The FA ‘tried to bankrupt’ a non league club because of it’s crest

In this article, we look back to the time that the FA ‘tried to bankrupt’ a non league club because of it’s club crest. Yep, really.

Back in 2017, Wembley FC admitted that they were close to going under due to an ongoing legal dispute with the Football Association of the use of the word ‘Wembley’ on the club’s badge.

The FA maintain that the inclusion of the word ‘Wembley’ on the then ninth-tier side’s club crest could lead people to confuse them with Wembley Stadium, the 90,000-seater stadium used to host the England national team’s matches.

Wembley FC currently play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North but at the time were in Spartan South Midlands Football League.

Home games were played at Vale Farm, a 2,000-capacity ground which is situated next to a leisure centre just two miles down the road.

The club’s current ‘lion’ crest was registered and trademarked in Europe back in 2012, this was when Wembley FC saw a rise in prominence thanks to a sponsorship deal signed with Budweiser which saw several ex-professionals including the likes of Paul Merson, Graeme Le Saux, Ray Parlour, Claudio Canniggia join them to play in the early rounds of the FA Cup – also sponsored by Budweiser at that point.

The FA appeared to have absolutely no issue with the non league outfit using ‘Wembley’ on their badge at that point, though last year they decided to lodge a challenge with the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to invalidate Wembley FC’s rights – a move the FA claim is a “last resort” after the two parties failed to find an “amicable resolution”.

Wembley FC chairman Brian Gumm told BBC Radio London that, as a result of The FA legal action, his club were circling the drain in financial terms.

“We’d have to change our logo through the whole club and it would cost us an absolute fortune.

“We’ve always been Wembley, and Wembley Stadium was called the Empire Stadium.

“We’ve been living by the side of Wembley Stadium for 70 years and we’ve never had any confusion. I’ve never seen 10,000 people coming to our games if there is an England game on.

“It got really nasty. I don’t know what I was doing wrong.

“We can’t even afford to put in an appeal. It will bankrupt the club because we can’t afford to change all our signage and kit.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The FA say it was “forced to find a way to prevent” Wembley FC’s trademark “blocking” theirs abroad.

An online petition, which was signed way over 13,000 times, was set up urging the FA not to force the club to drop Wembley from their name.

Trademark expert Robert MacGinn, head of brands at Laytons LLP, has told the BBC that it was very unlikely that the club would be forced to change their name.

An FA statement said: “We have never objected to their use of this logo in the UK or elsewhere.

“This case is about Wembley FC registering their logo in several countries outside of the UK, such as Russia, China and the US, and then refusing to co-exist with us in those countries.

“We have not asked and will not ask Wembley FC to pay the costs to date.”

Gumm told BBC London he is determined to appeal against the decision by the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office.

“The petition has given me a bit of faith, seeing that people out there do care about non-league football,” he said.

“The FA have not spoken to me. I want the best for my club and I will fight them.

“If we want to make a stance for non-league football then I think we should.”

The pair of them had been relatively quiet, without incident for decades, only for The FA to then bring up an identity crisis and take it out on the vulnerable non league club who can’t afford to defend themselves.

It has to be said that absolutely no one ever has confused Wembley Stadium with Wembley FC to an extent that would even remotely infringe upon the former’s financial streams to any noticeable degree.

It just goes to show how petty, destructive and, completely unnecessary this situation all was.

Fast forward to today and Wembley FC are still around, and they still have their crest with the Wembley name in it. Think we know who won on this occasion.

Just two years ago, we reported on how fans within the non league community were left angry after Liverpool FC attempted to trademark the word ‘Liverpool’, the name of a city.

The Reds submitted an application to the Intellectual Property Office, something they’re not alone in doing as Chelsea and Southampton already have done so.

A spokeswoman for Liverpool said on Thursday: “We are applying to register ‘Liverpool’ as a trademark but only in the context of football products and services.

“We are not and wouldn’t ever, seek to register ‘Liverpool’ across the board.

“This application is strictly to protect the club and supporters from those benefiting from inauthentic products.

“The benefits to the club to have this protection in place are to ensure all revenues from official products and services are channelled back into the club and this is reinvested into the team and supporting infrastructure.”

As mentioned by BusinessLive, it means the club would be able to take legal action against organisations selling products or services suggesting they are official LFC products because they feature the word “Liverpool”.

This has produced plenty of anger on social media, with Northern Premier League Division One West side City of Liverpool FC venting out their frustration at the news.

They tweeted: “Yesterday our community owned football club had to spend £300 opposing @LFC outrageous attempt to own the word ‘Liverpool’ in every football context and to protect ourselves. Today one of our members has replaced that money and more besides. This club la!”

Another non league club, AFC Liverpool, said this morning: “Today we wrote to @PeterMooreLFC [CEO at Liverpool] to seek clarification on @LFC application to trademark ‘Liverpool’ and how this affects not just ourselves, but all the other Football Clubs that proudly carry the name of our City.”

A petition has been launched which has very quickly been signed nearly 2,000 times as of writing this Friday morning. It has also been retweeted by football manager, pundit and retired player Peter Reid.

It said: “Liverpool FC have applied for the trade mark of the word Liverpool…. if there application is successful they could stop every business ..school ..charity using the word…!

“As you know Gillett and Hicks.. bought LFC… they owned everything LFC .. word Liverbird.. even all the facilities! Anfield… Melwood!

“They got ran out off town….but if they stayed… they could off striped the word Liverpool from the city… even LFC.. because they could of owned the trademark.. which was under Anfield ground… name .. but they owned it…!

“So this petition is to keep it for all the people off Merseyside to use.. without..a solicitors letter dropping through your door.. taking you too court..! 800 years off Liverpool to be stolen…! Do the right thing.. lets stop this..!”

Who knew a name would cause so much drama in the world of football, especially over a place name?!

After seeing that the FA ‘tried to bankrupt’ a non league club because of it’s club crest, does it surprise you at all? Let us know your thoughts via our socials!