15 Comments

Your point is echoed entirely when you look at the size of shirt sponsors relative to the club's logo; and increasingly we are seeing highly-paid 'stars' showing more attention to wages than to their love for the game.

Liken to your view of the trophy - I feel footballers are becoming the focus group, no longer the craftsmen.

How long before football becomes Football, a brand in itself?
L Francis
2008-08-30 20:21:51

I've lost all hope in English football with exception to Arsenal,

Their style of play, the stadium, nearly everything about the club is beautiful and well thought out.
Paul Moffatt
2008-08-31 00:20:04

This seems a slightly tenuous angle to sqeeze in a grievance about modern football into a design blog.

The old trophy is horrific, you must see that. The modern one has obviously been designed with a completely different set of criterium. It succeeds in being much more like a high vis logo and I feel is actually handsomely proportioned.

I've long been a fan of the niche genre of award design, for all it's absurd, idiosyncratic vernacular. whether it's those gruesome baftas, the comedy award's chunk of acrylic, the clutchable emmys and oscars or even the D&AD's childish pencil. (This is fast turning into an article pitch so I'll better sign off.)
Barry
2008-08-31 01:33:05

During construction, Leicester City changed the name of their new stadium from the 'Walkers Bowl' to the 'Walkers Stadium' after coming under strong pressure from fans disagreeing with the Americanised feel of the name.

It's interesting how far sponsorship eeks it's way into the cracks in this way, the weight carried by branding teams, and the different ways it is resisted/tolerated - the above trophy comparison is fascinating.

"The FA Cup" now has to be "sponsored by E.ON" whenever mentioned by TV presenters.

Fans, however (as demonstrated by the Leicester incident), seem to be somewhat smarter than this. The wise-cracks of marketing agencies are usually painfully obvious and simply get absorbed into the visual experience like the billboards that surround the pitch.
(Although, interestingly, Leicester fans did not take issue with the fact their new, territorial home was not named geographically, but rather after a packet of crisps).

This erasing of history, or flimsy attachment to it, seems to be the danger - what happens to Leicester's supposedly hallowed turf if Walker's cease to exist? Same goes for Arsenal, Bolton, Stoke, Coventry...

The signs are there, I just hope the English game never goes the way of modern American sports, with "teams" becoming "franchises" and all that goes with it.
Berbatov is a sulking ignoramus
2008-08-31 02:31:15

Just as a side issue the picture used for the current trophy is a shocker. Surely the photographer must realise we don't want to see their or their studio's reflection on the bloomin' piece of tatt.
dody d
2008-08-31 07:53:52

In responce to Paul's comment above.

English football?

In Arsenal in their opening three games of this Premiership season they have only fielded one English player.

English Football is now capitalism at it's best.
Matthew Smith
2008-08-31 20:25:51

That'll teach you all for being glory hunters.

Come support Southend United and watch some proper games!
Sean
2008-09-01 09:29:12

Welcome to the present my friend.

We COULD still be using the same rickety, drab, old trphy as before 1992 (which by the way...looks like it was made of loose scraps of tin), but then we COULD also still be driving round in beige cars, listening to Al Jolson....on tape!

Your grievance is twaddle of the highest order. May someone tape your fingers together rendering it very difficult to type so you can spare us this bumf in future.
Neil Menday
2008-09-04 12:59:59

"I’ve lost all hope in English football with exception to Arsenal,

Their style of play, the stadium, nearly everything about the club is beautiful and well thought out."

Aside from their club crest which is appalling, was reworked in exactly the same fashion as the Premiership trophy and is in itself a better example of a club turning it's back on it's traditional branding in order to squeeze more lolly from it than this article could have imagined.

And for the record I 'designed' (small 'd') the AFC Wimbledon* crest based on a players shirt from 1974 - as modern as you need to be in my view ;-)

*surely the antithesis of franchising
Marc Jones
2008-09-04 13:32:03

I couldn't agree more, and sadly, I fear more examples of 'how not to do it' throughout the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.
I already feel an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment at 'our' attempt at a logo (which, unlike previous Olympics logos, says absolutely nothing about the host country), which we now have to endure for the next four years, popping-up everywhere. Oh dear.
Simon
2008-09-04 13:59:57

In response to to Neil Menday

Neil you clearly think football was only invented in 1992. Do you have big foam hands and a painted face?

Great article. Modern life is greed.
David Marsh
2008-09-04 14:07:32

Interesting enough is the fact that the PL trophy appears to resemble old 'Big Ears' the CL trophy and when it was introduced at the beginning I'm sure it was as a substitute for winning the CL coz at that time no team including Man Utd could get anywhe near the big european stage...the 'Old Lady' represents 'class'and reminds us of players such as Matthews, Mortenson Best , Law , Charlton ,etc etcwho never sold themselves like the players of today
joe
2008-09-04 18:04:24

Sorry but the 2012 logo will always be Lisa Simpson giving a blowjob.... nuff said
J Potter
2008-09-05 11:26:13

An overly engorged trophy, in a Freudian sense. Apt really, as only a bunch of cocks have ever won it :)
Simon Coxon
2008-09-05 16:04:09

A little late in reply to David Marsh: God forbid someone should provide a different opinion! And stating something by adding CLEARLY is as irritating as your stupid, uninformed response. Modern life is great, you miserable old hack!
Neil Menday
2009-06-15 10:53:34

Tell us what you think

Your comment: What happens with my feedback?

What happens with my feedback?

We no longer require you to register and have a password in order to comment, simply fill in the form below. All comments are moderated so you may experience a short delay before your comment appears. CR encourages comments to be short and to the point. As a general rule, they should not run longer than the original post. Comments should show a courteous regard for the presence of other voices in the discussion. We reserve the right to edit or delete comments that do not adhere to this standard.

Name: (required)

Title:

e-Mail: (required)

URL