Newcastle United is set to change its badge. The club consulted fans on possible new designs. Was that the right move? 

Today’s Digital World

The Guardian said the club had risked upsetting some supporters. Though the club said they “love” the current crest in an email to fans, the new symbol needed to keep up on the global stage. According to the email, the current badge was designed in a different era and doesn’t always fit “today’s digital world”. The club said the new version needs to be less intricate and clearly displayed on kits, screens, and merchandise. The consultation process started in May. Fans submitted their preferences on a new badge and will vote from several options. 

Newcastle’s fan advisory board was consulted and assured that bold changes were unlikely. The club email said they wanted to refine the current badge rather than make fundamental changes.

Newcastle’s Logo History

Newcastle’s badge has remained relatively consistent since the club was formed in 1892. The black and white stripes represent the Tyne and Wear Rivers that run through the city. Former logos included magpies, the team’s nickname. An interesting design from 1983-1988 included the letters “NUFC” (Newcastle United Football Club) in a circular shape with a magpie at the bottom, beneath a tilted “C”. The current design has been in place since 1998, and features no magpies, but does include the traditional black and white and elements from Newcastle upon Tyne’s coat of arms. The seahorses represent Tyneside’s connections with the sea, and the castle represents one of the city’s most prominent landmarks. 

The new crest won’t be in place until the 2026-27 season, but next season, fans will be hoping for more history after their League Cup win. Newcastle is the fourth favorite for the Premier League title after Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City. Fans in South Africa can bet on the Premier League at 10Bet. 

The Athletic’s George Caulkin, a Newcastle reporter, said that as someone old enough to remember the previous club crests, he was perhaps not as tied to the current iteration as others. He called the current badge a “classic”, but said that others had been “just as beautiful”. Caulkin cited the ’80s version with the magpie and the downturned “C” and said he wouldn’t have minded that badge returning. He was pleased the club consulted supporters and acknowledged the importance of the link to the city. 

One fan commenting on Caulkin’s article said the “digital age” reasoning was an excuse, that anything could be printed digitally, and the likelier motivation for changing the club badge was so that they could sell more shirts. However, another supporter replied that simple logos are more transparent at small sizes (such as on social media) and that how a new badge looks on Instagram is as important as how it appears on the players’ kits. 

Have Other Clubs Consulted Fans about Logos?

Various other Premier League clubs have changed their crests in the past, but these changes usually have involved limited consultation. Clubs might present a new design to fans and hold small focus groups. Newcastle’s large-scale, multi-phase consultation process is unusual.  

However, there was one similar process. In 2018, Leeds United’s proposed badge change was so widely mocked online that the club reversed the decision. BBC reported that six months of research went into producing the new logo. Angus Kinnear, Leeds’ managing director, said they had worked hard as a club to “re-engage” supporters and Leeds’ wider community. The club consulted over 10,000 people. The new badge was scrapped after what the Telegraph called a “furious” reaction from fans. The would-be new logo featured the club’s traditional blue and yellow colors, and a player making a fist over their heart. 

According to the design and technology site Dezeen, an official club statement thanked supporters for their “overwhelming” level of engagement. The club started a new design process and let the fans vote from a shortlist of options.

In Italy, many Juventus fans reacted similarly to their modernized design in 2017. The previous logo featured a silhouette of a bull, a crown, and a touch of yellow. The new design is a “J” with “Juventus” at the top. One Twitter (now X) user wrote that the new logo implied Juventus were a brand and that supporters were not fans but customers. The logo was mocked for being like that of JD Sports, a British sports-fashion company. 

Wrap Up

The comparison with the JD Sports logo hints at something fundamental—sports clubs are brands. Newcastle will aim to simplify and modernize its logo so that its brand becomes bigger.

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