BOOK REVIEW

Programmes! Programmes!: Football And Life From Wartime To Lockdown by Cliff Hague (Sportsbookofthemonth.com price: £16.65, saving £3.34 on rrp)

Cliff Hague’s evocative description of attending his first football match as a young boy in 1952 will resonate with millions of Baby Boomers who will recall a similar experience of their own.

Good-natured crowds lined up outside of the ground were kept in position by a small cavalry of police horses as supporters shuffled slowly towards the gate, a tangible sense of anticipation rising as they edged closer. You had to have your entrance money ready as there was barely enough room to put your hand in your pocket once inside a tiny opening in the wall, a broad metal barrier barring access. A clank of the turnstile permitted entry and within a few paces, you caught a first, awe-inspiring view of the pitch.

Meanwhile, above the hubbub and smells of hot dogs, a permanent cry of “Programmes! Programmes!” emanated from broad men holding dozens of programmes in one hand and dispensing change from a leather satchel with the other. You can almost smell the grass; feel the burgeoning excitement.

“Any match is an occasion, rooted in a particular place and time,” writes Hague, who adds: “Some are unforgettable, others quickly fade from the mind, having served their purpose as fleeting entertainment, just an afternoon out and a chance to meet up with a few friends, leaving only the match programme as an ephemeral yet tangible records that you were there that day.” Funnily enough, the author admits he didn’t attend every match featured in his book.

Nevertheless, Hague has written a hugely enjoyable social history. He notes that football programme content, both editorial and advertising, offers a glimpse of everyday life: “the new TV, the local brewery, a holiday, unemployment, the fate of places where we live.”

Born in Manchester, he attended his first game, Manchester United v Arsenal, in September 1952, noting that “enterprising residents” were renting out their back yards where cyclists could safely leave their bikes during the match for a few pence. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a programme, but did at his second match, against Blackpool (even though he couldn’t get into the ground) and so began his programme-collecting passion.

He’s accumulated a few thousand programmes and while the thought may have occasionally crossed his mind, the notion of throwing them away or recycling them would be “an act of cultural and historical vandalism.” Anyone who has ever retained a programme from a special, or even a not-tooimportant match will undoubtedly agree.

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