Soccer & Society

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Kissing the badge: Club crests or corporate logos?

Dr. Alison Barnes

To cite this article: Dr. Alison Barnes (2023) Kissing the badge: Club crests or corporate logos?,
Soccer & Society, 24:5, 607-621, DOI: 10.1080/14660970.2022.2072833
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2022.2072833

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SOCCER & SOCIETY
2023, VOL. 24, NO. 5, 607–621
https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2022.2072833

Kissing the badge: Club crests or corporate logos?

Dr. Alison Barnes
Lecturer in Graphic Design, School of Design and Creative Arts, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

ABSTRACT
Football is big business, yet for most top clubs in Europe and particularly
those in the English Premier League, match day income is not the core part of
their business. To improve their earning power, clubs increasingly operate as
brands. With much of the brand experience delivered in digital form, many
clubs are updating traditional crests or rebranding entirely for this platform.
With a focus on the redesign and use of club crests; the role of graphic
heritage in the design of these; and the different approaches to rebranding in
football, this article asks whether a brand and its associated visual identity are
designed or utilized differently in football and, that if football clubs are
positioned as a brand, could the club crest ever be considered a logo?

Introduction
Football is big business. In the 2018/19 season, the highest earning club globally—FC Barcelona—posted
revenues of nearly €841 million1. Of the 20 top earning clubs, eight played in the English Premier League
(EPL), cumulatively generating €3,836 million in revenue2. Several clubs across the world are no longer
owned by shareholders with long standing local and familial connections to the team, but are owned by
billionaire businesspeople, the majority of whom have no connection to the local area. Clubs are
increasingly discussed in terms of ‘the brand’ and sponsorship deals are entered into with global
corporate partners. Television deals beam games worldwide and top clubs across Europe boast an
international fan base. Income from broadcasting is invariably the main revenue for EPL clubs and, for
those in the top 20, commercial opportunities exceed match day income3. For the fan, events on the
pitch remain paramount, but for EPL clubs in the top 20 match day earnings are between 8% (Everton
FC) and 25% (Arsenal) of total revenue4 and are therefore no longer the core part of the business.
With such global reach, club crests are worn by fans all over the world. The crest or the club itself
are unlikely to be referred to by fans as a visual identity, logo or brand. However, for the club and its
marketing strategy, the crest, motto and club colours effectively operate as a visual identity system.
Yet, regardless of this repositioning of once local clubs as global businesses, the consumers in this
context—the fans—sometimes display a powerful voice when it comes to changes, especially those
relating to the club crest. This is an unusual situation and perhaps suggests that some owners
recognize the fans’ relationship with a club as ‘a negotiated form of brand ownership’5. Since the
advent of social media, brands and their consumers have a much closer relationship, yet rarely do
businesses consider consumer’s views on their new visual identity—an exception being Gap in
20106. Usually, online discussion and disapproval is ignored, and the visual identity implemented as
planned. However, within football, there are many examples of clubs changing designs following
supporter criticism. Recently, however, Juventus instigated a rebrand that, whilst garnering com­
plaints from supporters, has radically changed both their crest and their brand strategy7.

CONTACT Dr Alison Barnes alison.barnes@westernsydney.edu.au School of Humanities and Communication Arts,

Western Sydney University
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
608 A. BARNES:

Very few corporations involve customers in the rebrand process. A notable exception is Johnson
Banks’ work with Mozilla8. Their approach was akin to the many football clubs who have engaged
supporters in the design process, ensuring that aspects of the club’s history and tradition that are
important to fans are encapsulated within the design through its ‘graphic heritage’9. Graphic
heritage can be described as the way elements such as colour, symbols, and lettering provide
a visual connection to both tangible and intangible heritage, triggering a range of memories and
meanings for the audience. The club crest is a specific example of graphic heritage that unites the
tangible and intangible—it resides on merchandise and stadia, but in the eyes of fans it has become
a ‘sacred’ symbol that connects to their love of the club and a set of deeper values10. This tension
between the fan’s relationship with the club, their perception of the crest and a club’s desire to
modernize create an unusual situation. Therefore, this article asks whether, compared to commer­
cial norms, a brand and its associated visual identity are designed or utilized differently in a football
context and if football clubs are now being positioned as a brand, could the club crest ever be
considered a logo?
Drawing on literature from branding; graphic design; sports marketing; and the sociology of
sport, the interdisciplinary discussion is built through three sections that feature an analysis of the
approaches to, and outcomes of, the rebrand of four European clubs; Arsenal, Cardiff City, Everton
and Juventus. These examples were chosen for specific reasons. Firstly, they have been variously
discussed in an academic context11; a graphic design and branding context12; and in the media13.
Secondly, each showcases a different approach to the practice of branding: the proactive use of older
versions of the club crest after rebranding; the successful mobilization of fans against the redesign of
the club crest; the engagement of supporters as part of the crest redesign process; and the redesign of
the traditional crest with a new market in mind. Each section is underpinned with contextual
information on the history of the club crests and visual analysis of the symbolic meanings of the
graphic elements used—such as icons, symbols and colours—which enables an understanding of
the role graphic heritage plays in this process.
In conclusion, the article suggests that, although some clubs do not conform to the usual design
process or execution of a contemporary visual identity system and logo, there remains merit in the
use of graphic heritage that refers to a local context in the design of a more traditional crest—even in
a global market. Conversely, it also suggests that, in seeking to go beyond a traditional football
audience, Juventus have adopted a logo that speaks globally and sits comfortably alongside non-
footballing brands. However, for fans, a club crest is unlikely to ever be perceived as a logo as, to
them, it is integral to personal rather than corporate identity. To this end, design agencies engaged
in the rebrand of football clubs need to ensure that a club’s graphic heritage continues to enable
a meaningful connection for fans.

Branding and football

The roots of contemporary branding can be traced back to farmers branding livestock with
a graphic mark that was specific to them14. Visibly marking ownership spread to manufacturers
who began to use signatures on packaging to distinguish their products14. In the UK, the Trade
Mark Registration Act came into effect in January 1876 and the presentation of brand names or
symbols began to be formalized14. This type of design became known as ‘corporate identity’ by the
mid twentieth century14. The focus of corporate identity was on the development of a consistent
system of application for a company’s visual identity through the use of a logo, typeface and
colours14. The term ‘branding’ was established in the 1990s, with design practice moving ‘away
from the simple application of a name and logo in the packaging and advertising of products’15 with
‘values’, ‘feelings’ and ‘relationships’ becoming key16. The use of the words ‘feelings’ and ‘relation­
ships’ enables us to see how a football club might easily position itself as a brand. For its
‘consumers’, their relationship with the club can evoke strong emotions and, aside from entertain­
ment, politics and religion, the fans’ emotional response to sport is said to be stronger than any
 SOCCER & SOCIETY 609

other industry17. Wally Olins, one of the UKs’ most successful branding consultants, described
branding as ‘a profound manifestation of the human condition. It is about belonging: belonging to
a tribe, to a religion, to a family. Branding demonstrates that sense of belonging’18. In football, this
relationship often goes beyond that which one might normally have with a brand—football could
never be described as ‘just a business’ and ‘no one has their ashes scattered down the aisle at
Tesco’19. There is no doubt that capitalizing on this fervent connection to the team offers those who
run the clubs the potential to build and strengthen their brand20, yet this can result in tensions
between fans and owners.

Brand narratives
Football can be described as a product as it has both intangible benefits—the emotion and
experience of being a supporter—and tangible experiences such as the results of the games, the
stadia and the merchandising21. The experiences that constitute the brand are a relatively disparate
set of elements that are drawn together through a process of storytelling. For football clubs, this is
likely to include aspects that relate to history and tradition, nostalgia, iconic players and key
successes on the pitch22. Such narratives create a distinct brand identity and enable fans—both
old and new—to connect with the club emotionally, offering a sense of identity and belonging. For
example, as I began to write this, Arsenal featured two ‘on this day’ stories on their social media
channels and website. One in relation to winning the league in 2004 at Tottenham Hotspur, their
greatest rivals; the other about winning the Fairs Cup in 1970. For those who remember these
events, they can reminisce with other fans (both in real life and in globally accessible web forums)
about these two great moments in their lives. For newer fans, this also enables a stronger connection
with more established fans as they can ‘prove their credentials’ with knowledge of Arsenal’s history.
For supporters, this is a pleasurable experience; for the club it is a way of increasing brand value23,
particularly if current results fall short of ‘the glory days’.

Football as a product
Usually, a critical aspect of any brand is a successful product. However, successful football cannot be
produced to order, so clubs need to maximize previous successes to achieve ‘brand recognition’ and,
ultimately, loyalty in prospective fans24. Usually, when a new version of any product is launched it is
marketed as an upgrade. For all football clubs, there will inevitably be periods when a current season is
worse than previous campaigns. However, due to the emotional connection fans have with the club, they
are unlikely to switch allegiance if the product is ‘faulty’. Therefore, football clubs do not conform to one
of the fundamental principles of branding—consistency25—and football is ‘consumed’ by fans differ­
ently to many other products. As clubs are now operating globally, and more reliant on commercial
income than gate receipts, attracting new fans is paramount. Therefore, the ability to tell a brand story
that that transcends poor results and connects with fans in a personally affective way is critical26.

Brand experience
The branding of football teams aligns with the broader trend to market and commoditize ‘experi­
ences’, and centres on a desire to extend the relationship clubs have with their supporters beyond
the confines of the stadium and the day of the match27. Even the biggest stadia in the world only seat
around 100,000 people with matches played twice a week in the season at most. A brand, however,
can be encountered by millions of people daily, connecting across both space and time. As noted
above, brands effectively build communities and are therefore also about identity. By declaring an
affinity with a particular brand, we become part of that tribe and with football, this is perhaps more
evident than with other types of products. When watching the game (even if not at the stadium)
many fans will wear club crests and club colours to identify their allegiance. The performance of
610 A. BARNES:

one’s footballing identity also spreads beyond matchday, with football branded merchandise worn
and used across the world daily. A brand can be positioned as ‘a way of life, an attitude, a set of
values, a look, an idea’28; thus, the fan is essentially part author of what the brand is. The brand
effectively resides in both the conscious and subconscious minds of current and potential fans and,
as we will see in the next section, this offers fans a sense of ownership29.

Fans or consumers?
Much has been written about football fans and the club they support operating as a brand. Research
in this area often posits that ‘true’ football fans are ‘anti-brand’ and resistant to their club being run
as such30. However, other research has found that many fans take a more pragmatic attitude,
viewing branding as necessary to remain competitive in what is as much a commercial environment
as a sporting one31—they have become ‘market realists’32. Yet, the heightened emotions fans feel for
their club perhaps leads supporters to feel and act differently than with other brands they consume.
For example, recent attempts to establish a European Super League (ESL) between twelve of the
biggest clubs in Europe—including six EPL clubs—revealed a focus on a future global fanbase
extending far beyond the ‘legacy fan’—those who have grown up with the club and often live
locally33. However, after unequivocal damnation from those legacy fans who took to social media to
register their displeasure and organized protests outside grounds,34 and criticism from the media
and the UK government,35 most clubs involved swiftly backed down, in danger of damaging their
brands rather than building them.
At Arsenal, who are owned by American investors, chants of ‘Stan Kroenke get out of our club’
have been a regular feature on matchdays over the past few years. A more extreme response from
Manchester United fans was the formation of Football Club United Manchester (FC United), set up
in response to increasing commercialization and the eventual takeover by the Glazer family. The
name and club crest of FC United deliberately reinstate elements that Manchester United removed
in the ‘streamlining’ of the club crest during the process of commercialization. For example, the
words ‘Football Club’ are prominent in FC United’s name and the crest reintroduces the three
stripes that are present in the city’s coat of arms. Fans are often protective of the heritage of their
club and to some extent see themselves as caretakers of its history, tradition and values in seeking to
maintain a level of ‘authenticity’ within the club and their relationship with it. In the reinstatement
of certain visual elements of the FC United crest, the club is leveraging graphic heritage in a variety
of ways. First, it makes a direct visual connection with the Manchester United club crest of the 1960s
and the club as it was prior to the increasing commercialization and takeover. Second, it roots the
club within the local community, reinstating the visual connection with the City of Manchester.
Third, it re-emphasizes football as integral to the club. While this may seem obvious, we will see
below that brand experiences going far beyond the realms of football and the legacy fan are
becoming a driving force for clubs looking to expand their market.
Central to much of the discussion around the contemporary practice of branding are ideas of
‘authenticity’, with brand strategists viewing it as integral to consumer trust and the success of
a brand or product. In general terms, the concept of ‘authenticity’ relates to a sense of truthfulness—
whether something can be verified as what it purports to be36. However, in branding terms what
a football club is may differ depending on who you ask, and the experience of ‘authenticity’ is
inevitably co-produced between the fan and the club, thus positioning it as socially constructed37.
Storytelling is also a key approach for brands, helping build an emotional connection with the
audience and a sense of belonging that maintains the idea of authenticity. It can be leveraged
particularly by those clubs with a successful history38 and used to gain commercial advantage. Ideas
of ‘authenticity’, identity and belonging are also used by the fans—as we will see below—to gain the
‘moral high ground’ with supporters of rival clubs. Whilst football clubs tell much of their story on
the pitch, the fan also engages with the narrative via a range of designed touchpoints39 featuring the
club crest, colours and motto which, in branding terms, can be positioned as a visual identity.
 SOCCER & SOCIETY 611

Consuming the brand: A visual identity

Whether they view their club as a brand or not, there is no doubt that one of the main ways fans
show their allegiance to their team is through replica shirts and other merchandise that features the
club crest and colours. The sporting of club merchandise is a way of performing one’s social and
cultural identity and this relationship between the fan, their identity and a club’s visual identity has
been discussed extensively in a range of academic literature. For example, in relation to: a sense of
pride40; the fans’ self-definition and community building both within and beyond the stadium41;
a ‘common consciousness42; differentiation43; devotion44 and ‘holy’ symbols revered by ‘zealous
believers’45; and the construction of nostalgia and myth46.
Football clubs have been described as ‘deceptively ephemeral fan objects’47 as many of the more
tangible aspects—including players, club crests and shirts—change regularly. These regular changes
notwithstanding, the club colours and crest function as a ‘visual shorthand’ for the club and its
values in the same way that a logo does for a brand. However, in commercial branding the visual
identity system, is just that—a system. It has clear specifications as to logo use and specific
guidelines for elements such as brand colours and typefaces. This is particularly important when
a company rebrands, as to present a confused and partly outdated visual identity across touchpoints
would suggest a mismanaged company. Yet, in football, club crests from previous eras are
proactively used to engage fans with the brand story.

Heritage & History 2 – 1 The Present

Although Arsenal now reside in the London borough of Islington, they were formed in the
London borough of Woolwich in 1886 by a group of workers from the Woolwich Arsenal
Armament factory48. The first known reference to a club crest was in 1905, by which time the
club’s name had been shortened to Woolwich Arsenal. The crest featured three canons
reflecting the coat of arms of the borough. In 1913, when Arsenal moved to Highbury in
Islington, one might have expected the visual link to Woolwich to disappear; however, in 1921
a new crest with a single canon was produced. In 1949, a redesign featuring a single canon
within a shield along with the London borough of Islington coat of arms and the newly
established club motto, ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ (Victory through harmony) was imple­
mented. This remained the club’s main crest—with some slight modifications—until the
introduction of the current crest in 200249. However, it was not until 1967 that club crests
began to appear regularly on the team shirts. Prior to this, only FA Cup final shirts featured
a club crest and in the late 1920s/early 1930s these seem to vary each year and sometimes
differ completely from the crest that was in use at the time50. This is perhaps understandable
as the concept of corporate identity was not established until the 1950s.
In 1936, the now listed Highbury East Stand was built. A new crest was designed and positioned on
the exterior of the building and within the flooring of the entrance but never used on the shirts51.
Currently, this crest is used on an extensive ‘heritage range’ of merchandise, including on replica shirts
in the position usually occupied by the current club crest (Figure 1). Its revival can be understood in
context with the club’s success during that period, with five league titles and two FA Cup wins secured
in the 1930s. Therefore, the use of this crest as part of the contemporary branding activity is an
example of graphic heritage driving a nostalgic brand story. Even though few current fans will have
any recollection of that period, the crest connects the present-day supporter with a narrative of
success. To wear a shirt with this crest is both to acknowledge the history of the club and communicate
your credentials as a fan. The concept of history is very important to fans—there is a pride in the idea
of ‘authenticity’ and ‘provenance’, not just in terms of one’s own supporting legacy but also in relation
to the club itself. For example, a derogatory chant levelled at Chelsea FC by Arsenal fans states ‘shit
club; no history’, referring to the fact that multiple trophies—including many won before Russian
oligarch Roman Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea—are integral to Arsenal’s heritage.
612 A. BARNES:

Figure 1. Arsenal ‘heritage range’ shirts featuring 1930s crest.

For supporters, this particular crest is also steeped in meaning as it creates a tangible
connection to Highbury, the stadium Arsenal left after the 2005/6 season. In this sense, the
crest also plays a place-making role alongside more conscious ‘Arsenalisation’53 activities
undertaken at the new Emirates sponsored stadium at Ashburton Grove. So, rather than
presenting a confused brand, the use of previous club crests working in tandem with the new
creates a vicarious sense of nostalgia for fans to connect with that will positively affect the
‘brand’s’ heritage52. Indeed, for many football fans, partly because of the ephemeral nature of
the brand as noted above, ideas of heritage and tradition are extremely important54.
Therefore, a club’s desire to redesign their crest with a view to maximizing commercial
impact often results in tension between fans and club.

Crests 1 – 0 Logos (HT)

The club crest is integral to a supporter’s identity, it is also often part of the celebration
routine when a player scores a goal—they will literally kiss the badge on their shirt to signify
their love for the club. For a fan, the crest and club colours are ‘untouchable’ and have
‘sacred’ meaning55. However, with the globalization of the game and the need to compete
financially, this has not stopped several clubs attempting to change these fundamental aspects
of their visual identity.
 SOCCER & SOCIETY 613

Having taken over Cardiff City FC in 2010, Malaysian businessman, Vincent Tan, sought
to rebrand the club for the Asian market and in 2012 changed their blue shirts to red and
redesigned the club crest. The Welsh red dragon became the primary symbol, with the
traditional bluebird symbol reduced in size and positioned beneath the dragon56. Given that
Cardiff had played in blue shirts and been known as ‘the blue birds’ since 1908, this angered
supporters. They protested in various forms and in 2015 the club reverted to blue shirts and
the blue bird was reinstated as the primary symbol on the crest57. However, although the
dragon was retained, its new design was that of a Chinese dragon, with a snake-like body.
The graphic heritage used here seems to reflect a compromise. The redrawn dragon symbol
speaks to a global audience, particularly those in Asia, but for existing Cardiff fans, the crest
reflects the club’s history and heritage through the reinstatement of the blue bird and blue as
the predominant colour (Figure 2). In this case, the use of the traditional blue bird and
Cardiff City blue within the new crest—and with it, the connection to the club’s history and
heritage58—seem to have mitigated concerns about the redrawn dragon.
More recently, fans have been involved in decision-making in the redesign of club crests.
This is extremely unusual in the wider field of branding, with consumers rarely asked to give
their opinions before a rebrand is rolled out. A notable exception is Johnson Banks’ work for
the internet company Mozilla. The company took an ‘open design’ approach to align with
Mozilla’s open-source approach to its software development and a blog was used to gather
feedback from the Mozilla community on work in progress59. The use of the word community
here is important. At its core, branding could be described as an attempt to build
a community around something. As we have seen above, some aspects of life generate more

Figure 2. Car sticker featuring the Cardiff City crest with redrawn dragon.
614 A. BARNES:

visceral responses than others and one reason the Mozilla community are so invested in the
company is partly because of its continual struggle against corporations like Microsoft and
Google.
In football, the inclusion of fans in the decision-making process is a relatively regular occurrence
and can be described as an example of ‘negotiated brand ownership’60. For example, prior to the
2013/14 season, Everton released a redesigned club crest driven by its increased use on digital and
retail platforms61. This received a backlash on social media with thousands of supporters signing
a petition to remove it.
Social media is particularly well placed to capitalize on the relationship between the fans and the club
due to the heightened emotions involved in football62. It not only allows for a direct connection between
the fans and club to be maintained beyond the 90 minutes on the pitch, it also enables simultaneous
connections that vastly exceed the capacity and geographic location of the stadium63. Whilst social
media can help nurture a ‘meaningful relationship’ between club and fans64, it also offers a platform for
‘user generated content’ (UGC). As such, the discussions are not always under the control of the club65
and are, therefore, not always positive. That Everton agreed to retire the crest after that season is an
example of the ‘power’ being wrested from the club by the creation, sharing and consumption of UGC66.
Subsequently, the club engaged a Liverpool-based design consultancy to develop a revised crest
in conjunction with supporters. This resulted in the design of three crests which Everton fans were
able to vote on67. The option chosen was the one offering the clearest visual connection to the
previous crest’s graphic heritage. It reinstates: the club’s motto, ‘Nil satis nisi optimum’ (Nothing
but the best is good enough); 1878 (the club’s founding year); and the two laurel wreaths—a symbol
that is connected to ideas of victory. It also features a redrawn Prince Rupert tower—a local
landmark that ‘strengthens the club’s cultural identity and a sense of place’68. The redrawn tower
icon is much closer in style and format to the crests between 1938 and 1972 and from 1978 onwards
(Figure 3)—time frames that coincide with periods of success on the pitch for Everton, with

Figure 3. Car air freshener featuring the redesigned Everton crest.

 SOCCER & SOCIETY 615

multiple honours won between both 1962–1970 and 1983–1987. So, once again, the use of graphic
heritage reconnects fans with a nostalgic story and vision of their club—one in which the team was
successful on the pitch.
Given that storytelling is key to the practice of branding, and clubs endeavour to connect fans
with a narrative of success via past victories, it would seem strange to dispense with crests that
connect to these moments. However, as we will see in the next section, the drive to maximize
commercial opportunity on digital platforms and seek opportunities beyond the game itself has
begun to redefine some clubs’ approach to rebranding.

Crests 1 – 1 Logos (FT)

In 2017, Juventus launched their new club crest, having commissioned global branding agency
Interbrand to undertake the redesign. Since 1905 the crest had almost exclusively featured varia­
tions of a black and white vertically striped oval shield with either a zebra or bull (the symbol of
Turin) rearing up on its hind legs69. As one of the leading clubs in Italy, Juventus were one of the
main instigators of the ESL and, at the time of writing, had not withdrawn from the breakaway
project70. Juventus’ intent in terms of their global reach, market segmentation and brand therefore
extends far beyond Turin. The new crest takes the form of a capital J created in black and white
stripes (Figure 4). The outline of the J hints at a shield shape which does not relate to the club’s

Figure 4. Sticker featuring the redesigned Juventus crest.

616 A. BARNES:

previous crest. The only remaining visual connection to the history and heritage of the club are the
black and white stripes. Unsurprisingly the rebrand angered fans, but their protests were not
enough to change Juventus’ decision.
When designing a successful logo, various attributes must be considered. The logo must be simple;
scalable; reproduceable (across different platforms); readable; distinct; memorable; timeless; and
appropriate for the brand/product. Traditional crests do not display many of these attributes, but
in assessing Juventus’ new crest against them, it meets the first six. As a simple single letter formed out
of black and white stripes, it sits completely apart from the traditional crests prevalent throughout the
game. It is perhaps questionable in terms of its timeless nature simply because it seems so con­
temporary, and it is therefore difficult to imagine it having the longevity of some of its forerunners.
Conversely, it is because of its contemporaneous nature that sets it apart from more traditional crests.
The only other element included in the design is the word Juventus, which sits above the J in capitals
in a bespoke typeface, ‘Juventus Fans’. This is perhaps an attempt to ensure the current Juventus fans
feel connected to the rebrand and to position the fans and club as a co-constructed community.
The final attribute of a well-designed logo is that it should be appropriate for a brand or product.
In the previous rebrand example, legacy fans and traditional footballing heritage took precedence.
However, Juventus are clear that their future is not only far beyond the fans in Turin who attend
games but is also ‘beyond football’71. In seeking to expand their market, Interbrand realized that
targeting football fans who currently support another club would be difficult as fans are traditionally
loyal to their first club. Hence, the brand strategy was to connect with ‘customers’ who are not yet
interested in football—those who are ‘entertainment enthusiasts’ or perhaps interested in sports
generally—through the creation of ‘premium, lifestyle experiences that would capture the imagina­
tions of a new generation of supporters’72. Indeed, Georgio Ricci, the club’s chief revenue officer,
states that the rebrand ‘was about being identified as something wider than a pure football brand’73.
The launch took place at Milan Fashion Week—a controversial location as it is home to two of their
greatest rivals, Inter Milan and AC Milan. With fashion week receiving global attention, it
reinforces the intent to look beyond their local fanbase and towards those whose primary interests
do not lie with football.
For current fans, this might seem to go against the club’s values, but intent on weaving the past
with the future Interbrand have established a trademarked brand story entitled ‘Live Ahead’. It is
described as drawing from Juventus’ ‘spirit, DNA and values off and on the pitch’ and has been
designed as a ‘guiding thread’, connecting ‘the brand’s roots—football tradition, excellence, ambi­
tion, resilience and great courage’—with the club’s future74. Embedded within the Live Ahead
section of the club’s website, the video is slickly art directed, featuring the Juventus Fans typeface
and a voiceover in English narrated with an American accent. Whether this resonates with the
existing fans is unclear, but what is clear is that this is a football club being positioned as a brand,
one that is looking to transcend the local and move beyond sport into the wider entertainment
market. In that environment a logo that can sit confidently alongside those of Nike or Chanel and
that comes with a compelling and well-constructed brand story is imperative. Indeed, the rebrand
has won two D&AD awards for the overall branding scheme and the bespoke typeface. This is an
industry body, so this is recognition by the design community and, according to Juventus’ website,
it suggests the ‘new logo and new font [has] entered the elite of style and fashion’75.
Some within the branding industry have sounded a note of caution, concerned that the club is in
danger of leaving behind their existing fanbase76. However, given Juventus are still committed to
the ESL and are deliberately attempting to ‘transcend sport’77 their larger market lies far beyond the
41,057 fans who can attend matches. As we have seen, match day income is rarely what financial
stability is built on, and Italian clubs cannot compete with the money EPL clubs receive from TV
rights. In 2015/16 Juventus were 10th place in Deloitte’s Football Money League78 and even though
this position had not changed by the 2019/20 season, their commercial income had moved from
30% of their overall income to 47% and the figures for their social media followers place them in the
top 10 globally with their Instagram account having the third largest numbers of followers in the
 SOCCER & SOCIETY 617

list. The report notes that the club continue to explore ‘innovative opportunities’, including
collaborations with fashion brands, a J-hotel and a deal to broadcast Juventus TV on streaming
platform Amazon Prime79.
Ultimately, with more commercial revenue, it is likely that Juventus will be able to sustain a more
high-profile playing staff, which may lead to greater success on the pitch—what all fans want, legacy
or otherwise. So, while protests may have been visible on social media at the launch of the rebrand,
they are unlikely to continue in any meaningful way—instances like the formation of FC United
Manchester are the exception rather than the rule. It is highly likely that Juventus will retain their
legacy fans, just as they have retained the graphic heritage of their black and white stripes.

Conclusion
In the examples discussed above, Arsenal, Cardiff City and Everton do not utilize the club crest in
a way that aligns with more usual approaches to rebranding. Variously, they reprise old logos
alongside current ones; bow to consumer pressure to change designs; and invite fans contribute to
the rebrand process. The nature of the relationship between fans and their football club is one in
which the fundamental principles of branding are likely to flourish, for at the heart of branding is
the desire to build a community around a shared interest. Yet, for many fans, the idea of branding is
an anathema—associated with global takeovers and a lack of respect for the legacy fans. However, as
the game becomes ever more global, and commercial opportunities like the ESL continue to be
explored by the more successful clubs, it seems that fans will have to accept that club crests will be
redesigned and the club itself will operate as a brand.
In looking ‘beyond football’, Juventus are looking beyond the traditional fan to those who are not
currently followers of the game. Given their rebrand meets most of the criteria for a well-designed
logo, it suggests that Interbrand’s expertise in this area has also shifted the club crest beyond football
and into territory that requires a logo appropriate for the new market Juventus are looking to attract.
By reducing the graphic heritage featured down to black and white stripes, they have ensured that
the most easily communicable aspect of it is retained, for in a global context it is unlikely many new
fans will be aware of the symbol of Turin. It seems that Interbrand’s approach is having an effect
within the wider game, with two French clubs—Nantes80 and Stade de Reims81—recently launching
rebrands that lean heavily on similar aesthetic choices. Visual aspects of a logo such as simplicity,
readability and reproducibility may thus start to take precedence due to the targeting of an
increasingly global audience via digital platforms.
However, English FA guidelines for new or smaller clubs looking to brand/rebrand includes
advice to seek design inspiration from local landmarks82, as Everton have done. Fans like to ‘prove’
their credentials, and understanding the symbolism contained with the graphic heritage and
knowing the history and traditions of the club is important. So, perhaps in this case, the local can
function globally and, in turn, a level of ‘authenticity’ for the brand can be achieved. In football, the
nuanced relationship the fan has with the club, with other fans of the same club and with fans of
rival clubs, perhaps mitigates the use of heritage in a way that transcends the local and defies an
anachronistic approach to design. Therefore, it is likely the use of local heritage elements can
continue to be leveraged, even in global markets83.
For clubs engaging specialist branding agencies solutions pitched are always likely to be rooted
within the design zeitgeist, and for logo design this currently reflects visual simplicity over complex­
ity. What remains to be seen is whether the aesthetic choices made by Juventus, Nantes and Stade de
Riems are revealed as simply following contemporary trends in logo design or whether they will
establish themselves with fans as graphic heritage that has the symbolic meaning and longevity of
the traditional crests they have replaced. However, even if Juventus’ logo does become accepted as
the club crest by their legacy fans, it is unlikely they will refer to it as such. Whilst such fans are
cognisant of the need for clubs to operate as a business, the crest on their chest is one that is imbued
618 A. BARNES:

with sacred history and is a badge of personal expression, not corporate identity. For branding
agencies, therefore, it is key to ensure that a club’s graphic heritage continues to enable fans to
connect with the club in this way.

Notes
1. Jones, ‘Eye on the Prize’, 2.
2. Ibid, 9.
3. Ibid, 5.
4. Ibid, 50 & 34.
5. Crisp, et al., ‘Of proprietors and poachers’, 319.
6. Halliday, ‘Gap scraps logo’.
7. Banks, ‘Juventus seeks’.
8. McLaughlin, ‘Johnson Banks’.
9. Harland and Xu, Repositioning Graphic Heritage.
10. Derbaix and Decrop, ‘Colours and scarves’, 282.
11. See, for example, Church and Penny, ‘Power, space and the new stadium’, Kennedy, Peter and David Kennedy,
‘It’s the little details’.
12. See, for example, Banks, Tom. ‘Juventus seeks to go “beyond football”.
13. See, for example, James, Stuart, ‘Cardiff revert to blue kit’ and Hunter, Andy, ‘Everton fans up in arms’.
14. Johnson, Branding in Five and a Half Steps, 13–14.
15. Moor, The Rise of Brands, 3.
16. Ibid., 6.
17. Richelieu and Lessard, ‘Long gone the glory days’, 287.
18. Millman, Brand Thinking, 11.
19. Taylor, 1998, cited in Edensor and Millington, ‘This is our city’, 177.
20. Richelieu and Pons, ‘How strong is my sports brand?’, 355.
21. Richelieu and Lessard, ‘Long gone the glory days’, 286.
22. Guschwan, ‘The football brand dilemma’, 373, 375.
23. Guschwan, ‘Fandom, brandom’, 23.
24. Stride, Wilson and Thomas, ‘Honouring heroes’, 757.
25. Lowery 2006, cited in Edensor and Millington, ‘This is our city’, 177.
26. Richelieu and Lessard, ‘Long gone the glory days’, 291.
27. Edensor and Millington, ‘This is our city’, 176.
28. Klein, No Logo, 23.
29. Guschwan, ‘Fandom, brandom’, 25.
30. Abosag, Roper and Hind, ‘Examining the relationship’, 1234, see also Chadwick and Beech, ‘Introduction’, 12.
31. Abosag, Roper and Hind, ‘Examining the relationship’, 1238.
32. Kennedy and Kennedy, ‘It’s the little details’, 554.
33. Williams, ‘ESL clubs focused on ‘fans of the future’.
34. Ames, ‘Thousands of Arsenal fans stage protest’.
35. Ingle, ‘European Super League’.
36. Newman and Smith, ‘Kinds of authenticity’, 610.
37. Maffei, ‘Surveying the borders’, 211.
38. Richelieu and Lessard, ‘Long gone the glory days’, 291.
39. Guschwan, ‘The football brand dilemma’, 372.
40. Decrop and Derbaix, ‘Pride in contemporary sport consumption’ and Gordon, et al., ‘The role of pride
feelings’.
41. Hofmann, ‘Why we wear it’.
42. Kossakowski, ‘Hooligans, Ultras, Activists’, 19.
43. Derbaix and Decrop, ‘Colours and scarves’, 284.
44. Derbaix and Decrop, ‘Colours and scarves’, 285.
45. Kossakowski, ‘Hooligans, Ultras, Activists’, 141.
46. Guschwan, ‘The football brand dilemma’, 376.
47. Crisp, et al., ‘Of proprietors and poachers’, 323.
48. Arsenal, ‘Dial Square to North London’.
49. Arsenal, ‘The Arsenal crest’.
50. Arsenal, ‘The Arsenal home kit’.
51. Arsenal, ‘The Arsenal crest’.
 SOCCER & SOCIETY 619

52. Merchant and Rose, ‘Effects of advertising-evoked vicarious nostalgia’.

53. Dawson, ‘Arsenalisation’.
54. Crisp, et al., ‘Of proprietors and poachers’, 324.
55. Derbaix and Decrop, ‘Colours and scarves’, 282.
56. Bi, ‘Integration or resistance’, 32.
57. Pauwels Delassus and Mogos Descotes, ‘Fan resistance’, 87.
58. Xu, ‘Colour in urban places’, 618.
59. Mozilla Open Design.
60. Crisp, et al., ‘Of proprietors and poachers’.
61. Hunter, ‘Everton fans up in arms’.
62. Richelieu and Lessard, ‘Long gone the glory days’, 287.
63. Gantz, ‘Reflections on communication’, 183.
64. Williams and Chin, ‘Meeting relationship-marketing goals’, 436.
65. Kenyon and Bodet, ‘Supporter engagement through social media’, 381.
66. Kietzmannn et al., ‘Social Media?’, 242.
67. Montgomery, ‘Everton completes rebrand reversal’.
68. Routledge and Willis, The Beautiful Game, 68.
69. Aouf, ‘Juventus football club’.
70. Hall, ‘Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli’.
71. Banks, ‘Juventus seeks’.
72. Grimaldi, ‘Moving the market’.
73. Williams, ‘Rebranding Juventus’.
74. Grimaldi, ‘Moving the market’.
75. ‘Juventus’ future’.
76. Connelly, ‘Juventus upset fans’.
77. Aouf, ‘Juventus football club’.
78. Jones, ‘Planet football’.
79. Jones, ‘Eye on the prize’, 30.
80. Macaluso, ‘FC Nantes’.
81. Leroy Tremblot, ‘Stade de Reims’.
82. Routledge and Willis, The Beautiful Game, 136.
83. Stewart-Allen, ‘Heritage branding’.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID
Dr. Alison Barnes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9811-2339

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