Aston Villa to wave goodbye to crest that represents a disappointing era
Aston Villa have confirmed that the club will soon begin to consult fans on a change to the club crest.
The club announced the decision via their website on Friday morning (24 June), saying they want a total overhaul of the crest.
There is no date on when the change will be made or when the consultation process will begin, just that the current badge will remain in place next season.
“We want to examine elements including the crest’s shape, the way we showcase our unique name and how we use our colours as powerfully as possible to represent our modern-day club with such a rich heritage,” it was said.
The current crest has been in use since 2007, having been introduced to signal the start of a new era under former owner Randy Lerner.
Villa dropped the club motto ‘Prepared’ from the badge after relegation in 2016 as well as making the rampant lion bigger, but now the badge will be dropped entirely.
The badge will not be remembered fondly
The current crest had a good start to life, seeing the best years of the Martin O’Neill era and three top six finishes.
It saw Villa mount genuine Champions League challenges in 2008/09 and 2009/10, great European wins over Ajax and a League Cup final.
However, that era did not last and it collapsed as soon as O’Neill left in 2010.
What followed was seven years of drab, disappointing football under seven different managers, albeit interrupted with an FA Cup final in 2015.
The club did eventually return to the Premier League in 2019, but again the team has been inconsistent since promotion.
Ultimately, the badge is the last remnant of Randy Lerner’s influence at the club and fans will be glad to see it go.
With the club wanting to represent its heritage in their new badge, the obvious solution is to return to the crest Villa had in the 1970s and 1980s.
The classic rounded badge remains incredibly popular with fans and represents the era the club are trying to return to, making it perfect to bring back.
In other Aston Villa news, three women’s stars have been named in England’s squad for the Under-19 Women’s Euros.