Leyton Orient have voiced their displeasure at Wrexham after the Hollywood-backed Welsh club unveiled a new third kit featuring a badge that bears a striking resemblance to the League One side's own crest.
Wrexham, co-owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, launched their cream-coloured third strip on Wednesday, with both owners photographed modelling the shirt on the club's official website in what was framed as a moment of celebrity endorsement. However, attention quickly shifted away from the kit itself and onto the emblem stitched onto it.
Rather than sticking with their long-standing badge — which traditionally features two red dragons facing inward, a golden football, the Prince of Wales feathers complete with coronet and motto, and the colours of the Welsh flag — Wrexham opted for a stripped-back design for this particular release. The new crest shows two wyverns, or dragon-like creatures, facing one another above a football, a layout that bears an unmistakable similarity to the badge long used by Leyton Orient.
The resemblance did not go unnoticed, and Orient were quick to express their frustration at what they view as an unwelcome overlap with their own identity. The League One club's crest has for years depicted two dragons positioned opposite each other with a ball between them, a design now seemingly echoed in Wrexham's new promotional badge.
Wrexham's rise from non-league football to the Football League has been one of the more remarkable stories in English football in recent seasons, fuelled in large part by the financial backing and global profile brought by Reynolds and McElhenney since their takeover. The pair have used their star power to grow the club's commercial appeal significantly, with kit launches, documentaries, and social media campaigns turning a once-modest Welsh outfit into an internationally recognised brand.
That heightened visibility, though, appears to have brought fresh scrutiny to decisions made off the pitch, including this latest branding choice. For a club that has built much of its recent identity around heritage and community pride, straying from the traditional badge design for a commercial third kit was always likely to draw comment, but the added element of visual similarity to another English club's crest has amplified the criticism further.
Leyton Orient, who play in League One, have their own long history and take pride in the distinctiveness of their emblem, making the comparison all the more pointed for supporters and officials at the club. While Wrexham have not offered a detailed explanation as to why they departed from their usual crest for this specific release, the third kit was clearly intended as a standalone, eye-catching product separate from their main home and away designs, which continue to carry the traditional Wrexham badge.
As of now, there has been no official response from Wrexham addressing Orient's concerns over the badge's similarity, nor any indication of whether changes might be made to the design. The situation adds an unexpected subplot to what was otherwise intended as a straightforward commercial launch, with the involvement of two of Hollywood's most recognisable faces ensuring that even a kit badge controversy attracts outsized attention compared to a typical lower-league dispute.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.