A new identity : UpThePoshcast opinions

Peterborough United has a new brand image today, with the  new badge sure to be the biggest talking point.

Here’s our take….

Photo Credit : Chris Payne / theposhidentity.com

Ashley

Truthfully, I’ve never been someone overly sentimental about the club badge. What happens on the pitch is what really matters. But this new badge changed my view on things.

When the rebrand was first announced, I was sceptical. My main gripe? The communication. I worried it might be a rushed move without the proper dialogue. 

But then I had the rare opportunity to spend two hours with Chris Payne, the man behind the redesign, just chatting about Posh and the thought process behind why now was the time for a change.

There’s something about the way this badge tells a story. It’s not about throwing every past design element into a blender. It’s about meaning. Focus. Purpose. The winged lion, the two keys (yes—two, not crossed), the heart, every detail has depth. When you understand that St. Peter's keys were never crossed in the original imagery, it all makes sense. The subtle nods, the clean design, the distinctiveness of Posh—it’s all there.

When we were shown the identity in the focus groups, the POSH identity was a focus point of the badge, this has been removed from the crest and now features as part of the modular designs. 

For me, and hopefully many others, POSH must remain as part of the full identity.This is what makes us unique from every other football club. To see this removed from the main design comes as a surprise, but I understand wanting to stick with the lion and keys as the focus point for now. 

For me, future kits should include POSH as part of the badge.

This badge is right. It ticks the boxes. It listens to our history while looking to our future. It’s bold. It’s clean. And for those still on the fence, I urge you: go to the website. Watch the presentations. Listen to the reasoning. Like I did.

You might just fall in love with it too.

Harry

I was concerned (as were many others) that the new badge would strip us of everything that connects us to Peterborough. I am delighted these concerns have been addressed. Full credit to Chris who has clearly listened to fan feedback in designing this new crest.

The badge sacrifices beauty for mass-reproducibility. The winged lion suffers from a lack of imagination because of this. I suspect the club may run into trouble later down the line with distinguishing this lion from the ones used by other football teams, particularly ones that play in blue.

The unique typography on ‘POSH’ looks great. There are other teams in the EFL that use their nickname on their crest, and it works.

John

I think the club deserves a great amount of credit for the roll out of the new badge. 

I was initially sceptical over what it could look like, but I do believe that they have taken feedback on board and designed a badge which most Posh fans should approve of. 

It’s certainly more modern than the old design and should really stand out on kits and any digital marketing in future. 

My one request is please to keep Posh written at the bottom of the badge, otherwise it does look a little like a Chelsea crest! But that is only a minor issue with what, overall, looks like a very successful design.

Del

So now that the badge is out, I really strongly suggest everybody watch the release video to get a real good understanding.

It's growing on me.

I actually quite like it now and I think the rest of you will grow to like it too at the Posh and UpThePoshcast.

Max

The new badge is one that will aid in the evolution of the football club. 

It stands out and contains all the elements I wanted to see in the new crest that make it tie into our identity. 

I think it will help us not only in digital marketing but to build a stronger connection with the fanbase through rebranding the website and all the sub-identities look fantastic as well. 

As long as we include the word POSH or PUFC underneath to make sure we establish ourselves, I think the badge is near perfect and one the design team has hit the nail on the head with. 

Really happy with the end result and looking forward to keeping this positive momentum going at Cardiff on Saturday.

Charlie

I think the club has done a good job with the badge. It is aesthetically pleasing, and will look good on both digital marketing and merchandise which is a big positive. 

I also appreciate that they have kept firm ties to the city in mind at all times throughout the process, and I think anyone suggesting that the new crest lacks concrete connection to the city has not paid enough attention to the information that has been released alongside the crest. 

It is very easy to come out and say that the crest is a copy of Chelsea, however when you look at the reasoning behind the choices made, it is very difficult to think that way. 

Overall, I am happy and excited to see how the new identity is phased in across the coming year! Lodz It's hard for people to detach themselves from the current crest.

For Posh fans that have started supporting the club in the last 15 years, it's all they've known and ultimately coincides with what is probably the most successful period of the club's history.

I always felt like the current crest had very little thought put into it, which seems to have been admitted by Chris Brewer all these years later.

The new crest however has had a lot of thought put into it. I feel Chris has done a great job in understanding the elements that are important to us as a city and a football club, modernising the winged lion and keys in a way it can be utilised in future branding.

Posh is such a unique nickname to us and so I'm glad he's recognised that to the extent where it is the only wording used on the crest, my opinion is that this is enough for us to be recognised as Peterborough United without the need to include our club name.

The concern I have is where I have seen the crest displayed without the "POSH" wording on which is seemingly what we have led with on our reveal campaign.

Seeing people compare us to Chelsea does not surprise me and if these comments are coming from current Posh fans, you can imagine what the comments will be from non-Posh fans.

Do I think in time the winged lion and keys image by itself will be recognisable as Peterborough United? Of course, however I think it's extremely naïve to think it right now.

This is the beginning of a new era, an exciting one and we have mapped out our future with our new identity.

I am pleased Chris has hit the brief with the end result of all the research he's put in.

Rebranding is a long journey and this is the just the start, we should take our time embedding the new identities and make sure what happens on the pitch also does the job it needs to for this all to be a success.

But.. what do you think? 

Let us know in the comments below or on our social channels and we will read out the best on the pod.