Newcastle changes badge for first time since 1988

Newcastle United has unveiled its new badge as the club changes its crest for the first time since 1988.

The club spent more than two years consulting with fans, who made it clear in research they did not want the crest to be completely redesigned, after Newcastle United said the emblem's previous design was too intricate to reproduce digitally.

The club's chief executive David Hopkinson said the crest came from Newcastle's coat of arms but still honoured "where we have come from".

Newcastle players will wear the crest for the first time on the pitch in the club's final home game of the season against Crystal Palace in May.

Although the original emblem was immensely popular with supporters, Newcastle United said "in a modern digital world, the limitations and flaws of a 38-year-old design have become obvious".

"For such a beloved symbol, its detail and uneven lines don't show up as they should on modern platforms," the club said.

Elements lost shape and blur on phone screens, in broadcast graphics, in stitching and at the scale and speeds that the modern world demands, it added.

Hopkinson said the process was an "enormous" responsibility for "all of us", having "never worked anywhere that feels as proud and passionate about its crest".

More than 64% of 27,348 supporters who were eligible to vote, including season ticket holders and members, selected a third option as the new crest in a poll.

Hopkinson said: "The club has asked supporters questions that we did not know the answers to and they told us plainly: protect what we have, keep the elements we love and do not start again.

"Every decision after that has been made inside the margins our fans drew and it is only right that our fans have had the final and decisive say on the outcome."

Hopkinson said the badge "honours where we have come from, it represents who we are now and it will become an iconic symbol for generations of supporters around the world who believe in it and unite behind it".

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