.

The Pars’ shirt featured an encircled ‘DAFC’ monogram for the 1971/72 season and then from 1977 until 1986, home shirts featured the club’s initials alone. For the 1986/87 season, the club began to use a slight variation on Dymock’s 1958 badge design, and similar badges have adorned the breast of the Dunfermline Athletic shirt ever since.

The current Dunfermline Athletic badge is a cracker. When the first version was introduced in 1958, it would have been ground-breaking (and perhaps polarising). But it has become a cherished staple of the Dunfermline Athletic identity. That being stated, I find the badge very unrelatable. Malcolm’s Tower, named after Malcolm III of Scotland (Gaelic: Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, who reigned from 1058 to 1093), is a very historically significant site as it marks the move of the seat of royal power from Forteviot in Strathearn (modern-day Perth and Kinross) to Dunfermline. A crude depiction of the tower has featured in the Dunfermline coat of arms for centuries. But all that remains of the tower today is a foundational ruin and its precise design is unknown. As a result, Dymock’s design is simply an interpretation of what the tower might have looked like, and in a fragmented, modern style.

The challenge of redesigning such a unique and iconic badge has been floating around in my mind for a while now. I struggled while considering what iconography I might employ. Given my perception of the unrelatable nature of the 1958 badge, I wanted to offer something either more familiar or entirely different. I opted to retain the iconic triangular shape of the badge, but instead of Malcolm’s Tower, I decided to make use of one of Dunfermline’s most physically prominent and handsome landmarks: the clock tower of the City Chambers. With its striking green roof of oxidised copper and its skilful combination of French, Gothic and Scots baronial architectural styles, I believe that the clock tower proves to be a very fitting centrepiece for the redesigned badge. I also incorporated the zig-zagged white cloud stripes from the 1958 badge and lightened the blue background to sky blue.

DAFC badge-01

For the home shirt, I decided to continue with the Pars’ long tradition of black and white vertical stripes (in near-constant use since 1909), but with a pattern that echoes the triangular badge. For the away strip, I decided to make use of red (the predominant away strip colour over the last two decades) with a black gingham pattern (inspired by the 1996/97 home strip).

DAFC kit-01

DAFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

28 April 201824 February 2020 E Tagged badge, brand, Championship Division, Colin Dymock, crest, DAFC, design, Dunfermline, Dunfermline Athletic, Dunfermline Athletic FC, Dunfermline Athletic Football Club, Dunfermline City Chambers, Dunfermline Cricket Club, Dunfermline FC, Dunfermline Football Club, emblem, Europe, Fife, football, James Campbell Walker, Kingdom of Fife, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, Malcolm III, Malcolm III of Scotland, Pars, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Pars, UK, United Kingdom 2 Comments

ReBrand: Dundee United FC

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DUFC badge new-01It is recorded that by the middle of the nineteenth century, nearly 20% of Dundee’s population were Irish-born immigrants. As Hibernian had been established in 1875 in order to provide opportunity for young Irish Catholic immigrants in Edinburgh, the Irish Catholic community in Dundee formed their own club in 1879 – Dundee Harp.

One match of note took place on 12 September 1885, when Dundee Harp racked up a remarkable 35-0 victory over Aberdeen Rovers (who competed from 1884 until 1889). What makes this feat even more peculiar is that it happened on the very same day that Arbroath achieved their record 36-0 victory over Bon Accord, the largest margin of victory in world football until 2002. Needless to say, 12 September 1885 was a bad day to be an Aberdonian club.

By 1894, Dundee Harp was facing serious financial difficulties, resulting in suspension by the SFA and eventual dissolution.

In 1909, Dundee Hibernian Football Club was formed with a mission similar to that of Edinburgh’s Hibernian, Dundee Harp and Celtic. After only one season, Dundee Hibernian were admitted into the Scottish Football League. In order to appeal to a base beyond the Irish Catholic community in Dundee, the club changed their name to Dundee United in 1923. The name ‘Dundee City FC’ had been floated, but this was protested by the club’s cross-town rivals, Dundee FC.

In the 1924/25 season, Dundee United secured promotion to the top tier for the first time. They remained there for two seasons, being relegated in 1927 and then returning in 1929. This 1928/29 second tier championship would be United’s last major honour for more than 50 years, when they won two consecutive Scottish League Cups (1979/80 and 1980/81). These League Cup victories signalled the beginning of the ‘New Firm’, when both United and Aberdeen would prove themselves as worthy competitors against Celtic and Rangers. United was also a relatively formidable football club on the European scene in the mid-1980s.

More recently, United won the 2009/10 Scottish Cup (their second victory in ten Scottish Cup final appearances). Having experienced a period of bad form in the 2015/16 season, United were relegated from the top tier. With the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019/20 season ended prematurely. At that point, United had all but won the second-tier championship with a commanding 14-point lead after 28 matches. Although the second-place Inverness Caledonian Thistle had a game in-hand, the final decision regarding the table placement came down to a ‘points per game’ ranking in which United’s 2.11 secured their first-place finish over ICT’s 1.67.

With my redesign, I have decided to stick with the somewhat jarring black and tangerine colour scheme because it’s been a ‘DUFC’ trademark since the late 1960s. But I found the black text on an orange field very unpleasing to the eye. I replaced the clunky, emboldened (and overused) Roman typeface and added the year of the club’s founding, 1909. The lion rampant has been replaced by two dragons for historical reasons, as the former Dundee Hibernian’s original crest was inspired by the Dundee coat of arms, featuring two dragons supporting an entwined ‘DH’. This was done away with when the club was renamed Dundee United. The lion rampant, which had featured on match programmes from 1956, was incorporated into a badge in 1967.

DUFC badge-01

Because of Dundee United’s place as part of the ‘New Firm’ that dominated Scottish football in the 1980s, the home strip redesign is inspired by the classic Adidas kits worn during that period. The away strip redesign is inspired by United home shirts from the late 1920s.

DUFC kit-01

DUFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

 

26 April 201816 June 2020 E Tagged Aberdeen, Aberdeen FC, Aberdeen Football Club, Aberdeen Rovers, Aberdeen Rovers FC, Aberdeen Rovers Football Club, Arabs, badge, brand, Championship Division, crest, design, dragon, DUFC, Dundee, Dundee Harp, Dundee Harp FC, Dundee Harp Football Club, Dundee Hibernian, Dundee Hibernian FC, Dundee Hibernian Football Club, Dundee United FC, Dundee United Football Club, emblem, Europe, football, Hibernian, Hibernian FC, Hibernian Football Club, Ladbrokes Championship, Ladbrokes Premiership, logo, New Firm, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Premiership, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Premiership, sport, Tangerines, Terrors, texture, The Arabs, The Tangerines, The Terrors, UK, United Kingdom 3 Comments

ReBrand: Heart of Midlothian FC

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HMFC badge new-01The precise origin of the Heart of Midlothian Football Club is unclear. A report in The Scotsman from 1864 first mentions ‘Heart of Midlothian’ as a cricket club, though it is not known for certain whether—alongside the likes of Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic and St Mirren—this cricket club would eventually form the football club of the same name. What is known is that Heart of Midlothian adopted association football rules in 1874, which is considered the official year of the club’s formation.

In 2013, this illustrious club, bearing such domestic honours as four top tier (tied for third most), eight Scottish Cups (fourth most) and four Scottish League Cups (fourth most), began process of entering into administration. This resulted in disciplinary action by the Scottish Football Association, including an embargo on signing new players. Hearts were also forced to begin the 2013/14 season with a fifteen-point deduction.

By the end of the season, Hearts found themselves at the bottom of the top tier table and were relegated to the Scottish Championship (all other things being equal, had they not been deducted the 15 points, they still would have ended the season in a relegation playoff position). But demonstrating profound resilience, Hearts were able to secure promotion to the Scottish Premiership with seven games remaining in the 2014/15 season. With the events of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the wrapping up of the 2019/20 season after 30 matches, Hearts found themselves relegated back to the Scottish Championship for the 2020/21 season.

As far as badges go, the current Hearts badge is very strong. The image is based on a mosaic that can be found on the pavement near St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. The mosaic sits on the site of the Old Tolbooth (which stood between c.1400 and 1817), the former administrative centre of Edinburgh as well as the site of a prison and public executions.

With my redesign, I wanted to call back to an earlier age without doing away with the current badge completely, borrowing some features from the club’s previous badges, namely, the vertical bars supporting a central heart. I incorporated the more obtuse heart and gold lettering found in the current badge. I also incorporated a subtle Saltire in the inner and outer rings.

HMFC badge-01

For both the home and away kits, I went with a pared-down, 1970s look.

HMFC kit-01

HMFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

24 April 201816 June 2020 E Tagged badge, crest, Edinburgh, Europe, football, Heart of Midlothian, Heart of Midlothian FC, Heart of Midlothian Football Club, Hearts, Hearts FC, Hearts Football Club, HMFC, Jam Tarts, Jambos, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Jam Tarts, The Jambos, UK, United Kingdom 1 Comment

ReBrand: Dundee FC

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DFC badge new-01Established in 1893 by way of a merger between two Dundee football clubs—East End and Our Boys (both formed in 1877)—throughout the club’s history, Dundee Football Club have experienced their fair share of glory. The club won the Scottish Cup in 1909/10, as well as the Scottish League Cup in 1951/52, 1952/53 and 1973/74. The Dee were also crowned 1961/62 Scottish champions and the following season, they reached the semi-final of the European Cup.

But in 2003, Dundee’s future was put in jeopardy. As a result of accruing a £23m debt, the club was placed in administration. The Dee was able to continue operations after selling their stadium and remained in the second tier until 2012, when they gained unexpected promotion into what was then the Scottish Premier League as a result of the financial collapse of Rangers. Unfortunately, Dundee was knocked back down to the second tier after just one season.

Demonstrating their resilience, Dundee fought successfully to win the 2013/14 Scottish Championship (the second tier in Scottish football after the 2013 founding of the Scottish Professional Football League), beating out Hamilton Academical for the title and gaining promotion back to the top tier. Dundee’s fortunes took another knock at the end of the 2018/19 season, when they finished at the bottom of the Premiership table and were relegated to the Championship once again.

In 1952, the Dee first began sporting a club badge on their tops, featuring ‘DFC’ laid out diagonally, enclosed in shield. In 1955, the club began using the current ‘DFC’ badge. By 1970, a new badge, replacing the shield with a circle and red detail, was used on the kit. 1973 saw the return of the ‘DFC’ monogram, though without a shield. This was used until 1987, when a new badge (a variation of the design that appeared after the Second World War on official blazers and publications) was adopted. In 2008, Dundee returned to their original 1955 badge.

While I have long admired the 1955 badge, for my redesign I wanted to draw out more of the club’s history and locale. I drew inspiration from the laurel wreath featured in the badge used from 1987 to 2008 (which has reappeared for the 2019/20 season), as well as the knotted dragons’ tails in the Dundee coat of arms. I also redesigned the lettering of the monogram to be more uniform and proportioned and have added some implied depth by interweaving the letters. In seeking to comply with the ancient Scottish heraldic law forbidding lettering within a shield which is not approved by the Court of the Lord Lyon (something against which clubs like Airdrieonians and Ayr United have struggled), I have omitted the handsome shield surrounding the monogram.

DFC badge-01 2

The home shirt makes use of the traditional Dundee FC colour scheme of dark blue, red and white in a striking geometric arrangement. The away kit is inspired by the 1971/72 home kit and various away kits over the years, most recently, the away kit used for the 2016/17 season.

DFC kit-01

DFC badge new-01

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

23 April 201824 February 2020 E Tagged badge, crest, Dark Blues, Dee, Dees, DFC, Dundee, Dundee City, Dundee FC, Dundee Football Club, East End, East End FC, East End Football Club, Europe, football, Ladbrokes Championship, logo, monogram, Our Boys, Our Boys FC, Our Boys Football Club, rebrand, redesign, Scotland, Scottish Championship, Scottish Professional Football League, SPFL, SPFL Championship, sport, texture, The Dark Blues, The Dee, The Dees, UK Leave a comment
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