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Slough Town CEO issues open letter to supporters after backlash to new club crest

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Slough Town CEO issues open letter to supporters after backlash to new club crest

Slough Town CEO Ashley Smith issues an open letter to supporters after backlash to the new club crest on social media.

Earlier in June, the National League South side felt it was time to move on from their much loved logo, going for something more modern, which will always prove controversial.

It’s said that the Supporters Trust were not aware of any planned change, and that none of the Trust were included in the 125 year association committee who participated in the discussions.

The Trust said they had no input in the design, or with the explanation as to what the logo means. In fact, our new membership badge ordered and paid for, continues to focus on our relationship with the club and helps with our financial support of the club.

They spoke of their disappointment at not being consulted in any way.

Now the club’s chief executive have spoken…

The open letter, posted on www.sloughtownfc.com, read:

Dear Slough Town Supporters,

Following correspondence from Slough Town Supporters Trust, our meeting with the Trust this week, and feedback received from individual supporters since last week’s announcement of our new club crest, I wanted to take this opportunity to write to you directly.

We are incredibly proud of Slough Town’s rich history and equally excited about the future. Neither should ever come at the expense of the other.

We are aware that the introduction of our new club crest has prompted significant discussion, and we absolutely understand the strength of feeling shown by many of our supporters. We want to provide more detail regarding the reasoning behind the change and the process that led us here.

We have received a wide range of feedback from supporters, reflecting the passion that exists for this football club. While opinions differ, we appreciate everyone who has taken the time to share their views with us. It is clear from the response over the past week just how deeply supporters care about Slough Town Football Club, and we do not take that passion for granted. Whether you support the new crest or have reservations about it, every opinion has come from the same place – a genuine love for this football club.

Our core objective was to deliver a bold, confident and simple design. We wanted to develop a unique identity for Slough Town Football Club that extends beyond the first team and encompasses every part of the club family.

The previous crest drew heavily on the Borough’s coat of arms, creating a longstanding connection between the club and the town. As part of this process, we wanted to build upon that relationship by establishing a more distinctive identity for Slough Town Football Club, while continuing to celebrate the heritage that makes our town unique. Rather than reproducing the Borough’s civic symbols, the new crest reinterprets aspects of Slough’s story through symbols that belong uniquely to Slough Town Football Club.

The result is a crest that moves beyond the direct use of civic imagery while retaining meaningful references to the town’s history, including its internationally significant connection to Sir William Herschel, astronomy and innovation.

The new crest has also been designed to enhance our presence in a modern, digital world, ensuring it can be reproduced clearly, consistently and effectively across kits, merchandise, signage, social media, broadcast graphics and digital platforms.

From the very outset, we ensured that the utmost care and attention were paid to every detail. We formed a panel of individuals with long-standing associations with the club, bringing together well over a century of combined involvement with Slough Town. Together, they undertook a lengthy process of discovery, planning and design development, always guided by one simple objective: doing what they collectively believed was right for the club’s future.

Ultimately, our ambition is for this crest to become a symbol worn with pride by every player who represents Slough Town Football Club, from our youngest grassroots and Academy players through to our senior sides. Like every crest before it, its true value will be defined not by its design, but by the memories, achievements and community spirit it comes to represent.

We were fully aware that a new crest would take time to become familiar and would not be supported by everyone. Over recent days, we have carefully reviewed the feedback, which has highlighted just how difficult it is to satisfy every individual preference.

To evolve and improve every day, we must always be willing to listen, reflect and learn. We are entirely open to constructive feedback and, as a result, we have decided to undertake a formal consultation with supporters and stakeholders during the 2026/27 season.

I want to be clear that our new crest will remain the club’s primary identity. We believe it represents the future of Slough Town Football Club and will proudly feature across our teams, merchandise, digital platforms and around Arbour Park.

However, we also recognise the importance of our heritage and the strength of feeling surrounding some of the traditional elements associated with Slough Town Football Club.

The purpose of this consultation will therefore not be to replace the new crest, but to explore whether there are opportunities to enhance the new crest by sensitively incorporating additional heritage elements, while preserving the integrity of its core design. Our aim is to ensure we continue to honour our past while embracing our future.

During this process, we will actively engage with all elements of the Rebels family, including the Supporters Trust and other key club stakeholders, to ensure that a broad range of views is heard and considered. In the coming weeks, we will provide further information on how this consultation will work and how supporters can become involved and have their say.

As a custodian of this football club, I am fortunate to work alongside an incredibly strong, dynamic and experienced team whose passion for Slough Town is unquestionable. Together, our objective remains unchanged: to develop every aspect of Slough Town Football Club for the benefit of our supporters, our players and the wider local community.

Thank you for your continued passion, support and commitment to Slough Town Football Club. Together, we will continue to honour our rich history while building a bright future.

Ashley Smith
Chief Executive Officer
Slough Town Football Club

Here’s how fans reacted after Slough Town CEO issues an open letter to supporters after backlash to the new club crest…

@Jimmaay1993: You’ve used the words “Unique” and “Distinctive” about the new crest, it’s neither of those things. The same “designer” used for this is produced Cambridge Utds and almost looks identical. Holding a consultation with supporters AFTER introducing it is a timeline failure.

@TristanChapman: Love the club. Hate the badge. Unfortunately that’s at least 3 shirts that won’t be bought this season.

@frogspad: I’m not a supporter of this club, but this is an awful crest. It’s just 4 letters. Shows no history of your club or town. Terrible. I can understand why your supporters are so upset.

@SASEnterprise5: The badge isn’t Bold it isn’t Competent and it’s simple in a bad way. Cut your losses and keep it for this season if you’ve made the kits already and then change it back next year

@SmithChristian4: Never am I reading all of that ‘justification’ when 1. I don’t support slough and 2. The new logo is bloody terrible. It’s the type of thing you’d make in class as a child in IT on Microsoft word 🤣

@G3tTheBadgeIn: Are you kidding me? You had the most beautiful and meaningful Coat of Arms. I dont mind a rebrand – but retain some of the history as you do, don’t eradicate it entirely 😅

@MarkRadders: ‘We wanted to develop a unique identity for Slough Town Football Club’ – the letters STFC mean nothing!!! Numerous teams with the same initials and a badge that looks exactly the same as another clubs. It appears we’ve achieved the opposite of what you wanted. 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

@bigfatrebel: The words you were looking for are ‘Sorry, we fucked up. We’ll fix this’. This statement is worse than the convoluted explanation behind this atrocious crest. #WeWantOurLogoBack



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