English Premier League membership Newcastle United is considering altering its crest, and it’s turning to its supporters for enter.
NUFC printed an article to its web site on Friday, Could 9, broaching the topic of a crest change, which is usually a delicate one amongst supporters, and laying out its causes for embarking on the method.
“As our membership grows on the worldwide stage, the image that represents us wants to have the ability to preserve tempo. It wants to indicate up clearly and confidently throughout all the pieces — from kits to screens to merchandise,” the article reads.
“This isn’t a call we take evenly. We love our crest. It’s iconic and has stood us by way of unforgettable triumphs and testing instances. Nevertheless it was created in a distinct period. Its intricate design doesn’t at all times translate properly in at present’s digital world. And it’s troublesome to breed it clearly and constantly.
“As soccer and the world modifications, so too should the image that unites us.”
NUFC concedes that, “based mostly on what we’ve heard, updates to the present membership crest needs to be minimal and subsequently Refine & Revive is our beneficial strategy.”
To that finish, the membership is inviting season ticket holders and members to take part in an independently-run survey. Hyperlinks to the survey have been emailed out, and the deadline to supply enter is Friday, Could 16. They’ve additionally scheduled a fan session workshop for Wednesday, Could 14, to be held in particular person at their residence stadium, St. James’ Park, and on-line.
However a bunch representing Newcastle supporters isn’t proud of how the survey is worded. In line with ESPN, the Newcastle United Supporters Belief despatched an open letter to membership CEO Darren Eales saying that it’s “framed in an extremely main method all through and it’s arduous to see how any significant fan engagement or dependable conclusions might be drawn from it.”
The Belief additionally factors out that FA guidelines state {that a} membership has to have the ability to show a majority of supporters are in favour of fixing their crest earlier than such a change is made.
“Because it stands, the survey isn’t in a position to present data on whether or not nearly all of our supporters are open to the concept of creating a fabric change. To adjust to FA guidelines, we strongly urge you as a membership to supply a brand new survey, written in a impartial tone and to incorporate an possibility for supporters to point that they don’t want to pursue any change in any respect.”
NUFC’s present crest was launched in 1988. It contains parts from the City of Newcastle upon Tyne’s coat of arms, like a citadel, two sea horses, and a lion holding a pennant.
Crest modifications have been a thorny topic for golf equipment throughout Europe in recent times. Fellow Premier League membership Aston Villa solely saved a brand new crest that followers voted on for one season earlier than ditching it and bringing in a new crest that supporters felt they weren’t correctly consulted on. And in Spain, Atlético Madrid supporters hated their revamped crest a lot that 88.68% of them voted to revert to the previous version in June 2023.
