Wednesday, January 29, 2014

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.




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