Villa hit back at £2m club badge claims
Aston Villa have unveiled their new badge - while hitting back at claims the re-brand has cost £2million.
As revealed earlier, the new badge will include what the club describe as "subtle yet important changes" from the current design.
It's chiefly the removal of Villa's motto 'Prepared' and a new-look lion complete with claws.
Villa claim the new design will perform better in "digital applications" and refuted the reported cost of the rebrand.
A club statement, issued shortly before the new badge was revealed this afternoon, claimed the true cost was not £2million, but £80,000.
The statement read: "The work, which was undertaken to make us more effective in the digital age, affects club publications, retail products, AVTV graphics, the current and the new official website and the stadium.
"However, we will not be spending significant sums on changing the branding in the ground this summer."
The badge rebranding is the club's first since the current design was introduced in 2007.
In a further statement, Villa explained the 'Prepared' motto had been removed to ensure the new lion, which has been designed by Christopher Wormell, could be used bigger.
It read: "As part of the review of our current badge - and in association with fan focus groups - we saw that the current lion was smaller within the shield - in part due to the word 'Prepared.'
"This meant that our badge did not perform as well at very small sizes, notably in some digital applications.
"So we had an opportunity to make it work both aesthetically as well as technically - without a significant change to what is a much loved badge of pride.
"So now both the lion and our initials AVFC sit larger and prouder within the shield.
"The word 'Prepared' will always be part of our heritage and it is a word that you will continue to see around the Club.
"However it has not always appeared in our badges and in the fan focus groups, it was not deemed to be an essential part of the badge."
