Aston Villa fans vote in new club crest for 23/24 football season
By ITV News Central Production Journalist Lara Davies
Aston Villa fans have made their voices heard by voting for their new circular crest.
After several rounds of voting, it was announced by the club on Thursday (10 November) that a final decision had been made.
The club announced in June that they would be scrapping their current badge, which was first introduced in 2016, in a bid to revamp Aston Villa FC’s identity.
Around 13,000 fans completed the digital survey to share their views on the old crest and vote on the three proposed designs, which were then narrowed down to two.
Season ticket holders, members and supporters of the West Midlands club were asked to vote on Friday (4 November) for the one they would prefer to be the new Club crest.
Despite over 93% of fans responding positively to the initial announcement back in June, the general reaction to the new crest, hasn't quite been the same.
Alex Brinton, who first visited Villa Park when he was six, said: “It is the best of the two options, but I don’t think it is going to set the world alight.”
“The idea that we have decided to copy Chelsea is a bit annoying, considering the history we have with a badge like this.”
The 23-year-old added: “What people don’t seem to release is that it’s a similar design to when we won the European Cup in 1982 and the League (then known as the 1st Division) in 1981.”
“I think my view is the general consensus to be honest, no one seems to be thrilled by it.”
Richard Whitehead, an Aston Villa historian from Tamworth, said: “As someone who wrote a book about Villa in the 1970s, you might expect me to welcome this return to the badge of that era.
“But there's a fine line between respect for history and tradition and lazy nostalgia, and this feels like the latter. I'm not overly fond of the graphics either."
Mr Whitehead added: “In any case, regular changes of the badge only serve to weaken the brand in my opinion. I wasn’t a fan of the old badge - but I’d rather not have changed in the first place.”
The results
The fans chose the circular crest, reminiscent of the one the club had when they became League and European champions in the early 1980’s.
Over 21,500 fans took part in the vote.
77% of fans voted for the round design
23% of fans voted for the gas lamp design
8% voted to keep the current crest
In the club's initial research, they found over three-quarters of fans said they did not feel the current crest represents Aston Villa well and over 93% of fan response to the announcement was positive.
The club are looking to move to the next level after a tricky start to the season that led to the sacking of Steven Gerrard and appointment of former Arsenal manager Unai Emery.