Club to work with Supporters Groups in the future
Branding of the club going forward
There has been much recent debate on message boards and other media surrounding the branding of Shrewsbury Town FC and in particular the club badge. At a recent Supporter Groups Forum meeting representatives from all of the supporter groups, including representation from the group who introduced the “Bring back the Loggerheads” petition, were present.
The Club said that how and why the present badge was introduced had been well documented and that it will continue to be used until a re-branding takes place. The issue was not with the petition itself but with its timing at a moment when the good feelings about promotion were running high – it felt like a negative to the Club. The Club has apologised for the terminology used in its statement about the petition at that time.
The representative from the petition organisers produced some interesting data from an on line survey concerning views about the badge and the use of the loggerheads symbol in particular. He presented the views of those who wish to see the return of the loggerheads in some format.
Moving forward the Club wishes to make the point that it is interested in the views of all supporters and, through vehicles like the Supporter Groups Forum, it was actively engaging in better communication, both ways, between the Club and its supporters. The latest home kit was an example of how the Club had interacted with the supporters in asking for kit design suggestions and a public vote resulted in the present popular shirt.
The Chairman and Board will wish to engage with the supporter base again in any future branding of the Club, for example through its next badge. This could be through suggested designs by supporters and voting again. The timing of any change is not imminent, but nor is it a long term promise. There are various contractual obligations the Club has with suppliers that have to be part of the decision process on when to change. However, a gradual implementation of a change of badge is probable. The Club would wish to see the round badge design retained as part of the copyrighted brand. The content of the centre would be open to design suggestions. One or two designs that had been submitted were looked at by the Forum as examples of the input supporters can provide to the process.
Martin James
Community Development Manager for STFC
Chair of the Supporter Groups Forum