Shane Duffy took to Twitter early this (Sunday) morning amidst the frustrated voices of countless Evertonians to express his opinion on how Everton, willingly or unwillingly, have altered the club crest. His tweet was as follows:
“I know by reading the tweets use all hate it [the new crest] but there’s nothing use can do. Forget about it and move on. Next season is massive for us”
Now, personally, I will not be forgetting about it in the near future and if the amount of negative opinions on Twitter are anything to go by, neither will the majority of Everton fans for many reasons.
Everton yesterday revealed the cheap and unattractive and embarrassing crest which will hideously feature on the kit as from next season, presumably so Nike can manufacture the merchandise easier. Whatever the actual purpose is, I hold no doubt that it is for a commercial reason, leaving Evertonians feeling unimportant and insulted, as that is certainly how I feel.
Everything in football is for sale, whether it be your shirt sponsor or your history. The implication that the new badge will now be easier for Nike to stitch onto the merchandise (making a tiny profit margin for each shirt sold), is most likely the prime reason for alteration; and it disgusts me. It seems like desperate measures for Everton.
We live in an age where fans are becoming ever more insignificant to football, where clubs are increasingly distancing themselves from their supporters as they chase and battle to simply earn more money, regardless of what the hell anybody else thinks about their actions. I now come to realise that Everton are not exempt from this culture as I dreamed they could be; it is clear that those running the club are seemingly just as happy to greedily join forces with anybody who has a few pounds to give them instead of “consulting” the fans as they claimed they did. At times like these, I envy the lower league fans who have a genuine connection with their football clubs.
This badge, in the overall scale of things, is rather small, and it is nothing like what the Cardiff fans went through. However, it exemplifies what is tragically and irreversibly broken about football; it is a metaphor for how out of touch and institutionalised clubs are. I therefore cannot agree with Shane Duffy in this case; although, I admit, the dust will settle and this time in a year, there will be little if any commotion about the crest.
Duffy does go on to make a valid point, however, stating that there is “nothing” that we as Evertonians can actually do to change what has already happened. Again, this backs up the fact that fans are clearly irrelevant to the money-driven organisations that run football. It hurts me to say it, but the attempts at proposing alternative badges by fans on Twitter are futile. Comforting, but ultimately pointless. Realistically, shirts, kits, training tops and mugs will still be bought; it’s still Everton and the people will continue to support their club. There will not be such a huge drop in sales that the club will return to the old crest. Yes, it’s successor looks like a child’s experiment with crayons, but Everton Football Club is still the club that you grew up with.
Still, that doesn’t stop people being momentarily angry with the change. Looking at the crest, the iconic tower has been reduced to an imitation of Hagrid’s hut, there are no wreaths to be seen and the ambitious motto ‘nil satis nisi optimum’ has been obliterated to suit Nike’s condensed needs. I hope that the motto can be found elsewhere on the shirt, however I would not be surprised if it had been dropped from the merchandise, almost fittingly, as the ambition of the club seems to be faltering simultaneously.
Like I said, regardless of what club you are a fan of in this modern age, your history would be on sale to anybody should they offer the right price. Everton seems to be just adapting to a culture that is now mainstream, where clubs will sell their soul for loose change.
Ultimately, Everton is still Everton, and that has not been altered, thankfully. Although, it does make me worry a little, hence why I have written this article.
All of this and we don’t even have a new manager yet. Here’s to hoping we employ the right man and can pick up where David Moyes left off.
COYB
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