MUMBAI: The popular group of fans that cheer England’s cricket team wherever they play in the world has announced a "little" makeover. The 27,000-member strong Barmy Army has decided to remove the British flag from its logo as it attempts to reinvent itself.
Since its inception in 1994, the British flag has always been a part of the Barmy Army logo. The new logo will have Barmy in red, and Army in blue.
According to UK newspaper The Express, the Barmy Army wishes to involve families, women and young fans in the exercise by signing up for the same.
Chris Millard, the fan group's newly-appointed managing director says: “We’ve given this a great deal of thought and have ultimately decided it’s time for a fresh look to modernize and move the Barmy Army company forward to keep pace with the digital age.”
Millard added: “The St George’s Cross has been on our logo for 25 years; it’s loved by many, but we’re trying to move towards a new era and we think that, with a tidy-up of our logo and a refresh of our structure, we can start to make cricket more accessible for everyone.”
Paul Burnham, former managing director and co-founder of the Barmy Army, is taking a step back from the business but will continue to work with Millard to develop the Barmy Army brand. The new arrangement also sees the Barmy Army move its headquarters from Middlesex to Chesterfield and will be sharing offices with newly formed Root Academy.
Burnham said: “It’s been an incredible journey over the past 23 years since we formed the Barmy Army and it is now time to try and take the organisation on to the next level. I truly believe that England’s fantastic cricket fans are a great example of the correct way to support your team. I’m keen to see the Barmy Army engaging with schools and cricket clubs around the UK in the future to promote how to have great fun watching sport without engaging in bad behaviour and being disrespectful to rival supporters. It’s all about humour and sportsmanship…even when you are losing.”
Millard outlines his vision for the future of the organisation: “We are very excited to be sharing offices with the Root Academy up in Chesterfield. We are hopeful that our partnership will blossom from here. Paul has done an amazing job for the past 23 years and I am honoured to take on the role of managing director. The Barmy Army in my opinion are the best fans in the world and I want our membership following to reflect that. Our full focus for 2018 will be making sure our members are looked after in order to make watching cricket as accessible as possible for all. We have some brilliant announcements and offers in the pipeline which I cannot wait to share with you all.”
After a very successful Ashes tour for The Barmy Army and having received nothing but very positive feedback from the Lord Mayors of each city visited, Chris feels it is perfect timing to launch our new branding ahead of the UK hosting of the Ashes 2019.
The Barmy Army have formed a partnership with Great Branding Company who will be running Barmy Army merchandise in the UK. They are Europe’s leader in sports merchandise and for 17 years have been the official supplier to adidas, Reebok, Warrior & hold exclusive UEFA rights for UEFA, Champions League and FIFA World Cup 2018.
Pino Grillo, managing director of Great Branding, says: “We are delighted to welcome the Barmy Army to the world of Great Branding and very excited to launch new collections of official licenced products to worldwide followers”.
Barmy Army is renowned for its exuberance on a cricket ground, where they sing special songs to support England and rile up many of their opponents, especially Australia during an Ashes series.
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