On the 27th of March 2007, Shrewsbury Town published an article on their website informing fans that they had changed the badge. The club wanted a fresh look to go with their brand new all-seater stadium, the club did very little to involve the fans and it came as a shock to many. Only minutes after the article was released, fans discovered that the lion on the new badge could be easily found on clip-art, the badge was quickly dubbed the ‘clip-art lion’. The new badge was replacing the ‘Loggerhead’ badge, the Loggerheads represent the town and the whole county in fact, the clubs identity had been destroyed. Most fans felt like modern football had tampered with their club, they had lost their beloved stadium the Gay Meadow, which sat on the side of the River Severn in the centre of the town. The decision to move the club outside of the town didn’t seem to affect fans, the club wanted to progress and fight their way up the leagues, which has happened. But the introduction of the clip-art badge was unnecessary and ripped the heart and sole out of the football club.
Former Chief Executive boldly predicted that disgruntled Town fans would become ‘attached’ to the new badge, the complete opposite happened. After years of mumbling and complaints, Town fans started a campaign called ‘Bring Back the Loggerheads’. The badge had been around for five years when this campaign emerged, only three weeks into their campaign and one-thousand fans had signed their petition. Even though the campaign was gathering a following, the club showed no interest in the matter. Flags were put up in the stadium, with statements like ‘this badge is our badge’, stickers were produced and placed all around the country’s football stadiums. Even ‘iron-on’ badges were made so fans could cover up the ‘clip-art lion’ on their new shirts. At the end of the 2013/2014 season, fans vented their anger towards the club through chants, after a disappointing season and a club in turmoil, something had to be done.
Town appointed a new Chief Executive in the summer of 2014, Matt Williams had left Blackpool to come to Town with new manager Mickey Mellon. Not only did they re-shape the squad, Williams and the board of directors finally made the decision to bring the Loggerheads back. Fans could vote on which badge they preferred online, years had gone by where it looked impossible to get to that point and it was a proud moment for the campaign leaders and the fans who campaigned for re-instatement of the Loggerheads. This is one of the rare occasions fans stood up to modern football and won.
