The Day Dave Mocked Forest’s History and I Got Pissed
You know how these projects start, right? They never begin with a spreadsheet or a business plan. They start with an argument, usually fueled by cheap lager and misplaced loyalty. Mine started three weeks ago, down at The Griffin, arguing with my mate, Dave. And Dave, bless his heart, is a Derby County man. He loves nothing more than pointing out every little thing Forest messes up.
We were talking about football kits, as you do, and somehow the conversation veered off into logos. Dave started flapping his arms about how Nottingham Forest has zero identity because we’ve changed our emblem too many times. He called the current badge “a weak, modern corporate smear” and said it looks like it belongs on a jar of supermarket jam, not a proper football club. I got seriously steamed up. I stood up and I roared that the current lot just don’t understand what the fans want. They keep messing with tradition, and it drives me crazy. But Dave, he just leaned back and said, “Alright, smart guy. If you’re so sure, which one is the ‘best’ one then? Prove it. Don’t just tell me what you like; tell me what everyone likes.”
That was the trigger. I couldn’t just tell him my favorite—the classic one with the two stars over the city shield, obviously, because that’s the one tied to the European Cups—I had to find the definitive answer. I had to shut Dave up with cold, hard fan data.
Launching the Investigation: How I Rounded Up the Usual Suspects
I walked out of the pub that night, fuming, but with a plan solidifying in my head. I wasn’t going to rely on Wikipedia or some rubbish design blog. I needed the voice of the Trent End faithful.
First thing I did the next morning, nursing a slight headache, was dig up every single official and semi-official NFFC logo I could verify since the 1950s. I pulled photos, old programs, and screenshots. It turned into a surprisingly long list. The simple script writing of the early days, the bizarre ‘Tree Trunk’ era logo from the 70s that looked like something my kid drew, the classic Clough shield, and all the weird, digitally enhanced versions that cropped up in the last twenty years.
Once I had categorized them—I ended up with about seven distinct designs that mattered—I needed a way to get people to vote without influencing them. I threw together a super basic, ugly voting system online. I didn’t care if it looked pretty; I just needed raw input. I made sure to include high-resolution shots of all the candidates so people couldn’t complain they didn’t see the detail.
Then came the hard part: getting the fans. I started pushing the link everywhere I knew NFFC fans hung out. I posted it on the biggest forums, the busiest Facebook groups, and I even emailed it to a couple of old season ticket holders I know who still use dial-up but whose opinions I trust more than anyone. I told them straight: “Settle an argument. Which logo is the one that screams Forest?”
Filtering the Noise and Watching the Votes Roll In
The first 24 hours were chaos. The votes came flooding in, fast and furious. I had to constantly monitor the IP addresses because, inevitably, some absolute clowns from Derby were trying to rig the results by voting for the ugliest possible design (the corporate text-only one from the mid-90s was suddenly spiking). I developed a quick filtering mechanism—I won’t bore you with the technical stuff, but basically, if the pattern looked suspicious, those votes went straight into the digital bin.
What I observed immediately was fascinating. I thought the Clough-era shield—the one with the gold outline and the two stars above the stylized tree—would walk it. It was the iconic winner, the memory of glory. But it wasn’t a runaway success.
The votes were tightly split between three key designs:
- The European Shield (1970s/80s): Massive sentimental push. People remember winning with this on their chest.
- The Pre-War City Crest (Simple/Retro): A surprising dark horse. People who appreciate the history and simplicity loved this one. It had a clean, strong visual punch.
- The 1990s Modernized Tree: This one had zero support from the older crowd but a surprising amount of support from younger fans who grew up watching us bounce between divisions with this emblem. They saw it as ‘their’ Forest.
I let the poll run for a full week, making sure I captured votes from different demographics and time zones. I tracked over 4,500 unique responses, which is a pretty decent sample size for something that started as an argument over pints.
The Final Tally and Shoving the Data in Dave’s Face
When I finally closed the poll and ran the numbers, the results were clear, and surprisingly definitive. The winner, by a clear margin of 11%, was the classic Clough European Shield.
But here’s the kicker, the real learning moment: the commentary fans left behind when they voted was more important than the percentage. People didn’t just write “it looks good.” They wrote things like, “That badge means Peter Shilton,” or “That badge is when we were Kings.”
It was never about graphic design quality. It was about success. Fans don’t vote for the best-drawn logo; they vote for the logo tied to the best memories. The one that means trophies.
I printed out the main results page, folded it neatly, and waited for Friday. I marched back into The Griffin, found Dave, and before he could even order a pint, I slapped the page down in front of him. I just pointed to the winning design and said, “There it is. The one that screams Forest. The fans have spoken. It’s the one tied to winning the big ones. Case closed.”
Dave just grumbled, ordered his drink, and had to admit I’d done my homework. The current corporate one finished dead last, by the way. So yeah, I proved my point, settled the score, and got a damn good practice log out of a stupid pub fight. That’s a win in my book.
