Badge of the Day #78 (Dubočica Leskovac)

Another of the consignment recently acquired from Serbia, on this occasion representing the newly-discovered & rather lovely name of Dubočica Leskovac.

The crest, as embodied by the badge, is, of course, a classic of the good old Eastern European modernist ‘industrial’ type, featuring as it does the sturdily elegant graphic representation of a cog-like factory building with a smoking chimney stack (‘established in 1923’), exactly the sort of iconography that Peter Savile might have appropriated or been influenced by back in the earlier days of his designs for the mighty Factory Records. The Yugoslavian red star atop the bronzey-lettered Cyrillic rendering of the club name (& that of Leskovac too, below), & the striking design of the red/white diagonal division additionally contribute to what is a most desirable & already-treasured object indeed, to be sported with considerable style & pride.

Alas, Dubočica currently languish at the foot of the eastern division of the third-level ‘Srpska Liga’, but this is surely only a temporary blip & such a fine name will rise to its rightful place amongst the higher echelons, although, of course, on-field success is merely an impostor that has no significant effect on affection.
That being said, though - how about Dubočica Leskovac v, say, Kischpelt Welwerwolz as a glorious-sounding not-so-distant future Champions’ League Final? Here at TOoT, it will happen.

Badge of the Day #65 (Spartak Hradec Králové)

Another recent acquisition for the (mostly) European club collection, representing the name of DSO Spartak Hradec Králové, of the former Czechoslovakia, who existed as such between 1953 – 76 (now, through the course of numerous rebrandings, being known more prosaically as FC Hradec Králové), achieving a championship & subsequent appearance in the early years of the European Cup during that period.

The badge is another of those lovely, irresistibly redolent vintage objects, hauntologically rich - being the manifestation of a ghost - & inspiring the familiar 'Ostalgie', featuring the ever-exotically Eastern European socialist sports society name & legend ‘Spartak’ upon & most harmoniously contained within the cog-like design of the club crest (as is the iconic Soviet red star, of course) which, to someone saturated in the particular aesthetic during the post-punk times, is reminiscent of those (East) European Modernist, Futurist-Constructivist-inspired, machine-age designs appropriated/produced by Peter Savile during the early years of Factory Records’ redefining of the landscape of music-related graphic design, perfectly suited to the ‘industrial’ (yet in the very process of becoming post-industrial) Manchester milieu in which they operated. One is reminded, particularly, of the ‘anvil’ logo that had its very own Factory catalogue number – FAC 47 - & appeared imprinted upon both the reverse of the sleeve & the disc labels of the 12” release of New Order’s ‘Everything’s Gone Green’/’Mesh’/'Cries and Whispers’ amongst others, a pleasing conjunction of art, football & music, those enduring passions & staples of TOoT’s content.