Programme Reviews

Key

PP = Total Pages

Net = Total Pages Less Adverts

P = Perfect Bound

S = Stapled

 

Programmes marked with an asterisk (*) next to the number of pages also included the 24 page ‘Football League Review’ supplement.

 

Arsenal (v Manchester United 26/12/68)

1/- (16 pp / 16 net / S)

 

Burnley (v Sheffield Wednesday 12/04/69)

6d (16 pp * / 7 net / S)

 

Chelsea (v Manchester City 02/11/68)

1/- (20 pp / 20 net / S)

Chelsea’s programme for the 1968/69 season was typical of the Blues’ programmes from the era, being a small, B6-size issue. The programme was well presented throughout, with occasional use of the club’s royal blue colours for headings helping to break up the black text.

‘The Talk of Stamford Bridge’ provided the main reading in the programme, being spread over a page and a half. For the issue against Manchester City, the column reflected on Chelsea’s exit from the Fairs Cup on the toss of a coin, following a draw over two legs against DWS Amsterdam. The article also referred to Manchester United’s troubled World Club championship tie against Estudiantes of Argentina and looked back to Chelsea’s ‘goodwill’ visit to the country in 1929. On that occasion, a match at Boca Juniors stadium had been abandoned 15 minutes from time after violence flared among the home support with Chelsea one-nil up.

The programme featured the teams for the day’s fixture on the inside front cover, together with each club’s colours and details of the match officials. The Blues’ recent game at Stoke City, where the home side had triumphed 2-0, was featured in four photographs from the match, while Programme Editor Albert Sewell put together ‘In Off The Post’ – two pages of letters from supporters. There was a page of away match travel details, while the centre pages of the programme featured a colour picture of midfielder John Boyle. ‘The European Scene’ previewed England’s upcoming international in Romania, which was the first trip made by an England team to that country.

The visitors were covered in two pages, including a full-page team group picture. This was accompanied by brief notes on the club’s history and recent fortunes, including their league title win in 1968. There were also short profiles of the club’s players and an honours board.

The programme included comprehensive statistics, with fixtures and results for the first team, reserves, and youth team, and a separate page of tables, appearances, and goalscorers. The programme also provided match summaries, with line-ups and notes on first-team games. ‘For the Record’ included stats about the goals scored at Stamford Bridge so far that season, as well as details of previous matches between Chelsea and Manchester City.

This was a very tidy issue from Chelsea, containing some decent reading and a wealth of statistics. The layout suits well the pocket size programme, with plenty of content included within the 20-page issue without making the text being too small or the design too cramped. A really fine programme.

 

Coventry City (v Stoke City 18/03/69)

1/- (24 pp / 19.5 net / S)

 

Everton (v Southampton 14/12/68)

9d (16 pp * / 8 net / S)

 

Ipswich Town (v Tottenham Hotspur 26/10/68)

1/- (20 pp * / 12 net / S)

 

Leeds United (v Burnley 21/12/68)

1/- (16 pp / 6.5 net / S)

This Leeds United programme was one of the less interesting issues of the time, containing only six and a half pages of content. Bulked out with the inclusion of the Football League Review magazine, the programme contained limited original material.

The front cover featured the traditional Leeds club crest, which was based on the city’s coat of arms, together with the match details and information on forthcoming home fixtures. An introductory article then looked at visitors Burnley – described here as “a small town club with a big reputation”. The feature remarked on how Burnley had maintained their top-flight status due to replacing players sold for good money with a team of “brilliant youngsters”. This view of Burnley was due, at least in part, to the reverse suffered by Leeds at Turf Moor a few months earlier, when the defending league champions were beaten 5-1. The issue also included Burnley’s squad list.

A separate column reported on Leeds’ recent fixtures, noting the concession of late goals away to Chelsea and West Ham, which had resulted in the team picking up only one point rather than two. The article also referred to transfer requests having been received from Peter Lorimer and David Harvey, both of whom were in search of regular first-team action. The programme included the league table, which showed Leeds three point behind leaders Liverpool (though Leeds would ultimately take the title by six points ahead of the Merseysiders). The team line-ups were included on the centre-pages of the programme, which also featured the first team’s results and fixtures for the season.

The Leeds issue was certainly limited by the amount of advertising content included, with no Division One club providing fewer pages of content in 1968/69. The two main articles within the programme did at least offer some original content.

 

Leicester City (v West Bromwich Albion 12/10/68)

1/- (16 pp * / 13.5 net / S)

 

Liverpool (v Coventry City 23/11/68)

9d (16 pp * / 10.5 net / S)

 

Manchester City (v Ipswich Town 31/08/68)

1/- (16 pp / 11 net / S)

 

Manchester United (v Liverpool 14/12/68)

9d (12 pp / 10 net / S)

 

Newcastle United (v Chelsea 21/08/68)

1/- (16 pp * / 10.5 net / S)

 

Nottingham Forest (v West Ham United 08/03/69)

1/- (20 pp / 12 net / S)

 

Queens Park Rangers (v Wolverhampton Wanderers 08/03/69)

1/- (16 pp / 16 net / S)

 

Sheffield Wednesday (v Arsenal 02/11/68)

1/- (16 pp / 10.5 net / S)

There was a familiar look to this Sheffield Wednesday programme, retaining from the previous season an illustration of the club’s Hillsborough stadium for its cover. The issue was slightly narrower than A5 size and featured 16 pages for the one-shilling cost.

The inside front-cover, which noted that 1968/69 was Wednesdsay’s 70^th at Hillsborough, featured results and fixtures for the first-team and reserves. The team line-ups were given on the centre pages of the programme, which also featured a sketch of Wednesday forward Jack Witham, and there were club appearance records and a profile of the match referee towards the back of the programme.

The main reading was provided by ‘Club Notes’, which was an extensive article that ran to three pages. The feature referred to Wednesday experiencing a patchy run of form after a promising start to the season, the highlight of which had been a 5-4 victory against Manchester United. It was also noted that the club had been invited, as part of British Trade Week, to make a trip to northern France to play a team drawn from league clubs in the area. Wednesday lost the match 3-1, but the column writer took the view that “all experience is valuable”. The column also dealt with the club’s injury situation, matters affecting the club’s reserve team, and the challenge posed by upcoming matches.

The programme included plenty of coverage of visiting club Arsenal. The main article was a two-page spread that featured writing from Tony Pullein. This provided a potted history of the club and notes on all the club’s key players. The columnist claimed that the development of Arsenal striker John Radford had made him “one of the most dangerous goal-scorers in the game”. A separate ‘Spotlight’ article put the focus on the Gunners’ wing-half Frank McLintock, who was recognised as an important part of the Arsenal side despite having submitted a transfer request in the summer. There was also a profile of manager Bertie Mee, which remarked on how his playing career had been affected by injury during the Second World War, inspiring him to work towards on off the field role.

A well-presented programme then from Wednesday. Whilst it had more in common with the issues of the mid-1960s than the more modern programmes emerging from certain clubs at the tail end of the decade, the programme nevertheless offered some interesting ready and plenty of opposition coverage within its pages.

 

Southampton (v Nottingham Forest 07/12/68)

1/- (16 pp * / 6.5 net / S)

 

Stoke City (v Queens Park Rangers 21/09/68)

1/- (16 pp / 13 net / S)

 

Sunderland (v Leicester City 07/09/68)

1/- (20 pp / 13 net / S)

 

Tottenham Hotspur (v Leeds United 18/01/69)

6d (16 pp / 16 net / S)

 

West Bromwich Albion (v Newcastle United 19/04/69)

1/- (12 pp * / 7.5 net / S)

West Brom’s ‘Albion News’ programme retained the same appearance as the previous season and, with seven and a half pages of content, remained among the smaller issues in Division One. The programme usually incorporated the Football League Review magazine but a note inside this issue for the fixture against Newcastle United stated that, with a large number of home fixtures already played, the club had already used all available issues for the season.

The programme opened with ‘Our Visitors’ which looked at Albion’s opponents from the North-East. The article noted Newcastle’s progress in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, with an upcoming semi-final tie against Glasgow Rangers to look forward to. The feature also remarked on key players in Newcastle’s ranks, including players of the quality of Wyn Davies and Bryan Robson. The following page then provided pen-pics of the Newcastle squad.

‘Club Notes’ was written by youth team captain Lyndon Hughes, who looked ahead to the day’s fixture as well as the upcoming clash with Ipswich Town, who had recently appointed former Baggie Bryan Robson as their manager. Hughes also asked supporters to back the Youth Team in their two-legged Youth Cup Final tie against Sunderland. The second half of the programme was given over to statistical content, with results, fixtures, and tables for the first team and reserves, as well as a record of player appearances and goal scorer records for the season, and line-ups from recent matches.

The absence of the Football League Review from this issue of Albion News highlighted the limited reading within the main programme at the time. Nevertheless,  this was a tidy, well-presented issue that covered all the basics.

 

West Ham United (v Everton 19/08/68)

1/- (16 pp / 16 net / S)

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers (v Sunderland 14/09/68)

1/- (24 pp / 21 net / S)

The Wolves programme for the 1968/69 season had undergone a revamp, with the club’s new matchday magazine now known as ‘Molinews’. The new style issue benefitted from having the highest number of pages of content of any Division One issue for the season.

The high page count provided plenty of space for a range of articles. These included a one-page column from ‘Magazine Editor’ Ronnie Allen, who offered his thoughts on everything from Wolves’ recent form to player loyalty and the need for professional referees. This was followed by a page of news in ‘Around and About’, while ‘Getting to Know You’ had winger Dave Wagstaffe revealing his likes and dislikes, alongside a picture of his family. The centre pages were given over to action pictures from Wolves’ recent narrow defeat to Leeds United, while there were two pages of statistics covering results, appearances, and tables for the first team and reserves.

The programme also provided a letters page for supporters to share their views, while ‘Follow the Wolves’ looked ahead to the following week’s derby at West Bromwich Albion. ‘Learn Soccer the Wolves Way’ offered training tips and ‘Did You Miss This?’ picked up on recent talking points from the press, including the ongoing ‘war on soccer hooliganism’. There was even a profile of Sid Kipping, who was in his twelfth year of driving the Wolves team bus to away games!

Visitors Sunderland were given an impressive amount of coverage across four pages, beginning with a profile of manager Alan Brown, who had re-joined the club earlier in the year following four years at Sheffield Wednesday. Brief player profiles were provided, whilst there was a team group picture and action shots of Sunderland players Charley Hurley and Gordon Harris. Alongside this coverage was ‘Backtrack’ which, across two pages, recalled memorable Wolves v Sunderland clashes from the past.

This Wolves issue was an example of the emerging trend in the late 1960s and early 1970s away from the traditional, often functional, programme and towards larger, more commercial ‘matchday magazines’. Wolves, along with fellow midland rivals Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion, were pioneers of this new approach, with ‘Molinews’ proving one of the most interesting matchday issues of its time.