( Don’t) get yer programmes...

The humble programme has been a matchday staple for decades, but ruthless cost- cutting in the EFL is threatening their very existence. Collectors, beware...

That’s because the death knell is starting to toll for the humble football programme, after decades of being a pre- match staple for supporters across the country.

Within the EFL, Derby canned their programme last year and appear to have started a trend, with Blackburn, Bristol City and Reading all pulling printed versions of theirs at the start of this campaign.

Previously, it had been mandatory for clubs at all levels to produce a programme for every home game, but that rule was quietly overturned in 2018. It’s only now that clubs are starting to take advantage.

That’s particularly bad news for a slew of loyal programme hunters left empty- handed and dealing with the realisation that their collections have reached an abrupt end.

“It was a shock,” explains collector John Holden, who has thousands of Blackburn programmes dating back to the 1930s. “I thought surely they could keep it going, but they said, ‘ No, we’re not bothering’.

“We played West Brom recently, and a fan came up to me and asked, ‘ Where are the programmes?’ I told him that we weren’t doing them any more. He couldn’t believe it. He said, ‘ Blackburn Rovers? A second- tier side, founder members of the Football League? You’re not a tinpot club’.”

Holden’s passion for programmes began when he attended matches with his dad as a child, but those memories are being lost for fans of belt- tightening clubs.

“You’re not telling me second- tier clubs aren’t able to produce printed programmes,” says the 52- year- old. “It would appear that teams such as Blackburn, Derby and Reading are watching the pennies. Money is tight and their main source of expenditure are players’ wages, but how can they get around that? If they don’t pay the wages, they don’t get the players – it’s a Catch- 22. So they’re cutting costs on the little things instead.

“How much will they actually lose on the programme? Blackburn say that it’s not commercially viable and we’re currently losing money on the programme, but how much can it be? There’ll be a minimum print run, but it doesn’t have to be massive.”

Print costs aren’t the only reason for the cull, though, with Reading citing “the time, effort and expense” of producing a publication for every home fixture as justification for stopping completely. And while Blackburn, Bristol City and a few others are still producing a digital version for each game, there is no like- for- like equivalent produced at Derby or Reading, with monthly magazines mooted as alternatives.

The writing is on the wall. Stoke have also decided to call time on their ‘ traditional’ programme at the start of 2021- 22, replacing it with a new freemium matchday magazine instead. Swansea, meanwhile, will no longer be selling their programme at games either, but are offering fans the chance to take out season- long subscriptions for printed copies. Holden says it’s a stay of execution. “This is just the beginning,” he sighs. “Two or three years down the line, it’ll be the norm that there isn’t a programme – it’ll be more unusual that there one. It’s sad but what can you do? Life changes.”

Now, if only the same fate would befall half- and- half scarves…