"Since 1904 when association football arrived in Leeds there have been 10 different badges to
adorn our beloved jersey. Indeed it is possible Leeds City Football Club didn't actually start
using a badge since 1908 four years after their inception around three years after they were
elected to division two. For all the time of their existence up until they were expelled from the
league they used only one which is the crest badge seen below or a variation of it. Leeds United
on the other hand have used all the badges below at some time in their rich history. The badges you
see are the main designs but for each badge there have been many variations. For me the crest of
Leeds City itself is more than an appropriate badge for our team and I'd love to see it put in place.
Whichever badge trims the shirt of the day though is the badge that is planted firmly in our hearts."
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| The Crest 1908-1960 |
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One of my favourites The Crest Badge used for around fifty years, even
before Leeds United were formed in 1919 but played as Leeds City. When
it was not used, there was no badge or trim on the shirts at all. The badge
is based on the City of Leeds coat of arms, and some versions show the
same motto as the City's crest which is 'pro rege et lege' meaning 'for the
king and the law'. The badge went through a few variations, some
in just two colours, some in more. This version comes from around 1933,
the, John Charles and early heroes like Wilf Copping and Willis Edwards
would have worn one similiar.
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| The Owl 1965-1971 |
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'The Owl Badge just doesn't seem right for our club, some would say it is
more suitable to maybe sheffield wednesday (nicknamed the owls) than to our Leeds
United, there are three owls on the City of Leeds crest though, and this is where
the logo will have come from. The badge lasted for a long time, but was often not
present on the away shirts which were often different colours we even had a red one. The badge was
eventually ditched due to Master Dons belief that birds were bad luck. Youngsters
Billy Bremner, Jackie Charlton and Eddie Gray could have been seen wearing this one
and it did sit on the Super Leeds shirt'
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| The Script 1971-1973 |
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'A close second to the City Crest for me. The stylish LUFC script is thought
by many to be the all time classic Leeds badge, and has made two come backs in later
years, once on the retro Asics shirts in the mid 90's and then with the new club crest
from 1998. Despite this it was only used originally for two seasons. This was the first
Leeds top I owned complete with a sew on number five (Jackie Charlton) bought from
Sutcliffes in Leeds City Centre. As well as Jackie the likes of Allan Clarke, hardman
Norman Hunter and striker Mick Jones would have worn this beauty. One of the all time Leeds
United classics'
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| The Smiley 1973-1976 |
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'Can you get more seventies than this? Everbody loves the classic Smiley Badge and as
since become a true seventies icon, made up of the letters 'L' and 'U' in the sort of bubble
writing that is very familiar with psychedelic typography from that era. It arrived along
with the new shirt manufacturer, Admiral. It was used exclusively for three seasons, and then
came back for two more spells on the away shirts later on. Certainly a loveable effort that
certainly didn't fit the hard Leeds image. Heroes like Mini jumping Duncan Mckenzie, goalkeeper
David Harvey and Eddies brother Frank Gray would have wore this'
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| The Inverted Smiley 1976-77 |
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'If it aint broken don't fix it! The inverted smiley was an unusual change, not because
it shrank in its original size and was also rotated 45°. Some would say to make it more evident
that it was the letters 'LU', but this took away the balance of the design, and later it went back
to the original angle. It was used for a year on both home and away shirts, and then made a comeback
for another year on the away shirts later on. The second shirt I had as a kid, with all the little
admiral logos running down the arm. No one could touch me! Terry Yorath, Ray Hankin and little Brian
Flynn would have wore this'
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| The Bordered Smiley 1977-1981 |
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'So the designers added a border! In my opinion a reasonable addition giving the smiley
a frame and a more appealing perspective, the times were changing after all and happy to see
the original smiley proudly sitting in the new additon. A certain dash of class was delivered to
sober up our spaced out seventies smiley. This badge survived for four years on the home shirts,
but didn't feature on the away shirts. Wizard winger Arthur Graham, centre back Paul Hart, captain
Trevor Cherry and also not to forget the magical banana bending Tony Currie could be seen in their
day flying round Elland Road wearing this badge'
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| The Peacock 1981-1984 |
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'A kick up the eighties and along with a new shirt manufacturer which was umbro came a new badge.
With almost the same identical circular border to the previous one but this time with the seventies
smiley replaced by a stylised peacock which at the time was our club nickname. This took a lot of
getting used to but with time it grew on the faithful. A bold graphic fitting well into it's surround
and the teams premier colour white now more evident. The Argentinian Alex Sabella our home grown debut
scoring Terry Connor and full back turned midfielder Kevin Hird were lucky enough to wear the Peacock
badge with pride'
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| The Rose And Ball 1984-1998 |
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'Probably one of the most popular and easily indentifiable badges of the lot.The Rose and Ball badge was
the longest lived Leeds crest in the modern era lasting for around fourteen years. The design observedly
sums up what our club is about, it has the white rose of Yorkshire snugly circling a football and the
clubs name running round the roses petals, with a bold blue round background where the logo sits. A very
popular piece and for my taste one of the better designs. Many a famous player has worn this beauty
including the tireless Gordan Strachan, hardman Vinnie Jones and right back Mel 'Zico' Sterland'
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| The European Shield 1998-1999 |
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'Possibly my least favourite design. Commissioned and passed by the dreamer Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale wanted
a badge that would reflect our European ventures at the time and in his words says the badge was done in an
European style. No doubt this was made to appeal to a broader market. A sheild with rib like graphics running
symmetrically down either side. It does however bring the classy script into play that flows down the middle
and at the top the Yorkshire rose sits proudly. The combative Lee Bowyer, our sublime Lucas Radebe and
midfielder Alf-Inge Haaland would have been cheered along wearing this'
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| The Rose And Ball Shield 1999-Current |
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'With a reprieve of the popular Rose design to replace the Yorkshire rose and a tidying up of the script that
runs down the middle the Shield design was revamped in 1999. I do welcome the Rose and the clean up and now
the badge could be growing on me. I chose this one the current badge to work a logo for this site so it must
be doing something right. In place now (at the time of writing) for nearly seven years and this badge I think
is finally being established. Our Current crop of stars such as on the pulse Rob Hulse, beans shovelling
Shaun Derry and American Eddie Lewis do the business in this one'
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index |
main page |
contact |
acknowledgements |
links |
latest Leeds news |
guest book
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