Leeds United officially “reconsiders” new badge

Yesterday, fans of Leeds United were, well, united in their dislike of the new “badge” that was released by the club.

Reaction was swift and vicious, with seemingly the entire footballing world taking notice, and making fun of, the badge that was released.

Leeds today released a statement about the new crest, saying:

The volume and depth of opinions expressed reinforced the level of passion our fan base has for our club. While the current board of directors are custodians of Leeds United the fans will always be at the heart of everything we do, and you will be listened to.

We conducted thorough research into the desire for a change to the crest to symbolise a new era for the club. However, we also appreciate the need to extend the consultation with supporters and we are committed to working with you to create an identity we can all be proud of. We will release further information on how supporters can get involved in the process next week.

The new owner of Leeds United, Andrea Radrizzani, hasn’t made very many mistakes so far as the owner of the club. He’s put his money where his mouth is by spending £20 million buying back Elland Road from property developers, and has put an emphasis on youth development including partnering with The Aspire Academy, one of the world’s foremost football Academies.

Radrizzani’s treated the fans with respect and done a great many positive things in his short time at the club. The new badge appears to be something he got very, very wrong. And to his and the club’s credit, they have responded to the new badge debacle the only smart way: by binning it and starting over.

Consulting with fans is never a bad thing, and I’m sure whatever that the club comes up with next will be much, much better. Fans are already posting better designs by the dozens. If you think you have a better one, please let us know.

So hopefully the lesson has been learned and the fans have a bigger voice in big changes like the design of the badge and other important matters. Fans are all too often forgotten about in modern football, so it’s a good sign that the owner listened to the fans when they respond with one voice about a topic.