Touching the shield, a very sensitive issue

The members of Atlético de Madrid approved by a large majority to return to the old shield

In 2018, Bartomeu withdrew the change proposal from the Barça Assembly because he feared a defeat in the vote

In the world of football, romanticism still exists and drastic changes are not very popular. The fans do not like to be touched by the hallmarks and lose the essence of the club they love. That is why they are very reticent to any novelty that they want to impose on what defines them. They respect tradition.

And if there is one important thing in a football club, it is its shield. Modifying it is a sensitive issue. Something considered untouchable is touched. In many cases, in clubs that own companies, multimillionaires or clubs-states, the followers only have the right to kick if the managers do not have a special sensitivity to listen to their people but in entities where the fans have an important weight, in this matter you have to count on them.

PSG changed theirs in 2013 without much controversy as it was approved by the fans, the same as what happened with the modification made by Manchester City, despite the fact that the retouching was important. On the other hand, in 2017 Juventus did it in Turin with such a radical modification that it made the fans very angry. The same thing happened with those of Leeds.

In 2017, Atlético de Madrid did not consult its fans and unilaterally changed the shield, triggering a large protest that years later has ended in a referendum that will force the club to go back and recover the shield that was in force from 1947 to 2017.

The board of directors first carried out a non-binding consultation, but seeing that the result was so favorable to recovering the old shield, they decided to call a referendum. The result could not be clearer. 68,894 members, 88.68% of those who participated (49.61% of the census) opted for the previous shield while 8,796 members, 11.32% of those who participated (6.33% of the census), did so for the current one. Atlético will make the change in the 2024/25 season to respect commercial agreements.

Another Spanish club that made a change of emblem with much controversy was Valladolid. Fans called it an “aberration” and “shame.” Despite the criticism, the club owned by Ronaldo stood firm.

Bartomeu prevented a vote

In 2018, the president of FC Barcelona, ​​Josep Maria Bartomeu, brought to the Assembly of Delegates the proposal to retouch the club’s shield. The initiative started from the brand department to modernize the shield and adapt it to the new times.

Three major changes were proposed. The first and most visible was the disappearance of the letters FCB; the second, taking advantage of the space left by the letters, was to enlarge and center the ball. The idea was to be consistent with the philosophy that Barça has been selling in recent years, which says that the ball is the axis around which the entity revolves. The third change was in the Barça colours, which gained prominence.

The change of the Barça shield It was supposed to be produced by an affirmative approval of two thirds of the attendees but after listening to the comments of the partners, the president Josep Maria Bartomeu decided to withdraw the vote on this point from the agenda because he sensed that he would clearly lose the vote.

Some delegates complained about the gesture and shouted that they wanted to vote, while others demanded a referendum from Bartomeu so that the entire social mass could speak out.