A history of the West Ham crest change

Sean Whetstone

6 years ago

Categories: News, Whispers

The West Ham crest has been a hot topic again in recent weeks amongst supporter unrest and a march panned by West Ham Groups United before the Burley game.

Although the decision was made over three years ago, one of the key people behind the West Ham crest change was former Hammers managing director Angus Kinnear. He joined the West Ham board from Arsenal in 2013 where he was previously the Gooners Marketing Director and was heavily involved in the North London club’s move from Highbury to the Emirates. He reportedly tried and failed to get the word ‘London’ put the Arsenal crest as part of the rebranding exercise for their stadium move. It should have come as no surprise that he tried to and succeeded to do the same at West Ham when he joined as MD overseeing the move to the London Stadium. Kinnear left West Ham last summer to join Leeds as their new CEO. He recently made the national headlines when he tried to change Leeds crest and faced an immediate backlash from supporters.

Back in July 2014 all season ticket holders and any supporter with a ticket purchase history were emailed by West Ham and invited to take part in a consultation with a YouGov poll. The email marketing database is thought to have numbered around 100,000 at that time.

The email said: “West Ham United are today launching an online poll to seek supporter feeling on the Club’s proposed design of an updated crest, which would be used from the 2016/17 season. With little more than two years until the Hammers make the Olympic Stadium home, the Club – and as consultation confirmed – the West Ham faithful believe that this is the right time to evolve the crest in a way that reflects the dawn of an exciting new era.

The Board understand that the success of the Club’s move depends on its acceptance among supporters as the home of West Ham United. The Club is therefore on the cusp of a multi-million pound investment at the Stadium and so it is imperative to ensure that, together, we get it right from the outset. The crest’s evolution is the handiwork of world-class designers, who, crucially, are lifelong supporters of the Club too. Its final design is the product of careful deliberation following supporter consultation and the comprehensive feedback received, as well as a reflection of feeling among the Club’s stakeholders. The end result is a bolder, cleaner and more vibrant Club crest.

Prior to casting a vote, supporters are invited to watch a new reveal video, which journeys through the crest’s colourful history, as well as the months of meticulous research that have led to this significant moment. Narrated by Hammers legend Tony Cottee, the four-minute reveal culminates in a stunning 3D rendering of the crest, showing off the brilliant detail enriching the new design.

The Club have appointed independent survey company SMG YouGov to conduct the poll, with voting to commence at 6pm on Wednesday 9 July and to close 48 hours later at 6pm on Friday 11 July. Supporters with a ticket purchase history aged 16 and over can register their vote here. The results will be announced on whufc.com in due course.”

The video can be seen below:

On 17th July 2014 The club announced the poll results saying:

“West Ham United are pleased to report that an independent supporter poll, conducted by SMG YouGov, shows that fans have voted in favour of adopting the Club’s updated crest design. Of the two supporter polls, SMG YouGov reported that 77% of fans were supportive of evolving the Club’s crest. The Club therefore had a clear mandate for change. When presented with the new crest’s design, 72% of West Ham fans who support change, also voted to adopt the new crest design.

SMG YouGov’s report confirmed that the second stage of the process attracted new respondents and new opinions, while the results showed that an overall 56% majority of fans voted yes, in clear support of adopting the new crest.

Almost 10,000 West Ham fans completed the crest consultation survey and SMG YouGov’s Managing Director, Frank Saez, commented: ”This represents a credible and robust sample of the total supporter base. The results provided to West Ham clearly state that the new crest is supported by the majority of fans.”