Radlinski: “We see this being more than a new badge, it’s a complete strategic and cultural shift for the club.”
In a game full of tradition, Wigan Warriors, has unveiled a modern rebrand, including an update of its historic club crest.
It’s been led by the Executive Director and Warrior’s legend, Kris Radlinski, who spoke to Prolific North about the decision.
“We have been thinking about modernising the crest for some time but the need to do so was reaffirmed when Super League did an independent audit of each club’s brand in early 2019. The feedback was that our crest was outdated, certainly for an ambitious club like ourselves,” he explained.
“The ambition was to produce something far more modern, along the same lines of NFL franchises where each team’s logo is clean, striking and recognisable. We wanted to achieve something similarly striking to grow the club and in-turn help grow the sport.”
So, talk us through the new look.
“We see the new badge as being very striking and something that will take us forward in the modern era. Whilst the badge looks very different, we have been conscious of retaining important elements from the old crest based upon feedback we received from our fan consultations.
“Our club motto ‘Ancient and Loyal’ has remained as has 1872, our year of formation. The shield is the same shield as our original crest, although we’ve brought this up to date and incorporated the Cherry and White hoops behind it. The biggest change is the Warrior which depicts a Brigante warrior which roamed our town in the Iron Age. People say that Wiganers have a steely look in their eye – we wanted to capture this fierceness and determination which will be a big part of our brand moving forward. Whilst it is a significant change, when you start to deconstruct the badge and explain its elements, it builds a compelling story.”
This includes two “W”s hidden in the design of the Warrior, to represent the club’s name.
