Cod Almighty | Diary
A thing of beauty
19 June 2019
Happy Fixtures Day Eve everyone! That’s right, today marks the 46th and last day of the year where we don’t know when and where Town are playing a football match. The Football League fixtures coming out was always the day when being in the Conference really hit. Knowing we had to wait another three weeks before planning our trips to Hyde and Ebsfleet really rubbed our non-League noses in it.
Among tomorrow’s fixtures will be the first league meetings with Scunny for 15 seasons and new opponents in Salford City. It’s certainly going to be a competitive league – and should Town avoid some of the favourites in the first six games, we could make a decent start.
In the run-up to the release, Twitter has had those animations where you get the badges from all the teams in your division and you stop it on who you think your team will play on the first day. These little gifs have cemented in my head something I have known for a long time: Town have the best badge of any football club in the country.
Thunderdiary has loved that crest for 35 years. I can draw it blindfolded, feel pride when I see it and truly believe no other club emblem can match it.
Town have had three badges in their time. The first was the borough coat of arms, with the three boars around the chevron. In the middle of the last century, the crest was a shield with black and white stripes, a yellow football above three boats. I’m not sure this was ever worn on a strip, but some of the 1960s replicas you can buy have it on, and it adorned programmes of that era.
The current badge was designed as part of the club’s centenary in 1978 and first appeared on the left breast of Town's Admiral shirts. It hasn’t changed since and I would expect uproar if the club even contemplated following the trend of updating badges (which I suspect is done for trademark purposes, or money).
Shirts change, players come and go – I'd even take a stadium move – but nothing should change regarding that badge. I remember Panini scollections of the mid-1980s when Town would be on a shiny (always shared with Fulham's badge). It was the only sticker I wanted.
So. The Town badge. Let’s forget for a second the anomaly of the typeface and associated punctuation. I like this particular quirk (there are Town badges with different fonts emblazoned outside the club shop and the Findus entrance) and it does not detract from the aesthetic quality of the design.
It’s all there. The black and white stripes. The nods to the Town’s heritage with one trawler and three fish. Beautifully and simply drawn and devastating in red. The fact that the pennant with the fish is on the right of the badge helps the stripes to stand out. The little flags under the name give it depth and the smoothness of that curve simplicity.
It is a beautiful, effortless yet classic design, synonymous with the club. It evokes memories of days gone by, on and off the pitch, and is crafted with simple yet effective adoration.
Tomorrow we find out where that badge will be travelling, over land, sea and Yorkshire, close to our hearts, a true symbol of our wonderful little football club.