Newly formed club plan to become city’s first ever EFL side

One newly formed club has recently launched their new club crest and revealed an ambitious plan to become the city’s first ever EFL side.

That team is Wakefield AFC, who formed in 2019 and are currently playing in the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior Football League at Step 7 (Level 11) of the English football pyramid.

A group of businessmen founded the club a few years back and since then they have seen their club fail to complete any of their last two seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The team has been made up by youngsters that just missed out making it at professional outfits and they will be led by former Manchester United, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Turner, who has also managed Leyton Orient, Hartlepool United, Sheffield Wednesday and Stockport County.

Chris said back then, as quoted by Wakefield Express: “We’re ambitious and we’ve got some incredibly talented young players who have given sides way above them a real run for their money during pre-season.

“The long-term goal is to become the city’s first ever football league side and proudly fly the flag for the whole of Wakefield.

“The club will initially play their first games at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium just over the Wakefield border at Cudworth, but the aim is for the club to move into the redeveloped Belle Vue site and share the pitch with Super League’s Wakefield Trinity.”

2019/20 KITS

Massive turnout for the first ever kit launch for our city’s new football team @WAKEFIELD_AFC – shirts flying out! pic.twitter.com/jCOfF1vRkg

— Trinity Walk (@trinitywalk) August 8, 2019

They ended the 2019/20 season in 9th place out of 16 teams, gaining 28 points from 22 games played before the season was stopped.

Fast forward to current day, the club play their games at Post Office Road, home of rugby league team Featherstone Rovers. The club previously played in Barnsley but wanted to move to a stadium within the WF postcode area.

For the 2020/21 campaign, they are currently sat in 6th place out of 15 teams, taking 12 points from 6 games played, again before the season halted.

In that division, the top eligible club can be promoted on application provided they finish no lower than 5th.

The club have had a change up following advice from their fanbase and it’s fair to say their new much fresher crest gives them that more professional look that they are going for.

They wrote via their website: “We received a lot of fan feedback to suggest our old crest simply wasn’t well liked! It is important to us that we listen to our fans and many were in favour of change. We recognise that our old crest isn’t fit for purpose. The old crest may make a big impact, but for all the wrong reasons. We wanted to update our crest to be simpler, but more striking. And memorable for all the right reasons!

Reasons for change:

• Because the crest was only designed in 2019, it does not hold historical significance.

• The large W, plus the Fleur-de-lis and the Yorkshire rose are too cluttered. Too much has been packed into the crest.

• The Yorkshire rose traditionally has five petals but the rose on our old crest only has four.

• The ‘Wakefield AFC’ font looks dated.

Our club has made great strides in such a short space of time. We have a First Team, Elite Football Programme, Development Academy and an upcoming Women’s Team. We now have a club crest that matches our ambition.

Our crest will be proudly displayed on all our footballing kits from the start of the 2021/22 season. We hope all our supporters wear our new crest with pride as we look forward to even more exciting developments in the coming months.

Mike Hegarty, the Wakefield club owner, said: “In response to a number of calls for our new club to adopt a more modern badge we have asked a number of people to contribute ideas. After much deliberation our hard working committee have decided that this badge meets our vision the best. It was a tough call because there were excellent options submitted. Many many thanks to all those who contributed. Let’s hope our performances this year match the badge.”

There was reaction as the newly formed club plan to become the city’s first ever EFL side…

@bethgabriel_: Ooooo I like 🤝

@_RyMcCluskey: Massive upgrade looks good

@danielwood100: Really like it! Brilliant work

@charltondoris: Like it!!!

@CJLewis_90: THING OF BEAUTY! Can’t wait to see it on the shirts

@AbcTrinity: absolutely love the new logo, hopefully when we get back to some normality we can all take sport in wakey to the next level

@RegT1996: Looks fantastic!

@JavensSimon: Love it. A.W.A.W

@doncasterblues1: Like it but really liked the old crest to be honest, I can see what they mean about the old one being too close to Trinity and needing their own image

@ROldfieldDesign: Actually a big fan of that

@Stefromleeds89: Very nice, it’s simple enough to be recognisable yet it does enough to be relatable to us Yorkshire folk.

@3Yorkshireteers: Better than last un!