Aston Villa’s new crest for the 2024-25 season has been leaked on the website of new front-of-shirt gambling sponsor Betano.
In screengrabs seen by The Athletic, Villa’s new club badge — the same one that surfaced in December after it was trademarked with the UK government — was next to Betano’s logo on the betting company’s website.
Since those screengrabs emerged on Monday, however, it has been changed, with the present crest now displayed on the website.
Villa have agreed a two-year deal with Betano, having cut ties with another betting company BK8, only 12 months after signing a three-year deal with them last summer.
That existing contract was worth considerably more than the £6million-a-year agreement with previous sponsor Cazoo and took them to the cut-off point for having gambling companies on the front of shirts, with Premier League clubs voting last April to ban betting firms on the front of shirts from the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
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Screenshot taken from Betano’s website
In February, The Athletic learned that Villa had attempted to extract itself from its initial agreement with the Asian gambling company BK8, seeking a more lucrative contract that would help drive revenue and comply with profit and sustainability regulations. Other sponsorship deals, including on the club kit, have been explored in recent months.
At the time, Betano, despite multiple attempts to speak to those responsible, did not respond for comment. The new deal is a respectable increase on the pre-existing agreement with BK8 and will be on Villa’s kit for the 2024-25 campaign, alongside kit manufacturer Adidas. Villa cut ties with previous kit manufacturer Castore a year early, with the club’s co-owner, Nassef Sawiris, having a six per cent stake in Adidas, which helped negotiations.
During a meeting with Villa’s Fan Advisory Board, president of business operations Chris Heck confirmed the decision to move away from the crest in September of last year, despite it only being in use at the start of this season on kit.
In October, Villa confirmed the decision publicly, conceding the crest did not bring about the desired benefits.
A statement read: “As communicated at the recent meeting of its Fan Advisory Board, Aston Villa is planning to re-engage with supporters to explore options for the selection of a permanent new-look crest before the club’s 150th anniversary next year.
“The crest, which tributes the club’s 1982 European Cup winners, will now be discarded at the end of the season. Villa will continue discussions with supporters over the crest once the new consultation session gets underway shortly.”
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Villa’s previous crest, as seen on their Villa Park stadium (Getty Images)
On December 20, three months after the first meeting, Heck and chief operating officer Ben Hatton convened again with the advisory board. Villa had informed those who would be attending about two chief agendas they hoped to discuss — disability access around Villa Park and, secondly, an update on the crest.
Towards the end of the meeting, supporters were shown a video montage which unveiled a new badge. Those inside the room spoke of their initial shock towards the announcement given they had not been consulted over the design.
Villa said the video (displaying the club crest), which was shown to the group, outlined the results of a fan survey and introduced the new crest. Discussions were held around the consultative process, and the club confirmed that the FA has been consulted throughout.
The club also remarked the video montage highlighted that Villa had received 16,000 responses to the 85,000 survey mailings, with the suggested crest being designed as a result of those responses.
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The Athletic revealed the FA intended to speak to Villa’s fan advisory board through the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and were asked to share concerns.
However, any changes Villa end up making to the crest will be dependent on compliance with the FA’s ‘Heritage Asset rules’. The purpose of talks between the FA and the club is to ensure appropriate fan consultation.
Villa declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
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(Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images)
