Hitchin Town Football Club have unveiled a complete new look with a re-designed and different club crest.

The badge simply features a canary to reflect the club's nickname and came at no cost to the club.

It also includes the year of the first Hitchin team's formation, 1865, and coincides with the 150th anniversary of that Hitchin side playing in the first FA Cup.

Club director Andy Melvin said: "We’ve been known as the Canaries for so long, it’s never made sense to me that our crest didn’t feature one.

"We’re delighted with the new design, which is both modern and respectful of our historic past.

"It gives us a unique identity as a club, something which is instantly recognisable and which our supporters can wear with pride.”

Secretary Roy Izzard said: “A huge amount of research has gone into this project and we’re incredibly grateful to the brand project manager Stewart Curtis, who together with the expert design skills of Christopher Payne has delivered a fantastic new crest for Hitchin Town Football Club.

“Christopher’s attention to detail has been second-to-none throughout the process and we’re excited to see our loyal supporters adorning the new badge come the start of the new season."

The club also produced a Q&A document which explains some of the rationale behind the rebranding.

They said: "While we have been proud to wear the Hitchin coat of arms, this was a crest designed and introduced back in 1936, largely representing the town’s industries at the time.

"Eight-five years have since passed and we feel it is time for change.

"We spent a long time searching the club's archives, reading old literature and digitally archiving every old photo we could find, trying to further understand when and how a crest was first used on the club shirt.

"This led us to the squad photo from the 1949-50 season, where a singular black shield was used with a canary, accompanied by the HTFC letters in a calligraphy-style type.

"We then created a timeline to see where and how our crest has evolved over time, noting the change in design throughout. This allowed us to see what we liked and disliked about the previous crests, allowing us to develop and deliver the new design whilst carefully considering our past."

They opted against a circular badge, currently the popular choice of other club's who have rebranded, saying they wanted "something a little more unique".

They also decided not to introduce other elements of the town, opting to go with a “less is more” approach.

They also acknowledge the elephant in the room, or rather the canary, and the fact there is some similarity with Norwich City.

They said: "As a club who play in yellow and green and are also nicknamed the Canaries, comparisons were always going to be drawn. However, we believe the differences are enough for the two brands to stand independently.

"This design features the club's name within the crest, the canary is perched on the first FA Cup and it's head is turned, looking back."

The crest will feature as part of all team's in the club, from first-team down to juniors and across to the ladies' section.