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A new crest for Leeds United’s return to the Premier League
A new crest for Leeds United’s return to the Premier League – originally posted on Sportslens.com Younger or recent football fans might be extremely surprised to know that there was a time when Leeds United was one of the best clubs in England, under the management of Don Revie in the 60s and 70s. Leeds United FC was formed in 1919. They had a predecessor club, called “Leeds City” formed in 1904. This club was forcibly disbanded by The Football league in 1919. That’s when Leeds United FC was born to replace them. Since then Leeds United has won the league three times. Leeds United FC has had a lot of crest overhauls over the decades, each one more different than the last. The first crest appeared in 1934 and was an adoption of the coat of arms of Leeds. This was followed by a p...
Crystal Palace and their crest history, along with a 2020 redesign
Crystal Palace and their crest history, along with a 2020 redesign – originally posted on Sportslens.com A lot of people don’t know that Crystal Palace FC is one of the few English clubs to have its own live mascot which would fly before every home game. That was Kayla, a bald eagle, unfortunately, she passed away on 19th June 2020, after inspiring the supporters and players alike for a decade. Crystal Palace FC was officially formed in 1905. However, historians have found a connection in ownership to an amateur Crystal Palace football club which was formed in 1861. This would make them the oldest professional football club in the world. Crystal Palace may sound like the name of a chic resort or restaurant, but it was an actual building in London’s Hyde park constructed in 1851. The ...
The Burnley crest explained, then redesigned
The Burnley crest explained, then redesigned – originally posted on Sportslens.com Most clubs have worked to simplify their crests and keep it to just a few elements in recent years. Burnley FC is definitely not one of those clubs. Burnley FC was formed in 1882, being one of the earlier English football clubs. It was actually formed by members of the Burnley Rovers, a rugby team. It was surprising to me how many clubs started with as offshoots of other sports clubs. Now for that crest. Burnley FC started off with using the Royal Arms as a crest. They only got their first actual crest in 1969 when they used a vertical “BFC” monogram. The current crest has tons of elements within it and is based on the town’s coat of arms. Let’s start from the top, where there is a stork which represe...
The Aston Villa crest, reimagined
The Aston Villa crest, reimagined – originally posted on Sportslens.com It’s strange someone decided once that dark murky red (Claret) and bright sky blue would make for a great combination for a football club’s colours. Stranger still that it worked so well, several other teams also adopted it (Looking at you West Ham & Burnley). There is, of course, no evidence for it, but I read somewhere that West Ham adopted the kit after a Villa player settled a gambling debt by stealing a full set of the kit. Quite a colourful story, no pun intended. Aston Villa FC was formed in 1874. Their first match was actually against the local Aston Brook St Mary’s Rugby team. They decided to play the first half under Rugby rules and the second half under Football Association rules. I would re...
Exploring Spurs’ crest history and modernising it
Exploring Spurs’ crest history and modernising it – originally posted on Sportslens.com Tottenham Hotspur FC is one of the bigger clubs in England, boasting top managers, top players and top documentaries. The current squad has been on the verge of greatness many times during the past few years and it feels like it’s only a matter of time before they have the trophies too. Tottenham Hotspur FC started as a club in 1882 and were the first club in the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double during the 1960–61 season. They are named after Harry Hotspur, who got his nickname as he dug in his spurs to make his horse go faster in battle. The Spurs are also associated with fighting cocks. That is probably why a cockerel has been the chief subject of their crest over their ent...
Report: Leeds consider Rangers boss as top contender to replace Bielsa
Report: Leeds consider Rangers boss as top contender to replace Bielsa – originally posted on Sportslens.com Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has emerged as a prime contender to replace Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds United, according to reports from Football Insider. If you’ve seen the Leeds United documentary ‘Take Us Home’ on Amazon Prime, you will have a fair idea of what Bielsa’s appointment has meant for the club, the fans and the city. Leeds fans feared the worst about whether Bielsa would commit his future at the club after losing in the play-offs (against Derby County) and failing to secure promotion in 2019. In the end, Bielsa decided to stay and next year guided the club to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years. Bielsa has signed a one-year contrac...
Eriksen could be the missing link in Arteta’s Arsenal puzzle
Eriksen could be the missing link in Arteta's Arsenal puzzle – originally posted on Sportslens.com According to Corriere dello Sport, Arsenal have been linked with a move for the Inter Milan midfielder Christian Eriksen. The Danish international joined Inter from Tottenham Hotspur in January this year and it would be fair to say that the move has not worked out for the player or the club so far. Eriksen has started just 11 games in the league for Inter and he seems to have fallen out of favour with manager Antonio Conte. As per CdS, the Serie A giants are prepared to cut their losses and are plotting a swap deal involving Granit Xhaka. Although this seems to be an unrealistic proposition, Eriksen’s move to North London could be ideal for all parties involved. The 28-year-o...
Video: Man City’s £20m bargain signing scores hat-trick vs Germany
Video: Man City's £20m bargain signing scores hat-trick vs Germany – originally posted on Sportslens.com Manchester City winger Ferran Torres scored his first career hat-trick as Spain thrashed Germany 6-0 to reach the Nations League finals on Tuesday night. Former Chelsea forward Alvaro Morata scored the first goal for Spain, while Torres’ club teammates Rodri and Mikel Oyarzabal scored the other goals to inflict a heavy defeat for Germany. However, the night belongs to the former Valencia winger Torres, who has once again reminded everyone what a special talent he is. Here’s his first goal (Twitter – @RankSquad) Ferran Torres with a beautiful finish on the half-volley for Spain’s second. Germany at sixes and sevens but this front three of Morata, Ferran and D...
Report: Liverpool hit by another injury scare ahead of PL clash v Leicester
Report: Liverpool hit by another injury scare ahead of PL clash v Leicester – originally posted on Sportslens.com Liverpool youngster Rhys Williams was sent back to the club from the England U21s with a minor ‘hip problem’, as the Reds’ injury woes further deepen. The youngster was left out of England’s Under 21 squad against Albania, a game the U21s won 5-0 on Tuesday night, with manager Aidy Boothroyd deciding to send him back to Liverpool for the best interest of the player. “He had a very minor stiff hip,’ Boothroyd said, as quoted by the Daily Mail. “It was in his best interests to get him back to Liverpool. Rhys wasn’t actually on the bench (anyway) so I thought the best thing was to get him back to Liverpool.” Liverpool’s i...
Report: Liverpool looking to sign key midfielder to new deal
Report: Liverpool looking to sign key midfielder to new deal – originally posted on Sportslens.com Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum will be a free agent at the end of this season and the Dutch international will be allowed to discuss a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs when the transfer window re-opens in January. As per Calciomercato (h/t Mirror), the Premier League champions have now made their move to keep the 30-year-old midfielder at the club. Liverpool have offered him a pay raise and a three-year extension. Wijnaldum currently earns £75,000 per week at Anfield and the new deal will take his wages up to £115,000 per week. The Reds are hoping that the pay hike will tempt the midfielder to commit his future to the club. Gini Wijnaldum is thought to be keen on a four-ye...
Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids – a bargain (future) starting XI
Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids – a bargain (future) starting XI – originally posted on Sportslens.com Marquee signings and star players are the hallmark of any top club in Football Manager, but you can’t spend £90 million on every player. However, most top clubs (and many mid-level clubs, thanks to creative player sales) are able to spend £100m or so in a summer transfer window (especially in the Premier League), so we dug into the best FM 2021 Wonderkids list from FM Stories and put together a playing XI that costs just £90m. Quite often, wonderkids in FM will cost less than the so-called stars; Chelsea’s Mendy over Kepa is one example. Cheap prospects can also be flipped for a profit which is quite handy for lower-level clubs looking to climb up the ladder, which is why we ...
Southampton FC’s crest for a new era
Southampton FC’s crest for a new era – originally posted on Sportslens.com There are football clubs, all around the world, who have strived to make their crest’s simpler, limiting it to 2 or 3 colours at the most. Think Juventus’ clean black and white, or Manchester United’s bright red and yellow, or how about Celtic FC with just green and white. And then there is Southampton FC, which just rebelliously ignored all those unspoken rules and included all the colours mentioned above, plus more! Southampton FC formed in 1885, as a church football club named St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association. Fortunately, they never decided to put their full name on the crest. In fact, they hardly put any text at all. Like many clubs did after their inception they used...
