As our digital, commercial and retail operations have grown in recent seasons, eagle-eyed fans will have noticed us introduce different variations of the Altrincham Football Club crest into our content, and secondary emblems into our products.

We would like to take the opportunity to update our supporters on the different ways in which our crest and emblems are being used, and provide some further insight into our approach.

The traditional club crest

We continue to operate with the Arms of the former Altrincham Municipal Borough Council as our primary, officially recognised club crest.

This is used on player and replica team and training wear, official documentation and formal retail products, such as club ties.

We are aware of several clubs with more ‘traditional’ looking crests embarking on modernisation projects in recent years, in favour of a more simplified logo.

While we appreciate the digital and commercial benefits that drive such decisions, we want to make it completely clear that there are no current plans for Altrincham Football Club to adopt a new logo, and confirm that any future considerations to do so would be taken up in full consultation with our supporters.

Adapting the crest for modern purposes

It is fair to say that our beloved crest is, however, one of the more complex and intricate designs in English football.

In recent seasons we have recognised the need for us to diversify the design slightly, making it more adaptable to our growing list of purposes and objectives.

The first variation you will have seen is our crest with the club’s name capitalised underneath.

It is used on varying digital channels, such as the header of the website, and print pieces, such as posters and leaflets in the town centre.

It helps us to make it clear and obvious that the marketing material belongs to Altrincham Football Club. This is particularly useful when the target audience are unfamiliar with our official crest, which does not blatantly display the club's name.

The second variation is a simplified version of the official crest.

This variation has a lot of the finer detail removed and is used on retail products that require complex printing methods, and the majority of our social media content.

It allows us to retain the traditional crest we all know and love, adapting it as much as possible to the modern demands of social media and retail design.

Thirdly, the club has sporadically used a silhouetted version of the club crest on several retail products. Again, we have found this to be great for products that require print, and is suitable for certain graphic design briefs.

Introducing new emblems for retail

To expand the possibilities of our retail ranges, we have also introduced several new emblem concepts that you will have seen over the past year.

These provide modern alternatives and are likened to several global clubs’ usage of simple emblems, such as Arsenal’s cannon, and AS Roma's wolf.

With our official crest used throughout the training wear range, we recognised the need for our own modern alternatives that would allow us to unlock additional, more casual leisure wear ranges.

These ranges have been highly successful since launching last year and we would like to thank all supporters who have purchased these products.

New for 2023 is a hybrid of our simplified club crest and circular outer design (far right hand side.) This has been added to two new products that we are excited to share with you: Bucket Hats and Swim Shorts

We would like to reiterate that none of the above designs are planned for use on any of the official team wear, including kit, or official club documentation.

Club Director, John Coyne adds:

"For any football fan the club crest, and how it is used, will split opinion.

For some, it's a nod to the past, it's sacred and it shouldn't be touched. For others, it's in need of modernisation and it needs to evolve and represent the club of today.

With ourselves, we needed to look at our leisurewear range, in order to offer supporters more than just Puma clothing and accessories. Whilst there's a formal place for our historic club crest, we've got a bit more freedom when it comes to a more relaxed range of clothing, for example. We saw that 12 months ago with the ALTY circle design (pictured far left of the three emblems) which sold remarkably well, and we've now launched a new range incorporating a hybrid of the club crest and outer circle. This was much more acceptable when working with manufacturers to produce forthcoming retail ranges.

What it doesn't mean is that we are changing our club crest. If that day does come, it would always be in consultation with our supporters first and foremost, and not a decision we would make alone as a board."

We hope that this provides a concise but informative summary of the club’s current use of the crest and supporting emblems, and we encourage all suggestions and feedback to be sent to hello@altyfc.com.