I think the club have done a lot right in the last few years, but this has been managed really badly. I think, the majority of Watford fans were open to a new badge if it was done well, but the way they've done it has been bizarre and to be honest I think it's a cost cutting exercise and a botched attempt at PR. I also find it a little bit bizarre that they're pumping a load of money into international marketing, when I live 14miles from the stadium in Potters Bar and have never seen the club make any effort to win fans in this part of Hertfordshire.
Imaginative. But I'm not sure if the thing at the top is a Hart or an Aardvark with a branch stuck up its arse.
They will probably make sure the new badge wins regardless as the club wouldn't want to spend all this time and money going through the process to just end up with keeping the current one .
Love it Raw, different, nuts What moron at the club keeps selecting the most boring conservative badge ideas possible?
Dear god no Awful, boring, conservative, as mentioned somewhere else it looks like it was drawn in 1881, its like a sketch by a 19th century botanist on a round the world trip
What have we ever done to earn a crown? Anyway, looks more like a bottle top or a squashed shuttlecock. As dismal an effort as most of the others.
I like this one too. It fixes what's wrong on our current badge without throwing out the elements that aren't a problem. I have no real issue with our current badge other than Moosey. Aside from that one element, I feel it works: it's bright, vibrant, easy to see and instantly identifiable as Watford with even the most cursory of glances. That's not something you can say of most club badges.
Scrolling through those designs has made my eyes ache. Some made me laugh out loud. When they change our badge to a hornet does our nickname become the mooses? Come on you Mooooooses.
I have been saying this for years. Living at the other end of the county to you, we have loads of Arsenal fans locally; I expect you have lots of Spurs, but again no marketing effort to attract people to Watford. It’s true this was probably more urgent when we were in the Championship but if Vicarage Road ever increases its capacity beyond 30,000 as mooted then they would surely have to make an effort.
How much is marketing really likely to determine club allegiance? Arsenil and Spurs are simply bigger clubs with glorious histories, European profiles and are constantly having their prospects discussed on the telly/radio whereas ours are largely ignored. Marketing is unlikely to affect much of that. In addition, families have moved out of central London to 'leafy Hertfordshire' bringing dad's allegiance with them and all the familial encouragement will be for little Johnny to follow suit. With first, exciting visits to the Emirates or White Hart Lane in short trousers. If Potter's Bar is 14 miles from the Vic it's only 12 from the Emirates and 10 from White Hart Lane. Hertfordshire won't count for much. By all means market away but that won't be making wholesale changes to club allegiances although maybe it might just chip away a bit. A badge with a fly on it is hardly likely to do the job though or shift loads more shirts in the USA or SE Asia.
Surely the point around the hornet here is that it's perceived to be a large, fierce and aggressive insect with a fearsome sting (actually they're not - they're more 'docile' than wasps but that's beside the point). So why not have something more imaginative and that looks more threatening rather than something that looks like it should be in a dusty cabinet with a pin stuck through it? And is dead.
For me, I grew up in a house that didn’t care about football. Me and my brother loved it and had no allegence to any club through parents. Ended up being Watford because my mate got scouted and got us a couple of tickets and the tickets were a lot cheaper than any other club in the area. Aware I’m very close to Spurs/Arsenal, but I think the reality is a lot of Watford fans start as a fan of a different club. I see no reason why they couldn’t target more of Hertfordshire. Once I went to one Watford game I was sold, and knew there was no going back. There must be loads more like me in the area?
Similar story, started supporting Watford after getting a few free tickets from a club run community footballing session in Eastcote.
I think I would have preferred to change our badge to a Rampant Hert similar the one depicted in the 1881 badge, and in turn have changed our nickname to "The Stags" I'd rather that than the new badge that has been chosen, as it is not inspiring or good me thinks.
What was the first match? Imagine being a kid going to your first match this season. You'd have a burning hatred for the club for life.
That was pretty much exactly my experience in the early 70s. I actually went to Highbury a couple of times just to experience a First Division game but somehow my 12-year-old sense of loyalty to my local team kept me going to Watford.
Exactly the same here too. I made a point of visiting all the London teams' grounds in my early teens but was already 'of WFC'.
It was actually against Spurs in the league cup. Gomes was in goal for Spurs, which is funny, Tamas Priskin scored but we lost 2-1. I was 13 and the only live football i'd ever seen before that was Arsenal reserves at Underhill because my dad used to take us because it was free and he knew we liked it.