by Ben (Muang Thong Utd Blog)
2nd June, 2011
Just for fun, I thought I’d put together a list of what I think are the top 5 ugliest Thai Premier League team crests. If you disagree, feel free to leave a comment and let me know which are your top 5.
These are the emblems that make you cringe or just burst out laughing when you see them. They don’t really communicate professionalism, seriousness, or strike fear in the heart of their opponents. It’s more of a “My secretary made this in MS Paint…” kind of feeling.
5. First up at number 5 is Sisaket F.C. Now to be honest, Sisaket only made this list because Rajnavy Rayong rebranded and changed their emblem from This to This. That thing easily would have taken the 2nd spot. So there’s that. As for Sisaket’s badge, it’s truely not THAT bad. And it’s not that a menacing Ox, or Kouprey, isn’t something that could be incorporated into a crest. Oxen are strong and can run, soccer players should be strong and run, etc. But the way they were incorporated as the shield supporters just looks awkward. Take away the random oxen and levitating soccer balls, and you’d have a nice badge with a respectible feel. Also, (according to the internet (which is always correct)), the top speed of a Kouprey is 17 mph. Humans average about 13-15, so it’s only a 2 mph edge. Drop the cows, and Sisaket could have a good thing going for them.
4. Next we have Pattaya United. Apparently at some places you can swim with dolphins, and it’s a beach resort city, so the dolphin works in that aspect. In another ligitimate sense, dolphins are fast and agile. They have also been known to put up a fight or two. But according to my sources, soccer isn’t played in water. While a dolphin logo could make sense for a game like Blitzball, put a dolphin on a soccer pitch and the situaiton quickly turns to either comedy or genuine concern and pity (depending on if you’re a jerk or not, respectively). The blue and yellow work, but the cartoonish, smiling dolphin feels more like, well, a cartoon than a serious soccer badge.
3. Third on our countdown we have Samut Songkhram F.C. They rank above Pattaya United on this list due to the fact that, as stated above, dolphins can bring the fight. Mackerels less so. Wikipedia tells me Samut Songkhram province is known for its many lakes, khlongs, and streams. So a fish would only naturally be incorporated into this soccer team’s logo. But it’s still a fish. It’s a pointy fish with daggers-for-eyes, but it’s still a fish. Their nickname is “The Raging Makerels”. I’ve never seen a makerel rage, but it may look something like this. SSFC’s logo from 2008 looks better, focusing on a traditional Thai drum, water, and soccer. But they decided to bring back the cartoonish fish as the main aspect of the shield, which earned them the #3 spot on my list.
2. The runner-up for worst emblem in the TPL is Khonkaen F.C. Just look at that thing. The black and yellow color scheme is a nice, except that their away kit is blue. Now, the idea of incorporating a dinosaur into a logo for a team from Khonkaen isn’t bad. Khonkaen is somewhat known for excavation. But dinosaurs are more tricky than most creatures. It’s going to be really hard to have a dinosaur that doesn’t look cartoonish and ridiculous. This is why the current Khonkaen badge looks cartoonish and ridiculous. The presentation of the T-Rex head makes it much worse than it has to be. It looks like it has no jaw. A cartoon T-Rex with a mouth deformity is even less frightening. An emblem trying to incorporate a dinosaur idea would need to go the route of suggesting a dinosaur influence without actually having dinosaurs. Otherwise it just seems childish. Maybe put in some dinosaur footprints. Dinosaur bones on a badge could be interesting. Bones are pretty serious. Even a dinosaur sillhouette. Pretty much anything but that. In the end, the final Khonkaen F.C. product leaves much to be desired.
1. For all of you who jumped down here to see if Chonburi was 1st, of course Chonburi is first. There are 3 things inherently awful about this badge, and I’ll walk you through them.
Firstly, that shark looks ridiculous. Not that sharks are a bad idea for a team emblem. People are afraid of sharks, they’re dangerous and make us uneasy. The fact is, Chonburi used the shark idea and still came up short. That makes it even worse. Mostly it’s the eyes. Give the shark black, cold, remorseless eyes, and it’s all good. Chonburi went the less traveled route of googley-eyes. It just looks incredulous. Also, it’s blue and more cartoonish than it needs to be.
Secondly, you have the word SHARK in big red letters. Not ‘The Sharks’ or even ‘Sharks’, but SHARK. Is the team called ‘The Incredulous Chonburi Shark’? I propose a nickname change.
Thirdly, and worst of all, we have the odd red squiggle at the bottom that upon closer inspection turns out to be the outline of another shark CREATED from the underline and ‘A’ of the word SHARK. Facepalm. This feels more like a mid-90’s cartoon than a crest for a professional soccer team.
These factors take the badge from simply ugly to a ‘designed to be mind-numbingly ugly’ level. And it also takes them straight to the top of the list! Thank you Chonburi F.C. Keep on having atrocious crests, a formidible team, dedicated fans, and beating us 2-1 in cup matches!
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