Can you recommend any companies to make match badges?

[BarnsleyTyke]

Hoping to start making some match badges from next season as so few clubs do them - can anybody recommend companies that make badges?

Also, what's the deal with having official club logos on the badges, do I need to get permission from the clubs beforehand?

[coolascustard]

Yes the badge seller at Derby had to have permission also has to pay rights to do it, dont think its cheap.

[Dorking]

.double post

[Dorking]

Dorking wrote:

I know of a chap who paid West Ham for the rights to do it for a few seasons. Not at all cheap. You could go down the route of trying to work in tandem with the supporters club. Another route is to use 'artistic license', ie don't use actual official crests, but use a representation of the kits. That is a good way to get around it. Some 'not so good' unofficial match badges have done their own representation of each club crest, I've also seen mirror images of old (ie previous) crests used, and things like "EPL" or "Premiership" written instead of 'Premier League' Might be worth a pm to footiebadgebloke for some advice as he has been collecting for many years and knows more than most

[Tynie Topics]

Terrys badges, good quality and a good price.
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[houghmartin]

on the rights issue....

At Crewe we have done several sets without gaining specific approval from the club. However, the main point of sale is the Gresty Road badge and programme shop (actually in the ground) plus we don't make any money off the venture (maybe unlike the badge sellers referenced above) so I think the club is OK with it. Plus its not as if we have done any controversial designs that might put the club in a bad light. I guess its a club by club thing but I would definitely err on the side of caution at first - especially if you are hoping to make it a commercial venture!
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[Dorking]

The alternative is a somewhat secretive network of contacts, and trading via emails and passed on messages. Listing them on ebay as 'selling a spare from my collection' and so on.

Not ideal at all.

[littlewiggy]

houghmartin wrote:

on the rights issue.... At Crewe we have done several sets without gaining specific approval from the club. However, the main point of sale is the Gresty Road badge and programme shop (actually in the ground) plus we don't make any money off the venture (maybe unlike the badge sellers referenced above) so I think the club is OK with it. Plus its not as if we have done any controversial designs that might put the club in a bad light. I guess its a club by club thing but I would definitely err on the side of caution at first - especially if you are hoping to make it a commercial venture!

Similar story here, I'm guessing it's a 'higher up the leagues you go, the more of a problem it is' scenario.
The bigger clubs are obviously far more protective of their crest, brand and TM, what with its commercial possibilities.

I know Newport County's club crest isn't copyrighted, so anybody can reproduce it without any comebacks whatsoever.
Whether that is also the case at other smaller clubs, I honestly don't know, but I'm assuming it would apply to a fair few.

Would a lower league club get out of their box over somebody producing a paltry 50 or 100 pin badges?
Doubtful in my opinion.
But a top club where it's fiercely protected undoubtedly would.

My own view is the whole affair can't be that stringently enforced, otherwise we wouldn't see the influx of badges from Eastern Europe that we do featuring every crest imaginable in the FL.

Mind you having said that, like Dorking says, I have noticed they always advertise them as "a badge from my personal collection."

It's a very grey, tricky area for sure.

** Barnsley Tyke - try dropping Duncan Jardine a line and asking him.

He has produced match badges for every Newport home game the past two years, so I'm sure he could offer you some good advice mate ...

[email protected]

[Dorking]

Good advice to ask Duncan.

As I said, footiebadgebloke is also pretty knowledgable about how far you can push it, eg how you can have a nice design with two players in the respective kits, yet not actually use crests etc.

[NWM Football]

I used Terry's Badges when I ran the shop at Hayes & Yeading. He produced a circular crest badge for us, and when Church Road closed in 2011, he did special badges for me for the final game at the ground against Gateshead.

He turned a batch of 200 match badges around for me inside two weeks. I didn't consult Gateshead about use of their crest, but made sure that a batch were put aside for their officials and players as a little souvenir, and I didn't get any complaints or comeback from them. I had the badges on sale over two matches (the penultimate game at the ground as well as the final one), and sold the final handful of badges to customers leaving the ground after the Gateshead game, so it worked absolutely spot on.
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