Leeds United fans felt they had something to get off their chest after the club unveiled their new badge.
A petition calling for the badge to be ditched drew more than 50,000 signatures, while Pontus Jansson, the club’s Swedish centre half, tweeted the word “Chocktillståndet”, roughly translated as “a state of shock”. Jonny Bairstow, the Yorkshire and England cricketer, dubbed the design “absolutely shocking”.
The Championship club said they had consulted 10,000 people, including fans and former players, during six months of research before coming up with the new badge depicting a clenched-fist salute.
The Square Ball, an influential fanzine, quipped: “Just wait until you see the tonal version on our new consultant and focus group-approved mauve and aquamarine centenary away kit.”
Angus Kinnear, the Leeds managing director, initially said the club was not for turning, but then told BBC Radio Leeds that “the consultation process wasn’t extensive enough and we need to reopen that process”.
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The badge would come into use next season in time for the club’s centenary.
Previous Leeds badges have featured owls, an LUFC script logo, a 1970s smiley face forerunner of acid house, a peacock, and a white rose.
The new design depicts a man giving a salute with the right hand balled into a fist and placed against the heart. It is known as the “Leeds Salute” and the club said it is an expression of passion that connects fans and players on and off the pitch.
“In the past year we have worked very hard as a club to re-engage fans and the wider community across Leeds,” Angus Kinnear, the Leeds managing director, said. “Once we heard that there was a desire for change to help herald a new era for club, it became of primary importance that the new crest clearly reflected who we are.”
Amid the ridicule, the badge has also been likened to the label on the indigestion and heartburn medicine Gaviscon, while also being described as “horrendous” and “dreadful”.
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The new crest, it has been pointed out, also bears a striking resemblance to the front cover of an old edition of the football video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2, in which Leeds United are called Yorkshire Whites for licensing reasons. Aston Villa mocked Leeds by advertising the pair’s Championship fixture in April as West Midlands Village versus Yorkshire Whites.
Even Zenit St Petersburg, the Russian club, could not resist a dig at Leeds, posting a similar logo but with the man displaying the V sign.
Within hours of the new crest being revealed, thousands of supporters had signed an online petition on change.org to have the badge changed. Meanwhile, the Leeds United Supporters’ Trust said they were not consulted by the club during the designing process.
