What is a badge in any case? It’s a complicated question to answer.
Perhaps your football club’s most ubiquitous symbol is a storied, heraldic design harking back to the local coat of arms or a sleek, modern design dreamt up to look effortlessly slick emblazoned on modern sportswear.
But why is there a tree? Or a bee? Or a devil?
This week, The Athletic is breaking down the details hiding in plain sight and explaining what makes your club badge.
Like most parts of Bournemouth’s history, the club’s badge is unique.
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Where countless other clubs have drawn inspiration from mythical creatures, weapons of war and wild animals for their crests, Bournemouth instead opted for a symbol much closer to home.
The silhouette who can be seen heading the ball is club legend Dickie Dowsett, one of Bournemouth’s most prolific goalscorers, who played for the club between 1957 and 1962.
Of course, most club legends usually just get a statue or a stand in their honour to commemorate all their contributions. Yet in 1972, Bournemouth took it upon themselves to immortalise Dowsett’s impact by making him the very symbol used to represent the club across the globe.
But how did Dowsett make his way onto the badge and, perhaps more importantly, what sort of meaning does this give the badge?
Bournemouth’s crest has gone through many changes since the club was formed as Boscombe Football Club in 1899, but red has always been the dominant colour.
After going with a more traditional badge inspired by the town’s coat of arms between 1936 and 1966, then a subsequent six-year detour which resulted in the badge only featuring the letters “BFC”, Bournemouth decided a change was necessary.
Dowsett enjoyed five seasons at Bournemouth as a player, scoring 79 goals and finishing as top scorer in three successive campaigns, before he retired in 1968 and became the club’s commercial manager.
Then-manager Freddie Cox wanted Dowsett to raise the club’s profile because he felt Bournemouth were at risk of being overshadowed by their south coast rivals. Dowsett made it his mission to overhaul the club’s brand. Total reinvention was afoot.
The former striker was essential in the club’s revamp, changing its name to AFC Bournemouth so that it would appear first in alphabetical lists of English clubs. He ushered in their red and black kit, inspired by AC Milan, and a new badge would mark the club’s steps towards a modern identity.
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Beyond actually being in the badge, Dowsett had a pivotal role in its creation, as recollected in Michael Dunne’s book, Dean Court Days: Harry Redknapp’s Reign at Bournemouth.
“Harold Walker (Bournemouth chairman at the time) had a design company,” said Dowsett. “We were thinking of changing the badge after we had done the kit and name. I went down there and they used an image of me heading the ball. I was always good in the air, that’s how I scored at least half of my goals!”
Barring a swift diversion between 1981 and 1983, when the crest would take on a completely different design playing on the club’s nickname The Cherries, Dowsett’s likeness has been a constant feature on the badge, evolving with various colour schemes and patterns over many decades.
A tribute to the classic @afcbournemouth cherries badge. @UTCIAD #afcbournemouth #badge #design #Bournemouth
— Daniel Norris (@DanKNorris) August 4, 2019
In April 2020, Dowsett died at the age of 88 following a battle with dementia. But he sewed himself into the fabric of the club and created a legacy unmatched by any other figure in Bournemouth’s history.
To some long-time supporters, like Keith Brewer, 73, Dowsett’s legacy took time to sink in but, as long as he remains etched in Bournemouth’s crest, his memory will continue to thrive.
“I’ve been going to Dean Court for 65 years,” Keith said. “Back in 1962, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at Reading, which was my first ever away game. So there’s a memorable connection there. But I don’t think it really registered with me when he was immortalised on the club badge, but I think it’s great that his memory will live on.”
When reflecting on the impact that the club’s commercialisation had on him as a young supporter in the 1970s, Jeff Hayward, 58, made it clear that Dowsett’s influence still rings the same bells of optimism among the fanbase all these years later.
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“Although we’ve been in existence for 123 years, we’ve only been AFC Bournemouth since 1971 — the year that I went to my first game,” Jeff said. “The club crest introduced in 1972 reflects that feeling of modernity and innovation.
“Can you get any bolder than featuring a top goalscorer on the badge in Dickie Dowsett? It was aspirational but very different — that’s how manager John Bond saw us and wanted us to be.”
If you want to know what Bournemouth’s badge truly means, find your nearest Bournemouth fan, pull up a chair and ask them why the hell there has been a featureless man in their crest for the last 50 years. The smile that takes over their face will tell you everything you need to know.
“Today and always, I see it very much as my badge,” Jeff said. “Not to everyone’s taste, but it resonates with me — it’s a modern classic.”
(Graphic: Sam Richardson)
