Adelaide Crows fans will be hoping for a better 2025 season after missing the finals again this year, but the club is not off to a good start after its new logo was leaked – and immediately slammed.
The Crows have not made the AFL finals since the 2017 grand final where the club lost to a rampaging Richmond outfit spearheaded by Dustin Martin at his peak.
So Adelaide is looking for a fresh approach heading into its 35th season, with a total rebrand and a move to a new home base at Thebarton Oval by late 2026.
The club has been using a blue crow’s head since 2011, but has decided to go back to the past with a new design based on the design used from 1991 and 2009.
The image of a swooping crow with the club colours streaming from its wings and tail feathers has been given modern tweaks, though, with sharp, angled lined and the colours on the wings themselves.
While the leaked image is obviously a work in progress, it has still attracted plenty of attention on social media – most of it negative.
A leaked image of what the new Adelaide logo could look like as part of the club’s rebrand
Adelaide fans are hoping that a rebrand will turn around the club’s fortunes after missing out on the AFL finals since 2017
That included Port Adelaide premiership winner Kane Cornes, who spent many years locked in the rivalry with the Crows.
‘New Crows logo? Hopefully not,’ he posted.
Cornes also differed to his father for opinion on the new logo.
Graham Cornes played 369 games in the SANFL and was Adelaide coach from 1991 to 94.
‘You’re the best judge for these things. Thoughts?’ Kane then asked his father on social media platform X.
‘Underwhelming … no sense of power or intimidation. Conversely, nor is it loveable,’ Graham replied.
Former Adelaide coach Graham Cornes, pictured with his kids Chad and Kane when they were children, is not a fan of the new concept art
There were plenty of footy fans that agreed with the Cornes family, lining up to slam the leaked concept art.
‘I would rather see Raygun open the batting for the Aussie cricket team this summer over the Crows picking this logo,’ one fan raged.
‘If that’s it, the Crows have paid overs to a design company when they could have asked a random to design it on MS Paint,’ added another.
Another fan asked: ‘Was that made on a Commodore 64 in 1982?’
While yet another tagged the club itself for confirmation, asking: ‘@Adelaide_FC please confirm this hideous monstrosity will not replace our current hideous monstrosity of a logo?’
The concept art is aiming to add a futuristic twist to the original logo the Crows used
The original Adelaide Crows logo that the club used in the 1990s and into the 2000s
The concept was not without its supporters, though, with one fan saying social media users would have slammed the logo no matter what it looked like.
‘Could be the best emblem in the world but being Adelaide’s, there would still be a problem with it,’ they said.
‘Far better than their current awful logo … Bit of a throwback. I don’t mind it but boy it’s copping a lot of flak!’ another posted.
‘It’s not the worst thing I’ve seen but it’s clearly mimicking the old design so why not just revert back to the old design?’ asked another.
The logo will not be the only change at the Crows next season with a list overhaul underway
Meanwhile Greater Western Sydney’s Isaac Cumming is set to join Adelaide, with Port Adelaide conceding defeat in the race for the utility.
Cumming, an unrestricted free agent, had told GWS he wanted a trade to South Australia.
After a bidding war between Adelaide and the Power, Cumming on Thursday nominated the Crows as his destination.
Cumming’s decision came as Port’s football manager Chris Davies said his club wasn’t at the ‘front of the queue’ to secure the Giants’ Harry Perryman, who is also being courted by Collingwood.
The Power will work with Gold Coast to clinch a deal for Jack Lukosius, who has been told by the Suns to explore his trade options.
