By New Grimsby badge to stay after fans vote in favour of change
The controversial revised Grimsby badge is set to be implemented after a public fan vote voted for the changes.
Fans voted 62 per cent in favour of the revised badge, which was designed by Grimsby fan and professional graphic designer Rich Lyons.
The public vote had been open since 7 January, with over 3,500 fans making their voices heard in the decision.
A club statement read: “These votes have now been counted and cross-referenced against our ticketing and club shop databases, as well as the Mariners Trust member database with assistance from the Trust Secretary.
“Following the vote count, Grimsby Town Football Club can confirm that it will be implementing Crest B, the revised version of the crest, as designed by Rich Lyons, with results showing a 62.05% in favour of the revised design.
“The implementation of our new crest, in line with our first ever GTFC brand guidelines, will be recognisable over the coming months as we ‘drip feed’ our rebranding efforts. As previously stated, examples of the former crest and brand will be visible across the club for some time whilst we continue to make these changes.
“Our current kit and existing merchandise will remain unchanged until next season.
“We would like to thank all supporters who took the time to cast their vote, Sandii Raithby, Secretary of the Mariners Trust and our staff members for assisting with the verification of our voting process.”
The badge change had been announced on New Year’s Day, but it was met with confusion and frustration by some of the fan base, as the changes were not put forward to a vote prior to the announcement.
Grimsby Town chairperson Jason Stockwood subsequently apologised for the ‘poor communication’ from the club regarding the decision, saying on Twitter: “We messed up on the consultation & comms over the new crest & club brand guidelines. It has been months of work and subtlety updates the club for a more digital age but hold our hands up that we got this wrong.”
Many fans had wanted a third option of the badge, to keep the revised badge but remove the flag bearing ‘1878’ on it – the founding year of the club.
Designer Rich Lyons explained the flag’s inclusion in a blog post shortly after the badge was revealed to fans: “I made the decision to feature the flag as a graphic tribute, and its sole purpose is to exist as a stylistic part of the trawler illustration. Also, 1878 is a secondary piece of information after the club name, so it doesn’t matter if it’s too small to read at certain sizes.
“For the record, placing this on the hull of the trawler was something I tried during the design process, and to me it didn’t look good enough.
“Removing the flag leaves too big an open space — something I wanted to fix on the old crest — as this area is optically distracting. Or, in the case of the old crest, was never sure if it should be filled or transparent — an issue when placed over images or on a shirt.”
Contact Gi Grimsby
Email us: news@gi-media.co.uk
Follows us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest local stories, breaking news and to join the conversation
