AFC Totton
FOLLOWING A FAN VOTE taken towards the end of last season, AFC Totton have launched a refreshed version of their popular existing club badge ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The work of Southampton-based freelance graphic designer Clare Murphy of Clare Murphy Creative (CMC), the new design of the club’s motif retains the same core elements as the one that fans overwhelmingly voted to retain when presented with four alternatives for a potential change of brand identity over the Easter weekend in April.
However, the new version features several significant improvements on the previous iteration. The silver-grey shield is now bordered by cleaner, sharper lines, as is the football located at the top of the graphic, while the background area within the shield retains the two-tone blue stripes in the team’s home colours.
The most significant upgrade is in the representation of the central stag, which acts as mascot and provides the nickname of the 138-year-old New Forest-based football club. Depicted in much finer detail, the stag now looks ahead in three-quarter profile, proudly displaying a leaner but visually more distinct pair of antlers.
“We’ve had some strange discussions at the club over the years, trying to determine exactly what breed of stag was featured in the old design,” explained AFC Totton CEO Steve Brookwell.
“Some thought it might be an American breed of deer, while others suggested that it could have been a composite image taken from two or more different animals. I’m also led to believe that if you search online for vector illustrations of stags from commercial image libraries – which the previous designer may well have done when the badge was last updated about a decade or so ago – a lot of the results that come up are actually of reindeer rather than deer.
“We presented some visual suggestions for a completely different type of badge to the fans at the end of last season, and they were almost unanimous in declaring their preference for the one we already had. But there were some elements of that version that caused issues when trying to print it on various substrates, like fabrics and plastics, specifically in relation to the thick edges featured around the outer edges of the image.
“While taking this opportunity to address those issues, we have also changed the stag at the heart of the design to more closely resemble the red deer that inhabits the New Forest area that we also call home. But in essence, we have listened to the fans and kept the overall design as it was, while still finding ways to improve upon it – and I’m sure the fans will agree that Clare Murphy has done a fantastic job that will proudly represent the club for many years to come.”
In keeping with the stag theme, the Monarch Suite – the largest of the club’s hospitality and function rooms at their 3,000-capacity Snows Stadium home on Salisbury Road in Totton – is a reference to the 19th century painting by the artist Edwin Landseer (1802-1873), entitled The Monarch of the Glen (1851), which captures the full majesty of the red deer. The original painting is currently on display at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh.
AFC Totton finished as Runners-Up in the Southern League Premier Division South at Step 3 of the English non-league pyramid last season, while also lifting the SDFA Southampton Senior Cup for a record-equalling third season in a row. This Friday, The Stags and their enthusiastic supporters eagerly await the publication of the new league fixtures for the imminent 2024/25 season.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
