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This summer in the USA there will be one team, playing in a regal purple that most global fans probably are unaware of. That said, their colours and badge – a fort – are probably the most striking of all the teams on show during this years’ FIFA Club World Cup. The fort in question is Al Jahili Fort and it has become the symbol of the Abu Dhabi’s second city (for local residences it is familiar from ‘Al Ain Water’ – the most popular brand of bottled water in the country) and for being on the 50-dirham bank note. The fort’s silhouette on the badge has deep historical and cultural meaning: it was once the home of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE’s founding father. It doesn’t get much more rooted than that. The badge’s colours – royal purple trimmed with gold and white – further echo this legacy ( the colours were actually inspired by RSC Anderlecht – who Al Ain once played in a friendly tournament in Morrocco – the owners loved the look of their purple kits so much they adopted the colours). Top it off with two golden stars celebrating their two Asian titles. The story of Al Ain FC begins in 1968, when a group of local players, foreign students, and expats in the oasis city decided to form a team. They had passion in spades, but in those early days, resources were as scarce as rain in the desert. Enter the Al Nahyan royal family. The young club found a patron in Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (who later became UAE’s President), who quite literally put them on the map – he provided a permanent clubhouse in Al Jahili neat the fort and even gifted them a Land Rover to shuttle players around. By 1971, Al Ain got a modern stadium courtesy of Sheikh Khalifa, and other members of the royal family took the helm in club leadership. (Fun fact: the current UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed, served as Al Ain’s club president in 1979) Those early years weren’t all smooth sailing, though. The club faced typical growing pains, even a local rival breakaway at one point, until merging with a smaller club in 1974 to unite Al Ain’s football efforts. But by the mid-1970s, Al Ain FC had found its footing. They entered the national UAE league in 1975/76 and, incredibly, won their first championship in 1977. From a desert outpost team to national champions in under a decade – not too shabby for a club born in an oasis. Thus began the era of the “Purple Reign.” And reign they did. Al Ain is the  dominant force in Emirati football, with a record 14 league titles to date. On the Asian stage, Al Ain have achieved what no other UAE club has: becoming kings of the continent. In 2003, Al Ain stunned Asia by winning the AFC Champions League, defeating Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana in the final. Fast forward 21 years and the Boss (as Al Ain are nicknamed) did it again – in 2024 they claimed their second Asian Champions League title. After a narrow first-leg loss in Japan, Al Ain roared back at home, thumping Yokohama F. Marinos 5-1 in the return leg to win 6-3 on aggregate. This summer Al Ain will be competing with fresh memories of their last FIFA Club World Cup performance – where they went up against the legendary River Plate in the knock out stages and beat them on penalties before falling to Real Madrid in the finals. So Al Ain are no strangers to playing – and defeating – the best the world has to offer. So that’s the club, what about the actual city – because you need to understand that to truly understand why this club is unique. Al Ain is often dubbed the “Garden City” of the UAE, a stark contrast to the glittering skyscrapers of Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Here, life flourished, with human settlements from 4,000+ years ago discovered. Their success in the desert came mostly thanks to the locally developed and ingenious falaj irrigation system which channels water to palm groves. In fact, the Al Jahili Fort on the badge was strategically built to defend the city’s precious oasis and its falaj water channels. The city’s very name means “The Spring” in Arabic, and its sprawling oases, fed by those underground aqueducts, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011. The British briefly used it as an outpost for the Omani Scouts in the 1960s and it was those British trained and equipped scouts that became the foundation of the UAE’s armed forces after Sheikh Zayed led the unification of the Emirates in 1971. This city was also the formative stomping ground of the Sheikh himself. He served as the governor of Al Ain in the decades before uniting the UAE. Under his guidance, Al Ain got the nation’s first wildlife park (Al Ain Zoo, opened in 1968 – the same year the football club was founded). He planned the city out with his advisors, using date palms to line and map out the road network before the roads were even built! So, there we have it. Al Ain, the Spring, from where the modern-day UAE has sprung. From innovative irrigation, to unifying Sheikhs, to inspiring interplay on the pitch – Al Ain are not to be underestimated.

Next up on #GetTheBadgeIn is... @BarnetFC!   I've started following them quite closely on National League TV. They also have an amazing badge that will be instantly recognisable to anyone who remembers Year 8 History - The Wars of the Roses. So many clubs feature either the white rose of York (Think: Leeds) and dozens feature the red rose of Lancaster on their badge (Think: Man City). Barnet shows both together with crossed swords in reference to the 1471 Battle of Barnet.   But before we go down that foggy road, let’s look behind the scenes at the club’s foundations. Once again, it is another ‘company team’ from the Industrial Revolution that helps get the ball rolling (I do wonder, if football had been invented today, where would the teams come from? Internet start-ups? (Hashtag United), Lidl Athletic? Tesco Metro FC? Deliveroo United (known for great deliveries into the box…?).   Anyway. Barnet.   Originally, the club began as New Barnet FC, formed by ex-scholars of Cowley College and Lyonsdown Collegiate School and known as “The Hillmen” (Barnet sits on a ridge that overlooks London – hence the ‘High’ in High Barnet). However, it was Alston Works AFC that would go on to cement Barnet’s footballing legacy.   Alston Works AFC was established by the employees of Alston Works, a dental manufacturing giant in Barnet. By 1891, they had grown into Europe’s largest producer of dental equipment, renowned for quality innovations such as the “Twentieth Century Chair,” the UK’s first pump chair. The team, therefore, were known as "The Dentals" and wore amber and black kits, representing the company colours. These distinctive colours would be retained to the modern day. In a neat coincidence, their current kit sponsors are TIC Health, a private provider of medical screening and diagnostic services. An echo of an echo here. Sort of.   In 1907, Alston Works AFC moved to Underhill Stadium, where they played their debut match—a 1–0 victory over Crystal Palace—a positive start at a ground that would serve as Barnet’s home for over a century (and may host them again – see the end).   So that’s the team – what about the badge? The club’s crest, designed in the 1950s, is packed with imagery. The green hill on the crest is a nod to High Barnet, with the yellow and black flags referencing the club’s colours.   As already mentioned, the rest of the badge symbolises the rival Houses of Lancaster and York and the 1471 Battle of Barnet. During the battle, King Edward IV led Yorkist forces against the Earl of Warwick, who had betrayed Edward and switched to fight for the Lancastrians. On the morning of the battle, Warwick ordered his men to attack through dense fog – and ended up brawling with a friendly unit who were flying the flag of the Earl of Oxford (a large yellow star) that looked too much like Edward IV’s flag (a large yellow sun) for their liking. The Yorkists looked on with amusement. This, understandably, unnerved the remaining Lancastrians, who accused each other of treason, and many simply gave up and left the field.   In the confusion, Warwick himself decided to make a run for it. However, before the battle, he had been persuaded by his younger brother, ‘the Marquess of Montagu,’ that it would be more inspiring to their men if they left their horses behind and fought on foot alongside the rank and file. This decision proved fatal. Both brothers were caught and killed by the Yorkist army. Lesson: Never listen to your younger brother.   So that explains the battle. As for the club’s nickname, ‘The Bees,’ opinion is split, but it is almost certainly due to a) their black and orange colours inherited from the Alston Works dental factory, and b) the presence of several large apiaries (beekeeping farms/hives, apparently – I had to Google that word) near their original Underhill ground. Their stadium today, located in Harrow, is called ‘The Hive,’ in a neat reference. That said, the move away from Barnet was never popular, and there are plans afoot by many of the team’s fans to move ‘Back to Barnet’ and redevelop the old Underhill site. The plans for the new stadium look great – let’s hope it all goes through.     They’ve just achieved promotion to League 2 – I’m sure they’re buzzin, #BarnetFC🐝

Let’s take a closer look now at @altrinchamfc, known as the biggest "giant killers" in football history, have outfought and outclassed many a higher league opponent throughout the years. So let’s #GetTheBadgeIn, because theirs has an absolute tonne going on. At the top, the lion waves a flag featuring a cornucopia (a goat's horn), a traditional symbol of plenty and wealth. This badge certainly reflects that.   Based in Greater Manchester and founded in 1891, the club began as the Rigby Memorial Club, formed from a local Sunday school. They later merged with another club, the "Grapplers" (a former wrestling or boxing club—anyone know?) to form Broadheath F.C., a founding member of the Manchester League in 1893. In 1903, they moved to Pollitt's Field, adopted the name Altrincham AFC. With two National League and FA Trophy wins, along with their reputation for giant killings, they’ve built a devoted fan base.   Their badge, drawn from the Altrincham Coat of Arms, is packed with symbolism. Let’s break it down:   The wheatsheaves on the shield represent the Earldom of Chester, which traditionally features three wheatsheaves. Altrincham replaced the bottom wheatsheaf with a cog—a clever nod to their industrial history. The Earldom of Chester was a semi-autonomous region under William the Conqueror. Even Magna Carta in 1215 required a separate set of notes for Chester's exceptions. The earldom eventually became a Crown possession and was used by Edward I as a logistics hub for his conquest of Wales. Today, it remains tied to the Prince of Wales, the title given to the heir to the throne.   The two characters flanking the shield represent major local families. The lion, bearing the arms of Massey, represents the Barons of Dunham Massey. Hamon de Massey, one of the barons, granted Altrincham its charter in 1290. Dunham Massey also had a Norman Motte and Bailey castle, though today its moat is a duck pond. Quackers if you think about it.   The unicorn comes from the heraldry of the Earl of Stamford, whose arms (of the Grey family) hang from its collar. The first Earl of Stamford was a staunch Parliamentarian during the Civil War, even signing Charles I's execution order. His rebellious, anti-establishment legacy adds an edge to Altrincham’s heritage.   Altrincham’s industrial history is equally compelling. The 1765 Bridgewater Canal connected the area to Manchester and the wider world, sparking economic growth. Warehouses sprang up to house vegetable production, and the arrival of the railway in 1849 supercharged the town’s development.   One notable company was the Linotype and Machinery Company, which started in Altrincham and made printing presses for newspapers. Their operations spanned cities like Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong, with a head office in London.   Another was the Budenberg Gauge Company, which supplied precision pressure gauges during the steam age. Originally a German firm, its British operations were confiscated during WWI and continued independently.   In 1879, American inventor Benjamin Tilghman brought further innovation to Altrincham. A veteran of the American Civil War, Tilghman observed the effects of wind-blown sand on buildings in the South. Inspired, he invented the sandblaster and set up Tilghman’s Sand Blast in the town. Today, the factory operates as part of the Wheelabrator Group, making high-end sandblasting machines.   So, Altrincham: castle builders, invasion launchers, pressure builders, machine toolers, sandblasters, and giant killers. One of my new favourite teams.

Let’s #GetTheBadgeIn for Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth). It’s a story of smugglers, sand, and a Sudbury lad. At first glance, Bournemouth’s badge seems simple: a figure heading a ball with the club colours as the background. No complex coat of arms to decode—just a dude and a ball. But as it turns out, there’s a bunch more to the stories of the Cherries than meets the eye. The club began in 1898 as Boscombe FC, named after an area of modern-day Bournemouth. They moved into Dean Court (now Vitality Stadium) in 1910, located near a cherry orchard that inspired their nickname. Initially wearing red and white, the Cherries played mostly in the lower leagues, but they had their moments. One such moment came between 1957 and 1962 when a striker named Dickie Dowsett, who started his career at @AFCSudbury, scored 79 goals for the club. Dowsett became a local legend and even worked in the club’s back office from 1968 to 1983. When Bournemouth rebranded in 1971, switching their colours to AC Milan-inspired red and black, they placed Dowsett heading a ball on their badge. They also became AFC Bournemouth, reportedly to appear first in alphabetical lists. During the 90s they did have one other incredible player, which should be named, @IpswichTown legend @mattholland8, who was with them initially on loan and then permanently between 94 and 97 before he made the switch to Town. After a period of struggle, the club hit rock bottom in 2008, entering administration and dropping to League Two. Enter Eddie Howe, who at 31 was the youngest manager in the EFL at that time. Howe achieved three promotions in six years, taking the club to the Premier League by 2015. If Bournemouth hasn’t yet built him a statue, they certainly should. In 2022, American businessman Bill Foley purchased the club, adding it to his Black Knight Sports empire, which includes Lorient FC, Hibernian (minority stake), and the Las Vegas Golden Knights NHL team. So, that’s the club and its badge. But what about Bournemouth itself? Bournemouth, a coastal town, rose to prominence after railway links to London were established in 1870, much like East Anglian resorts such as Southend and Clacton. It quickly gained a pier, hotels, bandstands, and the all glass Winter Gardens concert hall. In 1841, the superbly named Augustus Bozzi Granville wrote a bestselling book about England’s best health spas, praising Bournemouth’s clean air and waters. This sparked a health tourism boom, and that legacy is echoed today in Vitality, the team’s stadium sponsor, who specialise in health insurance and healthy living plans. But Bournemouth’s most intriguing story involves Lewis Tregonwell, its unofficial founding father. A landowner and Justice of the Peace, Tregonwell built homes in and around modern day Bournemouth in the late 1700s when the area was largely uninhabited. During the Napoleonic Wars, he served in the Dorset Yeomanry, tasked with patrolling the coast to prevent smuggling and watch for a French invasion. By all accounts, he did a splendid job—except for one twist. Tregonwell had a house built for his butler, Portman’s Lodge, an impressive coastal home. Over a century later, during its demolition, builders uncovered a network of secret rooms and tunnels leading to the beach. Records revealed that Tregonwell and his butler never left the site unattended—one was always present. While some historians suggest these passages were for storing ice, others argue Tregonwell himself was involved in smuggling. The man charged with stopping contraband may have been running a smuggling operation of his own. “Tregonwell the Trafficker” sounds like a TV show waiting to happen— The Cherry Cartel ? So, there you have it: Bournemouth, a tale of smuggling, sand, spas and scoring a lot of goals.

“Accrington Stanley (@ASFCofficial), who are they?” If you’ve ever heard this question from the legendary 1980s Milk Marketing Board advert, you might already know the response: "Exactly!" But behind this unfortunate reference—which I’m sure annoys every true Accrington fan every time it’s brought up—lies a team and a history steeped in the very essence of Britishness. They face the mighty Mariners (@officialgtfc) on 3rd December, so let’s visit the Crown Ground and #GetTheBadgeIn. In 1891, a group of Lancashire workers met in the Stanley Arms pub and formed a football team. They took the name of their hometown and the name of the pub. Accrington Stanley was born (according to legend). Their story has never been a straightforward one. Financial struggles forced the original club to fold in 1966, but a new version of the club emerged in 1968, starting from scratch and clawing its way back up the leagues. The Milk Board advert in 1989 brought Stanley into the national spotlight, but the real turning point came in 2001. The club benefitted from a clever sell-on clause when former Stanley star Brett Ormerod was sold to Southampton for over £1 million. Ormerod had begun playing for the club part-time while working in the local cotton mill—this lad couldn’t be more Lancashire if he tried. The windfall from his sale was enough to propel the club into the Football League in 2006, where they’ve proudly competed ever since. What about the badge, then? Well, it’s another club that borrows from its town’s Coat of Arms. Accrington Stanley’s crest, though, is a beauty—it isn’t just a badge; it’s a visual history book of a badge. There’s a lot to investigate here. Let’s start near the top of the shield with the lion. It is the family symbol of the De Lacy family, mates of William the Conqueror who fought with him at Hastings. As a thank-you for their help, they were awarded huge chunks of England—Accrington was swept up in their holdings. To the right of the lion sits the stag with the green background, and this links directly to the printing rollers and paper at the base of the badge. This is the family crest of the Hargraves family and is much more modern. This family founded the Broad Oak Printworks in 1792 near Accrington and quickly turned it into an industrial powerhouse. They pioneered the art of calico printing, which printed colourful styles and patterns onto women’s cotton. The Hargraves didn’t stop there and busied themselves with all sorts of innovations: from printing blocks to printing rollers, from a seven waterwheel-powered machine to a steam one, and using sodium hydroxide to alter the cotton to give it more reflection and a softer finish (called mercerisation, after local lad John Mercer who discovered it). Accrington was the Silicon Valley of the 19th century. The strange-looking ship-shaped thing in the middle of the badge is also linked to the cotton industry. It is a spinning cotton. Innovators like John Bullough improved the Lancashire Loom, making weaving more efficient and accessible using spinning devices like this one. These advancements helped mills in Accrington become the powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution—the beating heart of Britain’s power. Above the knight’s helmet at the top of the shield sit some oak branches, which is a nod to the town’s name—Accrington is derived from Old English meaning "acorn farmstead." The red branch is twisted over into a rough A shape, just to firmly plant the point in your mind. What I love most about the crest is how modern it is—and by modern, I mean within the last 200 years. Most heraldic badges like this hark back to the Normans and the De Lacys’ lion. This one does too, but the rest of it is pure Accrington industrial might. Accrington, and the men and women who worked its mills, were the workhorses of Empire. No Hargraves, no Hong Kong. No Accrington, no Auckland. Innovation, resilience, and sheer hard graft. This team is more than just a milk advert. @AccStanDC, @Samileasmithson, @ben_kay8,  @jessicafarry, @RawMilkZine, @ASFCcommunity, @LivTaylorxx_, @ASWFCofficial, @DarrylPorrino, @AccyForza, @clarkyinjury

On a quiet road in Nottingham, England, sits the Kilpin pub. It is named after a local lace worker.   A local lace worker who moved to Italy.   A local lace worker who moved to Italy and set up a football club.   That club was called AC Milan. This was in 1899.   So, let's cross over to Serie A, retrace the steps of old Kilpin, and #GetTheBadgeIn for @acmilan .   The St George's Cross on the emblem is the clearest nod to its English founder. That said, its adoption is more of a happy coincidence, as the flag is also the city symbol of Milan itself! Surely then, it was a no-brainer that Kilpin’s new team should adopt it.   To trace the origins of the red cross in Milan, we have to go back a bit. About 2,200 years.   Milan was a growing city in 222 BCE when it was captured by an expanding power to the south from a place called Rome. By all accounts, these "Romans" (for want of a better word) did rather well for themselves. So much so that, eventually, they needed to divide the administration of their vast empire among the Italian cities under their control. Milan—or Mediolanum, as they called it—was made the capital of the Western Roman Empire, overseeing regions such as Gaul (France), Britanniae (England), and Hispaniae (Spain).   It flourished as a political and economic centre and later became the heart of the Lombardy region of northern Italy, following its conquest by the Lombards, who descended from Germany to pick at the remains of the fallen Roman Empire.   The city-state of Milan first adopted the red cross on a white background around 500 years later, when it appeared on something called the Carroccio. This large wooden platform, which resembled a float at a village fair, began life as a chariot before evolving into the symbolic emblem of Milan's government. For centuries, it was wheeled into battle as a rallying point for Milanese soldiers.   In the Battle of Legnano (1176), the Carroccio played a central role. The Holy Roman Emperor, the famous Frederick Barbarossa, had marched his armies into northern Italy to seize control of its city-states. Determined to remain independent, the city-states hastily formed an alliance under Pope Alexander III, known as the Lombard League.   At Legnano, the two sides clashed in fierce combat around the Carroccio, draped in red and white. According to legend, it was defended by the "Company of Death"—900 young knights who pledged to die rather than see the Carroccio fall into enemy hands.   Milan won. The red and white cross of Milan still flew proudly over the blood-splattered battlefield. Barbarossa withdrew and later sued for peace.   Now, while I appreciate a good lace worker from Nottingham as much as the next man—you have to admit, this is a far cooler origin story.   That said, the truest nod to AC Milan's English roots is the very name—AC Milan. Milan is the English spelling of the city's true name, Milano. They kept the English version.   As for the red and black stripes, these were simply chosen to represent the team’s fiery spirit (red) and the fear (black) they struck into their opponents. Their nickname, the Rossoneri, simply means "the red and blacks." In the 1960s, they even adopted a devil logo to complement the colour scheme.   So, that’s AC Milan—a club that packs out the 80,000-seater San Siro every weekend, built on a foundation of English devils and Milanese Companies of Death, all willing to die for the badge.

Southend United FC Next up for #GetInTheBadge, we move a bit further down the Essex coast to Southend United—a club with a great badge and rich meaning behind it. Their traditional-looking crest is divided into four sections, each telling a unique story. Southend United was founded on 19 May 1906 at the Blue Boar pub, which still stands today and proudly displays a sign declaring it the "home of the Shrimpers" in the window. Initially, Roots Hall Stadium in Prittlewell was their home. Then came World War I, which, among other disruptions, meant dismantling parts of the ground to support the war effort. After the war, with Roots Hall in tatters, the team relocated to The Kursaal, Southend’s famous amusement park. I’m not sure how long they played beside the bumper cars and candyfloss, but they eventually moved back. Now, onto the badge itself—a proud symbol that encapsulates the club’s identity. It’s quartered, like a classic English badge, featuring a football, three wavy lines representing the sea (similar to Ipswich’s crest), the Essex swords, and the shrimp that gives them their nickname. Sticking with the sea motif, the town itself is essentially a tourist resort. Southend was built up from a small settlement in the 1800s by businessmen hoping to entertain wealthy Londoners over the weekends. Visitors would sail up on Thames barges in search of a good time. However, the shallow coastline often prevented the barges from docking, so most ships bypassed Southend and continued to Margate. In 1830, a group funded the construction of a pier, which was upgraded to solid iron in 1889. Today, it remains the largest amusement pier in Britain and even boasts a mini metro line to its end. This solved the issue of inaccessible barges, and soon thousands of affluent Londoners descended on the town each weekend. Many spent their time in the now Grade II listed Kursaal entertainment park, built by American investors in the early 1900s (though now, it’s mostly occupied by a Tesco metro, I believe). Given the pier's significance, it’s surprising there isn’t a nod to it on the badge. The shrimp on the badge, and hence the nickname, is a nod to Leigh-on-Sea’s once-booming shrimping industry, back when fishing boats crowded the waters, and shrimp were plentiful. Today, the shrimping industry has all but vanished, leaving behind Sammy the Shrimp, Southend’s loveable, googly-eyed mascot, who has arguably preserved the shrimp tradition better than the waters of Leigh have managed. The badge also features the iconic three Essex seaxes(Saxon short swords). These seaxes pay homage to the East Saxons, who ruled the area, with "Essex" deriving from Ēastseaxe, meaning East Saxons. The three swords match those on the county badge and are also sported by the county’s cricket team. The story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Southend’s recent financial rollercoaster. In the 2000s, a plan emerged to move the club from Roots Hall to a new, purpose-built 17,000-seater stadium, called Fossetts Farm, complete with restaurants and a hotel. It was the kind of ambitious project the town (and country) might have once embraced—back when they were building the nation’s longest pier and a new amusement park. Sadly, Britain has zero ambition these days- the project stalled in the planning stages, investors withdrew, and the site is now destined to become housing. Then things got worse. Since 2019, the club has struggled with unpaid wages, winding-up petitions, and a less-than-glamorous drop to the National League. With chairman Ron Martin barely keeping the lights on, fans took to the streets in protest as debts ballooned to £17.4 million, and HMRC came calling. By 2023, Southend had accumulated a 10-point deduction and an unwelcome transfer embargo—a checklist no club wants to complete. Finally, in July 2024, the Custodians of Southend United (COSU), led by Justin Rees, an Australian businessman who stumbled across an article detailing the club’s struggles while holidaying in Europe, swooped in and bought the club by lunchtime (sort of). Hopefully, things will turn around. Essex, arguably the most populous county in England, only has one ‘professional’ football team in the Football League (Colchester). Both Southend the town, and the club, need some serious work, perhaps the work has already begun.

Today, our journey through Italian football takes us to Serie B outfit Cesena FC (@calciocesenafc). So, let’s #GetTheBadgeIn! Nestled in the mid-northeast of Italy, a stone's throw from the Adriatic Sea and just above San Marino. They play in the very neat-looking Stadio Dino Manuzzi, which can seat 20,000. In 2011 it became the first Italian club to switch to an artificial pitch, with fans entering the pitch on the last day of the original to cut bits up and take them home. Cesena has historically bounced between Serie A and Serie B, with a sixth-place finish in 1976 earning them their one and only UEFA Cup run. In 2014 they won the playoffs to get back into Serie A, with remarkably—only four players. Well, four players under contract; the rest of the squad was made up of loanees. As this would suggest, not all was well with the underlying finances of the club, and in 2018 it was forced to declare bankruptcy and fold. However, the same year a phoenix team emerged, acquiring the historical badge for €78,000 from creditors and under new American ownership, began its ascent from Serie D. They quickly climbed through the ranks and are now competing back in Serie B. At the heart of Cesena FC's badge, and identity, are their two nicknames—the Cavallucci Marini (The Seahorses) and the Bianconeri (The White and Blacks), each clearly represented on their badge. Let’s start with the seahorse. At first glance, it seems a bit tricky to trace down its roots to the city of Cesena. It doesn’t seem to appear on any prominent landmarks or crests (please shout if I have missed something obvious). The city itself is also not directly on the coast, so its maritime heritage is a bit unclear. Unclear that is, until you go back a bit in history. Though Cesena lies inland, it historically encompassed the port town of Cesenatico for nearly five centuries. This port, surveyed by none other than Leonardo Da Vinci to fortify Cesena against attacks, now hosts a maritime museum and a vibrant fishing fleet, linking the town—and by extension, the club—to its maritime roots. The seahorse symbol is also very common throughout the 'upper Adriatic' and appears across various regional symbols. The actual sea itself is home to two species of seahorse, both endangered. The club's colours, and second nickname, 'the white and black', are lifted directly from Cesena's coat of arms. The coat of arms features a black and white flag under a set of fleur-de-lys and a crown. The town itself has seen some fascinating periods of history. It was fortified by the Romans initially and made an important garrison town during the Roman Empire. Post-Roman era, Cesena found itself at the frontier of the Lombardy region, a battleground for the feuds between the Holy Roman Emperor and various Popes. In one of the city's darkest hours, the 'Cesena Bloodbath' of 1377 occurred when Cardinal Robert captured the town and ordered the massacre of thousands of its residents. During the Renaissance, Cesena flourished as a centre of culture and intellect. The town established Europe's first civic-owned library in 1454, a testament to its progressive ethos during a time when most libraries were owned by the church or private individuals. The town can also claim to have raised three different pontiffs and is often called the 'City of Three Popes'. World War II left an ugly mark, literally, on Cesena. It had the misfortune of comprising part of Hitler’s 'Gothic Line', the last line of defence against the Allied forces as they liberated Italy. The city underwent severe bombing by British and American forces as they forced their way through. So, there you have it, what looks at first glance like the Grimsby or Notts County of Italy is in fact a town that has hosted Popes, Battles, Leonardo Da Vinci and been bombed to bits by the Brits. The Seahorses, sat comfortably in Serie B, with a long heritage, clear identity and sound financial backers – look set to continue their gallop up the leagues.

What do Ipswich, Oldham and Swindon all have in common? All were original members of the Premier League. Of the three, the team to have fallen furthest has been Oldham. The Blues, the Owls, the Latics (as in "Ath-letics", Latics). They were the first former EPL club to tumble from the EFL into non-league, and now, today — after a dramatic 3–2 extra-time win over Southend United at Wembley — Oldham Athletic are back in the Football League. It is richly deserved (as hard as it was to see equally deserving Southend not make it – when will the National League get the three promotion spots it deserves?). Oldham have a storied past. In 1915 they almost became champions of England, finishing one point behind Everton. They won Division 2 in 1992, securing a place in the Premier League's inaugural year (and becoming a cherished sticker book team for an entire generation — that shiny owl badge was one of my favourites back in the day!). But unfortunately, that was the last promotion they ever had. Until today. The Glorious First of June. Their painful, slow puncture of a decline has finally come to an end. They're on the up. And with a fanbase as large as theirs (the Wembley attendance was 50k+, a record for a National League play-off final), who would bet against them establishing themselves and moving up even further? Their revival has, in part, been down to local businessman Frank Rothwell and Darren Royle, son of legendary manager Joe Royle. Their leadership has not only stabilised the club but also initiated a £70 million Sportstown development around Boundary Park — aiming to revitalise the area with new sports facilities and a further education college. Fantastic to see. I love it when football teams like this become centrepieces of urban regeneration. But enough of all that. What the hooting heck is that badge all about? So, let's #GetTheBadgeIn and find out. It's an owl. A big one. On a ball. Why? Well, it comes from the Oldham Coat of Arms, which features three owls and three red rings. Turn one of the rings into a ball and steal one of the owls — and you've got yourself a ready-made badge! Why is there an owl? Well. It’s a pun. Of course it is. In Old English, "Oldham" sounds a lot like… "Owldham". "Ham" in Old English simply means homestead or village. So, "Oldham" is a pretty bog-standard name — "Old Village" or "Old House". Someone clearly needed to jazz it up a bit — and the English love a good pun. Even centuries ago, when the coat of arms was being made, the owls found their way onto it. The club and city’s motto, Sapere Aude ("Dare to be wise"), reinforces this connection. Oldham was at the centre of the Industrial Revolution — and therefore, of football. It came to dominate cotton spinning. At its height, it had 16 million spindles working across its factories. For comparison, the whole of the USA had 30 million at the same time. Oldham had more spindles than any other city on Earth. It was the mill towns around Manchester, like Oldham, that had thousands of young men living in close proximity to each other, with the odd day off to drink, fight — and try their hand at some snooty game that the fancy boys of Eton had just started playing: football. But unlike polo or fencing, you didn’t need much upfront investment. Just two jumpers for goalposts and a pig’s bladder to kick around a field. The Northerners quickly came to dominate the game — and, as already said, Oldham were well established as far back as 1915 as one of football’s heavy hitters. And so it is that Oldham Athletic are back in the 92. Which is exactly where a club their wize (pun intended) undoubtedly belongs. Chaddy the Owl (their mascot – called Chaddy because the ground, Boundary Park, sits on the border between Oldham and Chadderton) will be outdoing Hedwig next season in spreading the good word of the Latics. Congratulations, Oldham. 🦉💙⚽ --- #GetTheBadgeIn #OldhamAthletic #ChaddyTheOwl #EFL #NationalLeague #PromotionParty #FootballLeague #UpTheLatics #WembleyWinners #BackInThe92 #FootballHistory #oafc

My current goal is to cover as many East of England clubs as possible, including those playing against @IpswichTown (the Fulham post is a little late coming —like that equaliser). However, a news story this morning sent me on a complete tangent – far, far away from East Anglia, and to the Far East instead. Specifically, to the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong and Guangzhou FC (@GZEvergrandeFC), who were just expelled from the league. There's a fascinating story behind this, so let’s #GetTheBadgeIn and see what’s happening in the world of Chinese football. Firstly, let's establish some geography—Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong (formerly Canton), is situated above Hong Kong. Guangdong is one of the provinces around the Pearl River Estuary with a combined population of 86 million—20 million more than the UK in just one urban area. So, keep that in mind next time someone in Beccles refuses planning permission to convert a garage into an AirBnB one day and moans about Britian falling behind the next. You can’t be both powerful and provincial. Back to Guangzhou: they are China's most successful team, winning multiple Super League titles and two AFC Champions League titles against teams from Australia, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc. They were founded in 1954, at a time in China when anything that wasn’t farming, welding, or chanting phrases from Mao’s Little Red Book was deemed as truly suspicious behaviour. Donning some shorts and kicking a pig’s bladder around a field while talking of your love for European players would have certainly got you an entry in the local CCP’s bad books. Since their formation however, they've undergone various ownership changes. Similar to English teams historically linked to local businesses (e.g., Leiston FC from Garrett and Sons, Braintree FC from Crittall Windows, Barnet FC from Alston Works), Chinese teams have also been associated with companies. However, creating teams in the 1950s was challenging due to the absence of independent companies under Communism, and names like “645th Agricultural Commune Rovers FC” aren’t catchy. So, the connection is very different (and in a way, more depressingly modern). As capitalism took off in the 1980s, large Chinese companies, often supported by state funds or monopolies, began acquiring teams as personal assets.   In 1993, Guangzhou was acquired by the Apollo Group, a large Chinese conglomerate, and renamed 'Guangzhou Apollo.' By 2010, Evergrande Real Estate Group had taken over, rebranding the team as Guangzhou Evergrande. Evergrande invested heavily; The club recruited top Chinese players, bringing some back from European clubs like PSV Eindhoven, and signed Brazilian Muriqui for a record £2.5m. These and subsequent signings propelled them up the leagues, and they debuted in the AFC Champions League in 2012. In 2012 they also opened the world’s largest residential football academy – a factory farm for Chinese football talent. As unsavoury as this sounds, they use the same strategy to produce Olympians – and they’re pretty good at that. So, watch this space… The badge's red symbolises luck in Chinese culture, while the gold represents wealth—which I think we can agree are features of most successful teams. The tiger's head, reflecting the South China Tiger, an endangered native species, adds extra cultural symbolism to the badge. Despite my initial fears when I first saw it, it actually has some deep-rooted symbolism and is one the locals can rightly be proud of. So, what’s gone wrong? Money. Evergrande is in trouble. It borrowed and spent big in real estate during the late 2010s when the property prices were going through the roof. All those mega cities and towns you see with high rise flats as far as the eye can see – that was Evergrande. It was the Chinese miracle. The modern wonder of the world. Nothing could stop the rise of China. And then the market went bust. And took Evergrande (and potentially all of China), down with it. In 2022 Evergrande owed $300bn. A quick Google tells me that is the same as the GDP of Finland. You really need to screw your accounts up to have to turn around and say ‘Er, sorry boss, I might have forgotten to carry the 1 – and now we owe a Finland’. Evergrande’s founder, Hui Ka Yan, formerly China’s richest man, is now under investigation and plans for their new stadium – Guangzhou Football Park – a planned 100,000 seater stadium with mind blowing architecture (Google it – omg) has been cancelled. The Club has this year fallen behind with its own debt repayments and has been unable to pay salaries. As a result the Chinese FA have booted them out of the league. The South Chinese Tigers will undoubtedly rise again, but for the time being, they are in the red – and not the lucky kind.

Port Vale FC. They hold the record of being the longest-running professional team to never have played in the top tier. Quite a record. But. They do have a fantastic badge with a fascinating history. So let's #GetTheBadgeIn , and see what we can learn: Nestled in Burslem, one of Stoke-on-Trent’s historic towns, Port Vale F.C. might just be the only football club in England whose name doesn’t directly tie to a specific place. The name "Port Vale" instead nods to the port towns along the Trent and Mersey Canal. At least - that's the best guess. Other theories are that it started in a house called Port Vale (but then what was the house named after?). Who knows, but I think the (canal) vale of ports theory works well. In the traditionally quartered badge, we find symbols rooted deep in North Staffordshire’s history. (The older badge was a simple Staffordshire knot - much like the one on Tamworth FC's crest). The orange cross/waffle-looking thing (or fret couped argent - if you're being fancy) – is a reference to the Audley family, who held lands in the area before the Norman Conquest. Though they were clearly excellent survivors - unlike many Anglo-Saxon families in the north they kept their lands (and heads). They resided in nearby Heighley Castle for over 300 years until the Parliamentarians levelled it during the English Civil War. The scythe on the badge? That’s another local family symbol borrowed from the local Tunstall family arms, who in turn are referencing the Sneyd family, who owned swathes of Burslem land, including the area that now bears their name. The scythe connection to the Sneyd family is actually the most British thing ever - the word for a scythe's handle is a sned. The ancient family picked a pun to represent them in battle! And they did go to battle, the Sneyds were at the Battle of Poitiers when the English thrashed the French, and they added a French fleur-de-lys to their crest in honour (this did not make it onto the PVFC badge). The two vases on the badge symbolise the pottery industry that Stoke-on-Trent is most famous for and pay tribute to Josiah Wedgwood, a local businessman often seen as the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution. Certainly, most high school history departments give him the credit! The two pots each represent one of Wedgwood’s purpose-built "factory towns" on the canal, Burslem and Etruria. Staffordshire loved its factory towns during this time - Cadbury's built Bournville not too far away, for example. While the badge doesn’t feature the canal itself, the Trent and Mersey Canal's influence is woven into Port Vale’s identity. This canal, championed by Wedgwood in the 1760s, connected Staffordshire to Liverpool, reducing transport costs and opening up new markets. Completed in 1777, it fuelled the area’s growth, supporting other local industries like Burton's breweries and Middlewich salt works. So, a family of nobles able to adapt and thrive despite a foreign invasion, another family that liked a good pun and killing the French - and the man and the industry that was the driving force behind a revolution that took Britain from a miserable European backwater to the greatest Empire ever known. Persistence, Poitiers, and Pottery. Being stubborn, hating the French and creating world-beating industries. I'd vote for that. #UpTheVale

The logo of the Pittsburgh Steelers @steelers (and, fascinatingly, Huachipato FC @Huachipato in Chile, which uses the same image) have unique connections to the steel industry. Pittsburgh's began to rise as an economic powerhouse in the 1830s. It sits at a prime location at the convergence of three rivers that spread out into the American interior – as the country was expanding into the West it was the perfect location, with nearby coal deposits too, to set up steel refineries and then sail the heavy goods down river to the growing cities of the West. In 1848 the Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad only enhanced these natural advantages. Andrew Carnegie set up shop with his US Steel 1901 and soon became one the richest men in the world – his steel mills gave the city the name ‘Steel City’. When looking for a badge then for the American Football team to represent the city there was only one real choice – the badge of the American Iron and Steel Institute’s (AISI). It had three stars – in three colours: Each colour symbolises one of the essential materials for steel production: yellow for coal, orange for iron ore, and blue for steel scrap. Bizarrely, and uniquely, the Steelers’ logo is placed only on one side of the helmet, a distinctive decision made by a cautious and superstitious equipment manager. When they trailed the logo, he wasn’t sure of the reception so only placed it one side of the helmet. That season the Steelers broke all their records and won the championship. Determined not to undo their good luck, they’ve stuck with the one-sided helmet badge ever since. Across the world in Chile, Huachipato FC’s logo was also inspired by the AISI Steelmark. Formed in 1947, the club’s early supporters were steelworkers from the local Huachipato steel industry. Like the Steelers, Huachipato FC took the logo for their badge to represent their origins. When you think about England’s football teams too, with the likes of Sheffield United (‘The Blades’) and Sheffield Wednesday, it is interesting how many teams have a connection to steel (a Google search tells me that the Japanese football team Kawasaki Frontale emerged from a steel company team and there is a junior ice hocket team in Hamilton, Canada, named the ‘Steel Hawks’ after their town’s large steel mill).