West Ham United is going back to the drawing board on its club crest, and for once the people holding the pencils might actually be the fans. The club announced this week that it’s launching a supporter-led redesign of its badge, with a new look expected to debut in time for the 2028-29 season.
Interim CEO Karim Virani made the announcement, saying the 10-year anniversary of the current crest felt like the right time to take stock. “The board and I want to ensure that the club’s history and heritage are appropriately reflected in everything we do, and that our loyal fans should play a leading role in determining how that is delivered,” Virani said. He promised the process would be overseen in partnership with the fan advisory board, which he described as an independent body.
This is the same crest that was introduced in 2016, right around the time West Ham packed up and left Upton Park for the London Stadium. That move never sat right with a chunk of the fan base, and a decade later the club is now trying to rebuild trust by literally putting the badge in supporters’ hands. Smart move? Maybe. But asking fans to agree on a logo is like asking them to agree on a starting lineup — everyone’s got an opinion, and most of them are loud.
The timing is also interesting. West Ham is headed back to the Championship after getting relegated from the Premier League last season. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team took the fight to the final day — they actually beat Leeds in their last match — but still finished two points behind 17th-place Tottenham. So while the front office is thinking about branding, the coaching staff is trying to figure out how to keep the squad from getting picked apart.
And there’s real reason to worry there. Portuguese midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who carries an £85 million price tag, has been linked to Tottenham pretty heavily. Manchester United is also reportedly sniffing around, and they’re supposedly interested in winger Crysencio Summerville too. Summerville has been turning heads at the World Cup, starting all three group games for the Netherlands and scoring twice with an assist as the Dutch won their group. They play Morocco on Monday in the round of 32, with a potential matchup against host nation Canada waiting in the next round.
Canada punched its ticket to the round of 16 by beating South Africa 1-0 on Sunday. Stephen Eustaquio buried the winner in the 92nd minute, which means the co-hosts are still alive and dreaming big.
As for West Ham, there’s something almost poetic about asking the fans to design a badge while the team’s best players might be on the way out. You can redesign a crest. Rebuilding a Premier League squad is a different kind of project.
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