Badge(s) of the Day # 107, 108 & 109: Torpedo Moscow(s)

Featuring today the acquisition of a discrete collection within the collection, not without a certain complexity attached to its details, with a total of three different objects representing two distinct clubs bearing the fabulous name of Torpedo Moscow, with our favourite exotic Cyrillic script in evidence along with the clubs’ iconic ‘T’ logo upon all three - the badge in football shirt form is unique to the collection, & the one to the right, of the very short-lived ‘Torpedo-Metallurg’ phase of the other, Torpedo-ZIL, club (that subsequently became the already now-defunct FC Moscow), is a particular delight with its industrial/manufacturing ‘cog’ and vintage racing car elements within the overall design.

Badge of the Day #106: Rapid Bucharest

Another addition to the collection, & the first to represent a club from Rumania, in the form of the noble name of Rapid Bucharest, in, of course, its native form.

Badge(s) of the Day #104 & 105: Slavia Praha

Today featuring further valuable, irresistible additions to the collection in the form of not one object, but two, representing the mighty Slavia Praha, both of a certain ‘hauntological’ vintage, with, indeed, and commemorating the august club’s 75^th anniversary, that to the right of the picture dating from 1968.

Both are fine designs, the left again of a ‘shield’ shape, variations on the basic theme & red, white & blue colour scheme, with the club’s inverted five-point star insignia an essential component.

A previously-acquired Slavia Praha badge may be found here.

Badge of the Day #103: Spartak Sofia

Another of the latest additions to the European club collection in the form of this rather lovely vintage object representing the former Spartak Sofia of Bulgaria, the badge pre-dating 1969, when Spartak merged with Levski to become Levski-Spartak, one of the great & favourite names, the acquisition of whose badge was featured here on TOoT.

Again, the ‘shield’ form of the object is an interesting one, & of course the Cyrillic ‘Spartak’ & the red star are ever-seductive elements of the design, making the whole rather irresistible.

Badge of the Day #102: Radnicki Nis

Today featuring the second of the pair of badges freely & very kindly gifted by Tomislav via Delcampe, this one representing, in Serbian Cyrillic, Radnički Niš, a name with which TOoT is familiar & would have come to prominence in 1982, when, in the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup, the club was drawn against Dundee United & subsequently overcame a 0 – 2 first leg reverse with a 3 – 0 win in the return to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Other than this, & the continuing awareness of at least their existence, I can’t say I’ve particularly considered following or favouring Radnički, but it’s a jolly nice badge of a certain vintage that invariably appeals, featuring as it does a Yugoslavian red star, with a very interesting & distinctive ‘kite’ shape, that will be welcomed into the collection.

Badge of the Day #101: NK Slaven Koprivnica

Today’s addition to the collection was by no means an intentional one, but to be welcomed into the still-expanding fold all the same, being sent as one of a pair of free gifts by Tomislav in Osijek, from whom we recently acquired a small number of international football badges via the Delcampe website, a veritable treasure trove of the exotic & obscure from across Europe.

This particular example, most unusual & striking in its octagonal form, is a fine object representing the name of Slaven Koprivnica of Croatia, featuring the red and white checkered signifier of their home nation & also our favourite red star, a noble & ‘ostalgic’, indeed Yugo-nostalgic, addition to any such design.

Of the club & its history, we must admit to having known nothing as such, but the discovery that their home is a stadium with a capacity of a mere 3,200 spectators is an instantly endearing one.

Badge of the Day #100: Karpaty Lviv #3

Yes, we here at TOoT might already be the proud owners of a pair of badges representing our beloved Karpaty Lviv/Lvov, as posted here back in December of 2013, but the opportunity to acquire this 'essential' vintage object, redolent with Ostalgie, proved too enticing to pass up, & thus it recently came to be. Again, the football & pine trees feature as in one of the previous examples, but the format of the design is a bit different, thus justifying the small investment.

This last season has, alas, not been the best for the mighty Karpaty, suffering a nine-point deduction & finishing second-bottom of the Ukranian Premier League, but they shall doubtless rise again soon, ideally to do battle with the equally fabulous Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, such gallant runners-up in the Europa League Final, for domestic supremacy.

Badge of the Day #99: La Louvière

Bitten by the badge-collecting bug again, even if only lightly, it has recently seemed imperative to acquire a few more choice objects for the collection, including this one representing the sadly defunct name of La Louvière of Belgium - another of those ineffably melancholy ones to which one is so attracted - & their rather fine wolf logo.

Badge of the Day #98: World Cup '74

Reactivating a feature from yesteryear here on TOoT (please see the archives from November 2013 - May 2014 for the previous 97 entries in the series), it seems most fitting to have finally acquired for he collection this rather lovely vintage object, a lapel pin depicting the official German-language logo of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, as represented on each of the 256 drawings that formed the drawing project finished in March of this year (again, please consult the archives).

Thanks to Tomislav in Osijek for this one.

Badge of the Day #97 (Carl Zeiss Jena)

Picking up the threads of a recently dominant but now becalmed feature here at TOoT, we present the latest addition to our collection in the form of an historic crest representing Carl Zeiss Jena of, at the time of the badge’s obvious vintage, the then-East Germany (the previously-named ‘Motor Jena’ having being ‘re-founded’ under the company-sponsored identity in 1966, although they had also borne the ‘Carl Zeiss’ prefix twice before during their history): as ever, such an object is hauntologically rich, & can’t help but inspire a little ‘Ostalgie’ in those so inclined.

One recalls Carl Zeiss Jena being a name that came to attention early in one’s football-following days, via their domestic successes & profile frequent entrants in the European club competitions & subsequently appearing in the final of the Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1981, losing 2- 1 to Dinamo Tblisi (another of the continent’s instantly-attractive names), eliminating Wales’s Newport County at the quarter-final stage (much to the satisfaction of this Wrexham supporter, under the circumstances not in the least seduced by the possibility of the minnows progressing, particularly beyond the stage Wrexham had once achieved themselves), with research revealing that they had previously overcome AS Roma, remarkably overturning a 0 – 3 first leg deficit to prevail 4 – 0 in the return (one of very few instances of such comebacks in the history of the European club competitions), & then the holders Valencia, before going on to beat Benfica in the semi-finals, something of an epic campaign & a tribute to the team’s qualities in achieving their place in the final: the badge will serve as suitable tribute, & to the enduring romance of the name.



Badge of the Day #96 (Wrexham AFC, 1977-78)

 

 

Coming very much closer to home than the predominantly continental aspect of the whole, this latest addition to the collection is an object of a very specific & special, fine vintage (& it certainly appears ‘vintage’, displaying  the patina of its age), commemorating as it does the glorious achievement of Wrexham’s winning of the good old Third Division championship all those many years ago in 1978, thrilling to behold as the season that unfolded before our eyes was to those of us who were there, thus imbuing the badge with a particular hauntological frisson, granting instantly ‘memorable’ access to then, an historical highpoint, from now.



Badge of the Day #95 (RWD Molenbeek #3)

 

 

Presenting today a new addition in the form of the third badge now in the collection to represent our beloved-from-the-Seventies RWD Molenbeek, this being an object obviously of a certain vintage, which of course imbues it with that particular ‘hauntological’ irresistible desirability.

The design of the emblem upon is something of a riff on the club’s official one, with the black & red squares to the left of the black & white stripes, & the red circled white star inset within all present & correct, then topped with the RWDM initials set in green, which ‘header’ diverts from the norm yet adds an attractive zing of colour. Note also how the ‘RD’ & ‘WM’ are set within their own individual cells within the overall grid structure, all of which adds to the sense of the logo being something like a miniaturized painting, especially with the ‘handmade’ wonkiness of the lettering & star shape, something in the manner of Jasper Johns’ ‘Flag’ & alphabets, for a couple of fine examples - one can just imagine it enlarged to a grander scale, striking composition & image that is undoubtedly is.



Badge of the Day #94 (US Hostert)

 

 

This very latest addition to the collection represents US Hostert, a recent name to have emerged on the Euro-radar, currently resident in the second tier of Luxembourg’s domestic soccer pyramid, to whence they returned after a single-season sojourn in the top flight in 2011-12, having finished firmly in last place with an admirably ‘heroic’ low total of 8 points, accrued from two wins & two draws, from 26 matches, accompanied by a goal-difference of -60 (to which 1 – 9, 1 – 6 & 0 -6 home defeats made a not inconsiderable contribution).

The second & third levels have very been much been Hostert’s natural habitat, since promotion to the latter from the fourth tier in 2001-02, before which they had spent their time oscillating between third & fourth.

The badge itself is a contemporary object, thus lacking any of the usual desirable vintage aspect, yet it provides the perfect vehicle for the club’s crest, which is of fine if idiosyncratic design: the green & white colour combination is obviously an attraction, as is the figure of the footballer, drawn by a sequence of elegant curves that yet somehow coalesce into the suggestion of a certain unathletically chubbily stiff clumsiness (contrast this with the angular dynamism of the graphic player representing Timok Zaječar on that club’s badge) - as might befit a lower division player, perhaps - & his head described by the ‘O’ of ‘Hostert’, all rather irresistible & something to be sported with a particular pride.



Badge of the Day #93 (Vörös Lobogó)

 

Following the celebration yesterday of the centenary of MTK(-VM) Budapest, today’s very latest addition to the collection commemorates the name of Vörös Lobogó, the ‘Red Flag’ under which MTK flew from 1953 – 56, during which time, as domestic league champions, they became the first Hungarian club to compete in the new European Cup, in the 1955 – 56 season, thrashing Anderlecht by an aggregate of 10 – 4 before going out at the quarter-final stage, in another goalfest, losing 6 – 8 overall to subsequently beaten finalists Stade de Reims.

Thus this object is of a particularly desirable vintage, for all that it lacks the traditional ‘MTK’ name, fixed as it is in the specific historical time of not only the exciting birth of pan-European football club competition but also immediately pre-Revolution communist Hungary (MTK had fallen under the post-war control of the state security police, & ‘Vörös Lobogó’ was one of a swift succession of name changes officially-imposed upon the club: for all that it seemed a more exotic & ‘Hungarian’ name, &, from recollection, an attraction from the earliest days of one’s Euro-fixation, its less edifying associations can be appreciated), rich, then, in its ‘hauntological’ aspect.



Badge of the Day #92 (MTK-VM Budapest)

 

Today celebrating the 1988 centenary (already over a quarter of another century ago) of the mighty & magnificent MTK-VM Budapest, as they were at the time known (between 1975-92), MTK having absorbed Vörös Meteor into the fold, whose red star insignia was thus incorporated into the white-sashed club crest, as here represented in the form of an exquisite & most desirable object.

Our MTK pin badge of an earlier vintage can be found here.



Badge of the Day #91 (Dunaújvárosi Kohász)

 

A recent addition to the collection, representing Dunaújvárosi Kohász SE, the name from 1961 – 90 of a club that, in common with many Hungarian ones, went through numerous changes of nomenclature (& prior to 1961, the new, postwar Socialist industrial city of Dunaújváros had itself originally been known as Sztálinváros, as was the football club during this time) until financially-collapsed dissolution in 2009 (less than 10 years previously, in the season that bestrode the change of millennia, they had, as Dunaferr, been crowned league champions, before going bust & being reborn for the first time as early as 2004, making for two swift & terrible declines, the second alas terminal).

Thus this object of a certain vintage could be said to have something of a hauntological aspect to it, as manifestation of a ghost, a surviving relic of both one of the identities of the defunct club &, more generally, the period of Communist Hungary, being a product of such.

In terms of design, the badge is an interesting & different shape, a tiny shield in nature, with the crest proudly flying the flag for the bold ‘dk’ SE, now a memorial to the departed.



Badge of the Day #90 (Győri ETO)

 

Being the first of a recent small crop of Hungarian club additions to the collection, on this occasion representing reigning league champions Győri ETO, the current name & emblem of the club who have already featured in two of their earlier incarnations, as both Vasas & Raba ETO Győr.

Being a contemporary object, no sense of the hauntological attaches itself to such a badge, rather it is something to be appreciated purely on the merits or not of the design of the crest for which it serves as the vehicle, the green, white & gold colour combination of which is not without attractive qualities.



Badge of the Day #89 (Tavriya Simferopol)

 

 

 

Today featuring Tavriya Simferopol, another of those fabulously romantic football club names that probably emerged into consciousness when the Ukraine/Crimea did from behind the old Iron Curtain (the club was, indeed, the first league champions of the independent Ukraine), rendered in those ever-desirable Cyrillic characters, which communicate that suitably exotically Eastern quality, upon an object the tarnished, base metal  appearance of which suggests might well be of a Soviet-era vintage, thus brimming with hauntological promise & redolent of those Cold War days.

It’s a shame to see ‘the Tav’ currently effectively propping up the Ukrainian Premier League, a situation not helped by Sunday’s 1 – 2 home loss to Dynamo Kiev, but surely that wonderful name will prevail & the team will soon be on the rise, to safety, before the season’s end.
Interestingly, & topically, given the current political crisis in the Ukraine & Crimea in particular, an article today details Tavriya Simferopol's & another Crimean club's plans to relocate to the Russian league system for next season.
 





Badge of the Day #88 (Levski-Spartak)

 



 

This most recent addition to the still-growing collection, having arrived from Hungary, features Levski-Spartak, as they were between 1969-85, the result of a merger of Levski & Spartak Sofias, the only name from Bulgarian football that’s ever really exerted anything of a romantic attraction.

A striking presence in the European club competitions throughout the 1970s & early 80s (not least as 6 times each winners of both the Bulgarian League & Cup), & Panini’s sticker albums, one recalls the name of Levski-Spartak being summarily & tragically extinguished by the Bulgarian authorities, with the club subsequently re-presented as ‘Vitosha’, following their part in the disturbances that marred the Cup Final, versus fierce rivals CSKA, in 1985, before reverting to their original ‘Levski’ in 1989.

Levski-Spartak, however, remains THE name to be treasured, as now will be the badge representing it, a bona fide hauntological object of a particular vintage with distinct ‘Ostalgic’ properties. The halved design of the crest of course references the ‘Levski’ & ‘Spartak’ aspects of the equation, with appropriately identifying Cyrillic initial characters, in perfect modern-minimalist fashion: a classic, to be sported with pride & a certain knowing cool.

Here’s an image of the delightful envelope the badge arrived in, too, in all its Hungarian-stamped glory.

Badge of the Day #87 (Rapid Vienna)

 

Featuring today the latest addition to the collection in the form of Rapid Wien, Austria’s finest name, as represented by this suitably fine object, resplendent as it is in green, white & gold (an attraction to Rapid’s green & white colour combination was/is, of course almost inevitable).

Again, one recalls the name of Rapid Vienna occurring during the earlier days of following the European club competitions, & quite possibly in the Subbuteo team colours chart listings, & the team contesting the 1984-85 Cup-Winners’ Cup final with Everton, losing 1 – 3, including such footballing luminaries as Hans Krankl (who scored) & the already-legendary Antonin Panenka: earlier in the tournament, Rapid had rather controversially eliminated Glasgow Celtic following the unusual circumstance of a replayed match, so were well represented in the British media that season, which was rather good. In 1996, Rapid Vienna again reached the Cup-Winners’ Cup final, alas to lose once more, this time to Paris St Germain, a disappointing return for one of the grand names of European football.