Programmes have lost some charm but it’s not time to write their final chapter
The match was barely over when Arsenal promised a reprint for the match- day programme which had been stylishly rebranded to honour Arsene Wenger on the occasion of his final home game as manager on May 6.
They usually sell about 20,000 copies at the emirates Stadium but had not known demand on this scale since the last match at highbury, back in 2006.
Supporters queued to get their hands on a special edition, complete with its ‘22 Gun Salute’ brochure to mark the end of f Wenger’s 22-year tenure, because nothing beats a printed keepsake, not even a free T-shirt.
This is another reminder of why y programmes matter so much to o fans. Not that one is required.
Football clubs have been n besieged with opinion since news s broke of the Football League e (EFL) decision to present their r 72 clubs with a vote this month to o decide whether it will remain n mandatory to print a programme e for each game.
Loft ladders clattered down n across the land as the urge to leaf f through pages unturned for r seasons took hold and fans were e swept back to a time when n they surrendered their hearts to o the game.
Teams on the back with h alterations in pencil, spot the e ball competitions and fading g images of footballers in nylon flares and paisley patterns at the Christmas bash.
Illustrations from different times: the cigar- smoking magpie in top hat and tails at Newcastle United in the 1950s; the dock tower and trawler at Grimsby Town.
Regional identities would be reinforced by advertisements for brands such as Coalite at Chesterfield and Mansfield Ales and razor blades made from Sheffield steel.
Serious collectors crave the oldies: early finals, often little more than a single sheet of paper, known to be worth up to £20,000.
Five years ago, a programme from the 1882 FA Cup final, when Blackburn Rovers were beaten 1- 0 by Old etonians at the Kennington Oval, was sold at auction to the Old etonians for a world record £35,250.
Modern programmes, let’s be honest, have lost much of their charm. Quirky styles have given way to bland uniformity and prices have soared.
They cannot retain value, apart from the big occasions such as Wenger’s final game, and far too few offer genuine insight, crammed instead with boring waffle about t how the next game is the e most important.
There are exceptions, of f course. Troy Deeney’s s captain’s notes are a mustread - at Vicarage Road.
Local ads are supplemented d by the compulsory ads promoting the EFL’S official commercial partners such as Carabao and Wickes. All of which equals too many ads.
Little wonder sales have e been falling. Few can match h Arsenal’s impressive numbers. my Burnley have a highly acclaimed programme and d they th sell approximately 3,500. But B into the EFL and a small loss is not uncommon in Leagues One and an Two, where print runs can be as a little as 350 at some clubs. each edition demands hours of dedication and with 23 home games plus three cup competitions ti it is labour-intensive and can’t ca compete with digital media when w it comes to reach.
Wycombe Wanderers, who sell about ab 500 programmes per game, boast Adebayo Akinfenwa, who has become one of the EFL’S social so media stars.
Clips of the celebrations when they th clinched promotion from League Two took seconds to upload and were viewed by thousands. th
All of this is driving the move to a vote at the EFL’S summer AGM, which starts on Thursday. Clubs are losing money and options are being explored. When asked, most of the 72 EFL clubs insist they have no intention of ceasing production and are committed to delivering programmes next season.
That does not mean they will vote against choice this week.
And then, if the option is available, perhaps there will be a point in the future when the case for ending production becomes more attractive, thus marking the end of a tradition stretching back to the Victorian age.
‘It is an awful prospect, and it came as an absolute shock to the collecting world,’ said Paul Matz, editor of Programme Monthly and
Football Collectable and owner of more than 10,000 programmes, the oldest of which is a Sheffield United fixture against Arsenal in 1904.
‘From the very first season of the Football League there were programmes and they have been an integral part of the matchgoing experience ever since.
‘In the war years when there was paper rationing, clubs were still producing programmes.
‘ They really should look at evolving. But to suggest clubs should stop production is a lazy way of going about business.’
Fleetwood Town have switched to a slimline programme and charge only £1 and if the EFL adapt there is nothing to stop this moment becoming a mass turn back towards individuality.
It might even prove to be a revival rather than a death knell. That would be nice. But then those who fail to throw away their old programmes and still steal a peak at the one from an FA Cup semi- final 25 years ago, are hopelessly romantic when it comes to football.