Fans may not stay with the programme

CLUBS in the English Football League will vote next month on whether to pursue the scrapping of a requirement to publish a programme for every game.

Many are complaining that declining sales and increased costs make it non-viable.

There’s no such debate in the GAA yet, but how much longer will the public continue to buy programmes knowing that team line-outs (and subs’ lists) are often no more than a rough guide to the actual squads?

In fairness, the standard of GAA programmes has improved substantially over the years, but it’s a growing source of irritation for the public that line-ups are often incorrect.

It’s down to team managers, some of whom would love to fit their players with face masks and deck them out in jerseys with no numbers so as to keep their identity secret.

We’re repeatedly told that squad preparation is the ultimate in sophisticated science these days, yet the dummy team nonsense is becoming ever more pronounced.

What’s that about? Since the opposition and the general public ignore announced teams, it’s hardly going to come as a surprise if X replaces Y just before throw-in.

There are other presentation issues too that need to be addressed.

Numbers on some county jerseys are largely illegible, except at close quarters.

It’s an issue which has been ignored for years, when a short snappy diktat from the authorities could sort it overnight.

And then there’s the awful ‘away’ jerseys some counties have taken to wearing.

They don’t bear any resemblance to the county’s colours so why are they in use? Is it a rip-off scheme for the replica jersey market?

Quite probably.