Louisville City FC was excited to unveil its new crest earlier this week. But before week's end, production of merchandise with the new logo had come to a screeching halt. 

Unexpected uproar from the club's fans over the new purple and black crest featuring three fleur-de-lis and a band of white stars — and none of the gold highlights that distinguished the previous crest — prompted team president Brad Estes to announce the club was reversing course. 

“You are the lifeblood of our organization, and we greatly appreciate each of you. We have worked hard over the years to develop and maintain strong bonds together without regard for group affiliation. 

To be blunt, our recent brand rollout has failed you. We had the best intentions, but we lost sight of our responsibility to engage you in the process. We make no excuses; we simply commit to making it right. 

‪We have stopped production on merchandise with the new crest and have opened dialogue with supporter group leadership about how to improve our club’s branding and crest. This will be an inclusive process, and we will update you as more information is available.”

I guess everyone wants a rebrand this winter…

Not sure why Lou City needed to refresh their look — I actually thought they had one of the #USL’s best crests. The gold was fitting for a perennial contender.

The new one reminds me of both the Sacramento and LA Kings. pic.twitter.com/W1Xlyn63ig

OPINION: For once, a sports team finally listened to its fans

MORE: LouCity coach talks new stadium, continued soccer domination in 2020

The original logo read "Louisville City" but the new one released earlier this week read "LouCity," the more popular nickname for the two-time USL championship club. 

Estes said the decision to come up with a new logo coincided with LouCity moving into its new 11,700-seat soccer stadium, Lynn Family Stadium. The Doe-Anderson Advertising agency created the new crest, with work starting on it about three months ago. 

“Moving into the new stadium, we thought it was the right time to have a refresh of our look,” Estes said. “Our fans have always loved the black jerseys that we’ve had. They loved the gray jerseys from this season, and we thought that that would provide a good clean, crisp look.”

Now it's back to the drawing board. 

Follow the Louisville Courier Journal's Rana L. Cash on Twitter @rana_cash.

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