The news that the club are thinking of a badge change this week got me thinking a bit about badges.
When I was growing up, the badge was as important as the kit for one good reason: it was always the shiny in a Panini sticker album. I’m not talking about Lincoln, they never featured in the albums I collected, but I knew my St Mirren from Aberdeen, and my Millwall from Birmingham simply by the badge. Nowadays, fans probably identify colours and sponsors just as easily, but for me, it was always the badge.
I often got frustrated when badges changed, or even at that young age felt tradition was being ruined. Obviously, time has taught me little is sacred, but back then if it was embossed on a foil sticker, it was as much a part of the club as their nickname or their stadium.
Whilst badges were made for supporters to wear as early as the late 19th century, they didn’t become a key part of club kit until a little over 60 years ago, 1960/61 to be exact. The first team group photo to clearly show a badge on display is from our relegation campaign of that year, which gives the club crest something of an inauspicious start.
The very first Lincoln badge did not have the Imp on it, although we were known as the Imps from around 1919. Instead, the first crest featured the fleur-de-lis on a simple red cross with a white background. I have often been asked about the relevance of the fleur-de-lis, which is particularly associated with the French monarchy. The badge represents the Lincoln coat of arms, which features the fleur-de-lis as a symbol for St Mary, signalling the Cathedral’s dedication to the Virgin Mary. The cross is derived from the Diocese of Lincoln, and although this coat of arms was never granted, it is recorded at the College of Arms. It was a simple first badge, which likely featured a plain white cross, although the only photos available are in black and white.
It was the first crest featured in a cigarette card set for the club, in which it featured just two colours, red and white which has become synonymous with the Imps. The badge itself wasn’t around for long – it was dropped in 1964 after the Imps finished in the bottom three of their division four seasons out of five, being relegated twice. In 1964/65, the club adopted a different kit, and the crest was gone.
The next time a badge appeared on a shirt, it was here for good. After ditching the red and white stripes in favour of pinstripes, then a red shirt, the club seemed to find some modicum of success, and in 1971/72, the crest returned. It came back during David Herd’s first full season in charge and saw the first use of the Imp as the logo. The first Imp badge was almost identical to the one we have now, featuring a dedicated rendition of the cathedral carving in white and embroidered onto a red shirt. I don’t have a clear picture of it, but this team group from the 1971/72 season shows the return.
The Imps’ return coincided with the nickname The Red Imps arriving at the club; that came in 1967 to cement the identity presented by the red shirts. However, by 1973/74, we went back to red and white stripes but still had the Imp as the badge. For two seasons, the Imp appears to have been red or black on the red stripes, but by 1975/76, the badge went red on white, which is accurate in today’s effort.
The first serious change to the Imp design arrived at the tail end of the 1982/83 season, picking up on a design that had been around on the front of the programme for a while. It is the design we wish to go back to now, and it may prove a little divisive. The season started with optimism and excitement and tailed off towards the middle of the year, as fans of a certain vintage will attest to. Arguably, the badge change came with another period of decline, much as it had done in the 60s.
However, this is very much a classic design in my eyes, as it is the first badge the club had when I was a supporter. It varied over the years, getting a more modern feel for the 1986/87 season and beyond. The recent retro shirt release shows how the colour changed and the lettering underneath, but how the Imp was simplified for a contemporary shirt. It’s odd; back in the eighties and nineties, the drive towards branding and logos was very much looking to the future, whereas retro is far, far cooler today.
The style changed often through the late eighties and early nineties, but the design did not. Different style shirts meant a different colour was required, for instance, going from white to red, and how the club’s name was presented also changed. The last year of the ‘cartoon’ Imp was in 1992/93, following a rather odd season where our home and away shirt remained the same (bar the sponsor) in consecutive seasons.
In 1993/94, the club moved towards the traditional coat of arms, dropping the Imp. At the time, I seem to recall talk of him being bad luck for Lincoln City, and I’m sure that was cited as a reason for changing the badge. At the time, it was a seismic shift in terms of the branding and the kit. The first ‘Echo’ shirt of 1992/93 was very much a classic, with red and white stripes, a nice collar and detailing. The next season, the shirt was progressive and seemingly ‘trendy’, with black lines down the side of the strikes and the new badge, minus the Imp. I really liked the shirt, aside from the lack of Imp, of course.
The new badge took the coat of arms but added the letter LCFC to each of the spaces around the cross. It was meant to change the Imps’ luck; perhaps it did at first. We hosted Everton in the League Cup and Bolton in the FA Cup, as well as featuring heavily on Sky Sports. However, by the end of the season, we hadn’t impressed, and Keith Alexander left the club to be replaced by Sam Ellis. The badge stayed put.
It remained for Sam’s first full season in charge and both John Beck seasons, where it took on a foam form for one year’s shirt. The fleur-de-lis fell out of the middle for many, but the club’s promotion challenge didn’t fall, and eventually, we found our way into the third tier once again. The Imps’ absence may have led to a promotion, although it was more likely John Beck’s ugly football. It stayed off the shirt for our relegation, too, as well as our eventual decline and impending financial doom.
In 2001, the club decided to rebrand again, taking the words ‘awful kit’ to a new level with a spray paint design but adding the Imp back into the badge at the expense of the fleur-de-lis. This wasn’t a popular decision with me, I’d had the badge tattooed on my arm a couple of years earlier and was now painfully unfashionable, much like the shirt the new badge was on.
However, things had gotten so bad at the club that a badge change seemed to bring good luck, not bad. I suppose the change might have been partly prompted by the introduction of the mascot Poacher the Imp in the 1998/99 season. After all, how could it be unlucky to have him on the shirt but not in person at the ground?
In 2001/02, we survived administration, with the 80s-style Imp now firmly back as part of our identity. It remained as the club’s crest throughout Keith Alexander’s return, and the play-off matches from 2003 through 2007. In fact, the club badge remained the same for the next 13 years, seeing us through the boom of Keith, the bust of Sutton and Tilson and the early regeneration we experienced under Gary Simpson. For many, this is the quintessential Lincoln City badge, the crest they have grown up with, much like I felt the early nineties version was for me. One thing is consistent, though: that basic Imp with lots of straight lines and the mischievous ‘V’ shaped mouth.
The rest of the badge is a little cluttered and confused. ‘The Imps’ in italics across the front wasn’t really for me, but I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to badges. However, it does feel like a ‘proper’ club crest, and at least it has the Imp as part of the design. After all, we are The Imps, and the badge should always reflect that.
However, in 2014/15, it was time for a change, and the club went back to its roots. After three seasons in which we’d only had traditional red and white stripes once, the decision was made to revert to a proper striped kit and bring back the vintage badge. From the progressive designs of the nineties, we’d gone full circle and now looked to hark back to the retro shirts of old. The first two years, 2014/15 and 2015/16, had a narrower stripe than usual, much like the mid-seventies shirts. That brought with it the classic badge we see today.
After ten seasons, it seems we’re going to opt for a change once again, and personally, I’m all for it.
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