TO PREVENT

another horror show in which a football club reimagines its badge as an indigestion remedy — check out Leeds new offering and Gaviscon’s label — there is a model ready to go. In 2015, Manchester City set up pods around the ground and town so all fans, not just a sample group, could express an opinion on their new design. They took elements of their historic badges and asked fans to rank them, in order of priority. That is why the red rose of Lancashire, a tall ship on the water and 1894, the year the club was founded, all feature prominently, and the supporters are happy. Leeds have had owls, stars, Latin inscriptions, white roses and iconic lettering through the years. It would not have been so hard to create something with a nod to the past, that was also new. That ‘six months of research and consultation’ was shot down in a matter of hours this week shows that Leeds asked either the wrong people, or the wrong questions. Just a guess, but most likely the fans want an echo of the glory years, not an image that is entirely foreign to them, dating from the time they were a mid-table Championship team.