On July 17th, 2020. Something historical happened that the English Football world thought would never exist. After 16 years in the EFL Championship (the second tier of the English football system) Leeds United finally won the Championship title and was promoted to join the prestigious Premier League.
Leeds United was well known as one of the biggest clubs and most historically successful clubs under the guide of Don Revie. Before Don Leeds was a mediocre second-tier side. Don Revie would eventually lead Leeds to win two English League Cup Champions and an FA Cup. Don even led Leeds to a European Cup Final that was stolen by an opponent many Detroit Lions fans can relate to, a corrupt ref. Don also had a strong “win at any cost” attitude and Leeds gained a notorious reputation for winning the ball with dangerous tackles, playing aggressively which in turn gave them the infamous nickname “Dirty Leeds”.
However, the wonder years were quickly forgotten in the 1990s when the club went into financial disarray after Peter Ridsdale, the clubs’ chairman, took out high loans for players which the club could not afford.
"Should we have spent so heavily in the past? Probably not, but we lived the dream, we enjoyed the dream.” - Peter Ridsdale
Being forced to sell all their top players. Leeds quickly struggled in the premier league and was sadly relegated Leeds were relegated during the 2003–04 season. They would bounce up and down between the championship and league one until a man from Argentina named Marcelo Bielsa would take them from the ashes back to the Premier League where they belong.
Bielsa played a high-volume, attacked-focused type of football which grew very popular with football fans, especially those in West Yorkshire. Bielsa quickly became a cult hero and an icon for Leeds fans.
To celebrate this promotion. I wanted to create a new brand system that combined the history of Leeds United with the very exciting new future of the club. With this redesign, I played heavily with the “Dirty Leeds” mindset and created a brand system that was fun, historic, and not afraid to pull punches like the club.
My Role:
Visual Designer
Researcher
Brand Designer
Mockup Artist