2017/18
2017/18 Programme of the Season Award
1st Place: Burnley
2nd Place: Bournemouth
3rd Place: Brighton & Hove Albion
Programme Reviews
Key
PP = Total Pages
Net = Total Pages Less Adverts
P = Perfect Bound
S = Stapled
Arsenal (v Crystal Palace 20/01/18)
£3.50 (84 pp / 71 net / P)
As expected given the traditional strength of Arsenal’s programmes down the years, this is another Gunners issue with much to commend it. The programme contains plenty of quality content and there is arguably no issue in the Premier League that beats Arsenal’s for getting the basics right.
The programme kicks off with quite lengthy columns from manager and captain, each covering three pages, including a full-page photograph. A solid news section, entitled ‘Voice of Arsenal’ follows, as well as a detailed player interview covering five pages.
There is excellent coverage of recent Arsenal fixtures, including the first-team, under-18’s, and women’s team. The stats section at the back of the programme is also top-notch, full of detail and well laid out, making good use of an extra fold-out page to show the first-team’s season record. The visitors section is very strong, with information on their opponent’s season to date, detailed pen pics, and a very well put together tactics piece.
In terms of historical content, the programme includes ‘Exhibit Arsenal’, which looks at an item from the Arsenal museum, and an ongoing week-by-week feature about the 1997/98 season, in which Arsenal completed their second double.
The design of the programme is good, although certain parts, including the cover, feel a touch ‘busy’. Some features are also presented with a ‘landscape’ layout, which possibly takes away from, rather than adding to, the overall feel of the programme. Nevertheless, this remains one of the better programmes in the Premier League, continuing Arsenal’s long tradition of producing quality issues.
Score 15/20 – another quality Gunners issue, without perhaps hitting the heights of a decade ago.
Bournemouth (v Chelsea 28/10/17)
£3.50 (100 pp / 80 net / P)
Bournemouth’s ‘Matchday’ issue is reduced in size this season, coming down from last year’s 110-page effort to a ‘mere’ 100 pages, though still packs in plenty of quality content.
The programme benefits from a good, clear cover design featuring a profile picture of a Bournemouth player and the club crests for the day’s fixture. Club information is well represented throughout, with columns from the manager, chairman, and captain occupying two pages each, and impressive coverage of recent matches, with full match stats, photos, and a brief report. Double-page spreads on the Under-21s and Under 18s include interviews with a member of each squad alongside the season’s results and there is also two pages on the club’s ladies team. The first team’s stats section has the usual two-page season record, alongside player information and league stats.
The visitor’s section is very well presented, with pages trimmed with the club’s colours. Covering ten pages, the section begins with a full-page picture of an opposition player in action. A good introductory article and manager profile are followed by detailed pen-pics on the squad. An opposition supporter then picks a ‘Cult Hero’ from the club’s past, while ‘Shirt Tales’ looks at a player who represented both the Cherries and their visitors, and highlights some of the shirts worn during their career. Another visitor related section, coming later in the programme, sees James Horncastle profile Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. The article is a quality addition to the standard visitor content usually provided.
The programme also features a good number of readable features. There is a ten-page player interview, which has one Cherries player answering questions provided by fans on social media. A history section includes several interesting articles. ‘Dean Court Days’, a reference to Bournemouth’s previous home ground, covers seven pages, starting with ‘On This Day’, which selects certain matches of interest from this day in history. ‘Past Masters’ then relates the story of a former player and ‘Fan Favourites’ sees one supporter picking various favourite items, such as players, managers, and shirts. ‘Five Years in Five Games’ tells the story of key moments from manager Eddie Howe’s time in charge at Bournemouth. ‘We’re on Our Way’ is a useful feature for fans planning to follow Bournemouth in their next away game, including travel information and information about the ground they will be visiting. The programme is concluded with a separate pull-out section for young supporters, called ‘Extra Time’.
This is a very strong issue from Bournemouth, deservedly taking its place amongst the highest-rated programmes in the league. Some more in-depth historical features would complement the other content, especially given Bournemouth’s dramatic rise through the divisions in recent times. However, any criticisms like this must be considered minor with so many positive aspects contributing to a fine programme.
Score 17/20 – ‘Matchday’ delivers across the board with extensive opposition coverage a real highlight.
Brighton (v Burnley 16/12/17)
£3.50 (100 pp / 79.5 net / P)
For Brighton’s first top-flight appearance in the Premier League era, the club have issued an impressive 100-page programme, the most noticeable feature of which is the amount of highly-readable original content included.
The best feature is ‘History Repeating’, which looks back at the 1979/80 season – Brighton’s first in the top flight – and examines home matches in chronological order during the season. This excellent feature is spread across ten pages and includes a match report, an interview with then manager Alan Mullery, a player profile, and ‘Goldstone Gallery’, which has images and related text from the game. Finally, ‘Get with the Programme’ looks at the issue for the match in question, including reproductions of various pages. ‘History Repeating’ is one of the leading features produced by any club in this or any other season.
There are several well-written interviews within the programme. The best of these is an extensive four-page interview with a player who connects the Seagulls and their matchday opponents, which offers more than the usual ‘run of the mill’ interview content. Two more lengthy interviews follow, this time with current players, looking at their career and season to date. There is also a four-page feature on various improvements the club has made to their ground to comply with Premier League regulations. This provides a worthwhile insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes at a top-flight club.
As well as the usual manager column, this Brighton issue includes a detailed two-page column from Chief Executive Paul Barber, together with an extensive letter sent to local press following crowd trouble at a recent fixture against rivals Crystal Palace. This serves as a good example of how a matchday programme can provide the space for a club to communicate with its fans.
The section devoted to the visiting club starts with an introductory article that includes words from the opposition manager and one of his players. The programme highlights ‘Four to Follow’ featuring key opposition players, with basic information on the other squad members running along the foot of five pages. There is also an interview with one of the opposition players and a match report from their last away trip, as well as a page of stats for the season to date.
Coverage of previous matches is well handled, with a brief match report and lots of pictures from the games, as well as a separate page of match stats, although full line-up details are not provided. There are double-page spreads on the Under-23s, Under-18s, and Ladies team, which are full of news and information on recent games. These pages could have been improved further with results and league tables for each of the sides. The first-team stats section includes the usual season record grid, together with the league table, appearances and goal-scorers, and the weekend’s other fixtures. The programme is completed with ‘Talking Tactics’, which looks ahead to Brighton’s next match and the tactics that the opposition are expected to employ, with notes on potential areas for the Seagulls to exploit.
This is a quality effort from Brighton, which clearly reflects a great deal of effort having been put into its production. It offers an impressive mix of historical and contemporary content, with the latter often providing a revealing insight into the running of a Premier League club.
Score 17/20 – an excellent production from Brighton, featuring some of the best, most original content in the league.
Burnley (v Manchester United 20/01/18)
£3.00 (88 pp / 67.5 net / P)
A superb issue from Burnley, ‘Turf’ successfully combines strong design, interesting features, and quality writing to impressive effect. Coming in at just £3, the programme provides excellent value for money across its 88 pages.
The design and layout of this issue has a different feel to other issues in the league, having a newspaper-style feel in places due to intelligent use of headings, column layout and fonts. The cover design, repeated from last season, has the front and back of the programme given over to the hosts and visitors respectively, with a player image and squad listings in each club’s colours.
The Burnley programme is full of well-written original content across a range of features. An eight-page player interview has a good balance of text and images. ‘The A List’ looks at a collection of football trivia – on this occasion showing five loan players who made an impact playing for the Clarets. ‘On This Day’ features memorable matches from Burnley’s past, some of which feature actions shots of players from the time. ‘Get with the Programme’ is a very strong two-page article, including a full-page reproduction of a programme cover from a memorable fixture against the day’s opponents, as well as a match, stats and excerpts from the programme. ‘Talking Football’ is another impressive column, which looks at stories making the football news – in this instance the introduction of the VAR system. The programme also includes three pages on Burnley’s award-winning community work and a news section, which here features a beautifully written tribute to Burnley’s former groundsman Ray Oldfield, who had recently died aged 83.
The visitors section is up there with the best in the division, with nine pages of opposition content. An introductory article sits alongside a profile of the visitor’s manager, as well as an honours board and form guide. Following this, we have a profile of a star man for the visitors and pen-pics of the full first-team squad. ‘One of Their Own’ features a United legend from the past, while ‘Strip Search’ is a light-hearted look at highlights and (mainly) lowlights from United’s back catalogue of shirts. Included alongside the visitor content is ‘They Played for Both’, which goes well beyond the norm for such columns, going into some depth on two players associated with Burnley and United, including quality images.
‘Turf’ is also impressive in the way it handles all the basics of information about the club. Previous match coverage is excellent, with a full report, match stats, and images, including ‘The Big Picture’ – a two-page spread of a key moment from the match. There are two pages devoted to each of Burnley’s youth team and development squad, including reports, fixtures, table, and player pictures. A page is also given to Burnley Ladies team. The first team stats section is presented in landscape layout. A nice touch here is including the club colours of opponents in the list of fixtures, which sits alongside the league table and player information. A travel information page includes a match preview for the club’s next away trip, with information on how to get to the ground, and ‘Blast from the Past’, which reflects on a previous visit.
All in all, this is an excellent effort from Burnley, with a fine mix of original content and club information, as well as impressive coverage of their opponents.
Score 19/20 – ‘Turf’ is strong in all areas, with first-class content and creative design throughout.
Chelsea (v Swansea City 29/11/17)
£3.00 (76 pp / 60.5 net / S)
Chelsea’s programme has a similar feel to previous seasons, maintaining an impressive standard consistent with the club’s previous efforts. The programme may contain the second lowest number of pages in the league but remains one of only five to be charged at just £3, offering decent value for money with some good quality content.
The programme opens with the standard manager and captain columns, which are followed by a news section covering all aspects of the club, and a five-page player interview.
One of the strengths of Chelsea’s programme is the amount of original content. This includes ‘Pat’s Profiles’, a column from 80’s Blues star Pat Nevin, which in this issue offers an insight into former playing colleague and manager John Hollins. ‘Match Points’ features a former Blues player looking back at the matches that shaped his career. As with Nevin’s article, this provides an interesting personal insight. The feature also makes good use of retro images to complement the text.
‘Seasons in the Sun’ follows, which looks at a successful Chelsea campaign of the past. This is spread over six pages, including an archive section that reproduces content from the club’s programmes from that year. Another good historical feature is ‘A History in 100 Goals’ that looks at a significant goal from Chelsea’s history – in this case a strike from 1919 that put Chelsea top of Division One for the first time. The article also features pictures of the programme from the match under focus. One minor criticism here is that the four-page article could have been printed on consecutive pages, rather than having adverts break up the feature and its associated design and colour scheme.
The programme has a solid section on their matchday opponents, including club information, key player pen pics, and a basic form guide, as well as details of five former Blues who also spent time managing their opponents.
There is good coverage of recent matches with reports, pictures, and full match line-ups and statistics. Coverage of the development squad, under 18’s, and ladies team is also nicely put together, with results, appearances, goals, and tables. The first team’s statistics section is similarly strong, making good use of the space available to include a lot of information without the need for any uncomfortably small text.
Score 16/20 – a well balanced issue that combines all the key components of a good programme.
Crystal Palace (v West Ham United 28/10/17)
£3.50 (88 pp / 72 net / P)
A very impressive design for Palace’s programme, which ranks as one of the strongest in the division. Those responsible for putting the programme together must be congratulated on providing a very attractive issue, with high quality page designs, readable text layout, good use of images, and excellent incorporation of the club’s colours. The design quality is clear right from the cover page, which keeps things simple while incorporating a watermark image of the Eagle from Palace’s club crest.
The programme includes several regular columns – not only the usual manager and captain efforts, but also from club Chairman Steve Parish; Guardian correspondent Steve Fifield; and former editor of Cosmopolitan, and Eagles fan, Louise Court. A two-page match preview spread is a nice addition, featuring recent form and history between Palace and their matchday opponents. An eight-page player interview follows. Once again, this is nicely laid out with some excellent images complementing the text.
In terms of original content, there is a feature on Palace’s 1997/98 season, described here as a “turbulent campaign”. A three-page article to coincide with Remembrance Day considers Palace players lost in World War One – from the unit known as the ‘Football Battalion’. ‘The A to Z of Palace’ is a five-page section that references notable moments from Palace’s history, which are related to a letter of the alphabet.
The visitors section is another example of the design quality of Palace’s issue. The start of the section is well marked with a full-page graphic made up of the opposition’s club crest and colours. Pictures of the opposition players are then shown in football sticker style, with key players highlighted with pen pics. Continuing the theme, a feature called ‘Get Stuck In’ showcases stickers from past albums that featured various former players from the visiting club. ‘Kit Off’ then looks at some classic (and not so classic) retro kits from Palace and their opponents.
Coverage of previous matches is well handled, with match reports, statistics, line-ups (including a formation graphic) and match photographs. The programme also includes quite lengthy reports from Palace’s Development Squad, Under-18s, and Ladies team, together with their fixture lists and tables. The first-team records section includes various season statistics alongside relevant player images, as well as the standard line-up pages and a league table.
The final touch to an excellent issue is a fold-out from the inside back cover page, which features two detachable postcards – in this instance showing two programme covers from the past. A nice addition to cap off a beautifully put together programme.
Score 17/20 – a pleasure to read with some quality content complemented by excellent design throughout.
Everton (v West Bromwich Albion 20/01/18)
£3.50 (84 pp / 65 net / P)
Everton’s programme benefits from a good, simple, clean design, with the content being well laid out and information presented in a very readable way.
The programme includes some good historical features, the first of which is ‘Everton FC Archives’. This includes a couple of two-page action shots from former meetings of Everton and their matchday opponents, together with some associated commentary. ‘Blast from the Past’ meanwhile reproduces an old article from Charles Buchan’s Soccer Gift Book from 1957/58, which is based on an interview with former Everton player Jimmy Tansey. A page from the Everton FC Heritage Society looks at the history behind the site of the club’s proposed new stadium, which offers an interesting and detailed insight into the area.
Other original content takes the form of interviews with two new signings and an article congratulating Manager Sam Allardyce on reaching the landmark of 1000 games in management. There is also an interview with a player currently out on loan. The best of these features is a four-page feature with former Toffee Mike Newell who is now coaching in Saudi Arabia with another former Evertonian, Kevin Sheedy. This article provides a worthwhile insight into a different footballing culture.
The visitors’ section includes information on the opponent’s season to date, basic player details and pictures, and a two-page interview with a prominent fan of the club, which comes across as refreshingly honest. The pages also include a panorama of the visiting club’s stadium, which is a nice touch.
The programme includes a good amount of club information, with pages devoted to the Under-23s, Under-18s, and Ladies team, with their respective results and tables included on a separate page, colour-coded to coincide with the presentation of the related features. The first-team stats pages include squad appearances and goals history, league table, Premier League top-scorers, and a nicely-designed season record over two pages. Unfortunately, there is no coverage of recent first-team matches, which feels odd given the coverage afforded to the club’s Academy sides.
This is a programme that gets a lot of the basics right, but which would benefit from a greater amount of content to really make it stand out from the crowd.
Score 13/20 – a competent issue with a neat and tidy design, but which lacks sufficient content to rise above the average.
Huddersfield Town (v Liverpool 30/01/18)
£3.50 (84 pp / 62 net / P)
For Huddersfield’s first season in the Premier League, they offer an impressive programme, which is full of well-written articles. ‘The Terrier’ is a perfect-bound 84-page issue, which features a broad range of content.
The programme starts with a very detailed club directory that lists Huddersfield’s history and honours. Interestingly, this includes ‘Honours and Awards Off the Field’, covering areas such as programme and customer service awards. The issue then features an introductory column from the programme editor, which looks at the friendship between the German Managers of Huddersfield and opponents Liverpool. This is followed by several further columns, from the Chairman, Manager, Captain, Club Ambassador, and one from a director that discusses issues around recruitment of the club’s key personnel. The programme also includes a couple of pages of news columns, as well as a three-page player interview, plus another single page Q&A with the same player.
Other club information is well presented, including an interview with Under-23s Coach Mark Hudson. There is a full-page on each of the Under-23s and Under-18s teams, including their respective season records, with results, tables, and appearance stats. Coverage of previous matches is hosted on two pages with stats including line-up details and several photos. These pages possibly try to pack in too much, with some of the images being too small to really appreciate. The first-team season record pages include the useful addition of the position each player occupied in the match.
‘The Terrier’ features several excellent historical articles. ‘An Outside View’ looks at the traditional links between Huddersfield and Liverpool, going back to the success both teams enjoyed in the 1920s. ‘Do You Remember?’ takes a two-page team photo from the 1959/60 season and highlights key players within the team. ‘Curiosity Corner’ highlights a Huddersfield player from the early 20th century, Alonzo Drake, who also had a successful cricketing career.
The section on visitors Liverpool has an impressive image to open the section. This features the Liverpool club crest against a full-page background of the Kop. The section then provides a brief club history and a write-up on the visiting Manager. Two more pages are devoted to ‘Ones to Watch’ that has pen-pics of key players, with ‘Best of the Rest’ looking at the other squad members. ‘Liverpool FC in Numbers’ contains various key stats about the club.
A related feature is ‘Action from the Archives’ that tells the stories of various Huddersfield wins over their visitors down the years. This is very well put together and features lots of pictures of old match programmes. A further item of content related to the visitors is a profile of former Huddersfield and Liverpool boss Bill Shankly, which provides a good amount of detail, complemented by excellent images.
Aside from some design issues, with certain text-based items and some images looking rather crammed in, this is a strong Huddersfield issue. Given the amount of advertising content within the programme, this is one issue that could maybe benefit from an increase to the number of pages available, in order to allow for a ‘cleaner’ design.
Score 16/20 – plenty of good reading to keep both home and away fans occupied.
Leicester City (v Tottenham Hotspur 28/11/17)
£3.50 (84 pp / 60 net / P)
Leicester have become known for producing quality issues down the years, and this season’s programme is no exception. Although nearly 30% of the programme is given over to adverts, the issue is well designed and full of content, once again up there with the best in the league.
The programme kicks off with columns from the Manager and Vice-Chairman, followed by three pages of club news. There is good coverage of City’s Academy, with match reports and results for the Under-23s and Under-18s, as well as a write up of the season to date, although no player records are included. Similar coverage is given to Leicester’s Women’s Team. The first-team statistics section is strong on detail, although the white text on a black background would benefit from being bolder and in a slightly larger font. Coverage of previous matches is also well done, with team line-ups and key stats, together with a further two pages of match images and a page of analysis with on Foxes player.
The visiting club is given eight pages of content. A club profile and season stats precede a ‘Scouting Report’ that offers an excellent look at the opponent’s likely line-up and tactics. The section also includes detailed profiles of four key players, as well as Spurs Manager, Mauricio Pochettino. Although this part of the programme does not reference the other Tottenham squad members, the line-ups on the back page feature a key fact or two about each member of the visiting squad.
Leicester’s programme includes an impressive number of historical features under the banner ‘City Heritage’, which are arguably the best in the division. The first article is a detailed four-page interview with former Foxes winger Len Glover, including some top quality retro images. ‘How We Managed’ highlights the careers of key Managers in the club’s history. ‘The Wyvern’ takes stories contained in a local weekly magazine of that name from the 1890s. The magazine contained several articles about Leicester Fosse, the original name of the club when it was founded in 1884, and here looks at the excitement around Leicester’s first league game in 1894.
‘Names of the Game’ features legendary Spurs player Danny Blanchflower in an article that makes clear his impact on the club when he captained their double-winning side of 1960/61. ‘Programme Vault’ is another top-notch feature, which traces the evolution of Tottenham programme designs from the mid-1930s to the mid-1970’s, including 12 cover reproductions to show the programme’s development over 40 years. Finally, ‘Picture This’ includes an action shot from a Leicester v Spurs fixture from 1947/48 with text about the match.
Another very strong Leicester issue then, with the quality and amount of historical content standing out.
Score 17/20 – delivering in all areas, this is a programme deserving of a ranking among the best in the league.
Liverpool (v Southampton 18/11/17)
£3.50 (84 pp / 62.5 net / P)
This season, Liverpool are celebrating their 125th anniversary and this matchday programme includes some excellent original artwork on its cover. This is taken from a ‘Dream Scene’ created by sports artist Jamie Cooper, which is reproduced in full across a fold-out section in the centre of the programme.
Following quite lengthy columns from Manager and Captain, ‘Countdown to Kick-Off’ previews the day’s fixture, including a range of relevant stats. The programme features a couple of interviews with current players, whilst one of the best articles in the programme is ‘The Big Read’. In this issue, the column is called ‘1993/94 – A Kid Called Fowler’. Covering six pages, this looks back at Robbie Fowler’s emergence in the Liverpool team. This is a well written piece, which successfully evokes the early Premier League era.
In other club content, there is a page each on the Ladies and Academy teams, plus a page of each team’s results. First-team match reports includes brief write-ups alongside full match details and pictures, whilst a detailed stats section includes player records, the league table, and a well-designed season record.
The section on visitors Southampton includes an introductory article, a brief write-up on the club’s Manager and four key players, as well as basic pen-pics on the other squad members. Further snippets include the tactical line-up for the visitor’s last match, notes on last season’s meetings, and ‘Three Heroes’ from the visitors ranks. A related picture is provided in ‘Back Story’, which features former Liverpool and Saints striker Kevin Keegan.
Historical content takes the form of ‘A History of Liverpool in 100 Objects’, which is unfortunately allotted only a small space in the ‘Anfield Extra’ section. The article here looks at Liverpool’s Division Two championship trophy from 1962. ‘125 Great Liverpool Goals’ features the years 1932 to 1935, with plenty of retro images and text about four significant goals. Given Liverpool’s successful history and the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations, some additional historical features would have been welcome.
Score 14/20 – some good features but lacking sufficient content when compared with the season’s best issues.
Manchester City (v Newcastle United 20/01/18)
£3.00 (84 pp / 64 net / P)
As with last season, City go with a smaller A5-sized programme – the same as the Newcastle and Swansea issues from this season. The issue begins with ‘The Big Picture’, a two-page action shot from a recent game, followed by columns from manager Pep Guardiola and club ambassador Mike Summerbee.
A six-page player interview comes next, before ’50 Years Gone’, one of the better articles in the programme, which looks at City’s league title success from the 1967/68 season. This includes programme covers and press clippings from the time. ‘Access All Areas’ is a four-page photo feature, looking at City’s Academy stadium on a non-match day, whilst another article takes a look at various records associated with the club’s goal scorers down the years.
‘Defining Moments’ examines eight key moments in the career of a former City player – here featuring Joe Royle, who also managed the club between 1998 and 2001. ‘Manchester City 125’ looks ahead to the club’s 125th anniversary in 2019, with notable items associated with the club – in this case a league winners medal from 1968. Eight pages are then devoted to elements of City’s fan-base, including a nice interview with the club’s mascot from a recent away fixture. There then follow three double-page interviews, with two members of the club’s development squad and City Women’s star Demi Stokes. As with many other pages in this programme, more than half of the space is taken up with photographs.
The visitors section covers five pages and includes a good introductory article, followed by detailed squad and manager information, as well as basic pen-pics and a head-to-head record. The stats section completes the programme, covering all the club’s teams (development squad, under-18’s, women, and first team). Given the small size of the programme, the first-team match details section covers two double-page spreads (one each for 2017 and 2018).
The programme has something of a different feel from many Premier League issues, with less text and a lot of images. The gives the programme a clean, simple design, but the issue can feel rather insubstantial as a result.
Score 11/20 – somewhat underwhelming, the City issue is competent but uninspiring.
Manchester United (v Everton 17/09/17)
£3.50 (84 pp / 60 net / S)
‘United Review’ retains the square-size programme familiar from previous seasons and, as with past efforts, uses this to good effect through excellent design and layout. Several features within the programme make good use of the space provided by double-page spreads.
An example of this comes early on with the manager’s notes pages, which uses the left-hand page for text, with a full-page match image on the right. ‘The Match’ feature then looks ahead to the day’s fixture with notes on the key players, records to look out for, and a page of talking points. Coverage of recent matches is impressively handled, with detailed reports alongside pictures and a full match record, including line-ups and key stats.
An interview with a United player takes up six pages, although this is broken up by adverts. In addition to the type of questions common to such features, the feature includes a separate section that sees the player looking back at a memorable match from their career.
The visitors section features an excellent introductory two-page spread, including the club crest, images from in and around the club’s stadium, and a list of contents for the section. The content includes a manager profile, line-up details, profiles of the squad, and ‘In the Away End’, which has four snapshots of memorable moments from the club’s history. The section is completed with a two-page interview with a former player from the visitor’s ranks. This is one of the very best opposition sections of any issue in the league.
‘Classic United Review’ does what it says on the tin, featuring three programme covers from United’s past matches against their opponents, together with related match information. Another example of the use of the space afforded by the page size is a ‘Classic Image’, which in this issue features a shot of former United legends George Best and Denis Law, together with Everton’s Alan Ball. Another player interview covers a further five pages, before ’25 Players For 25 Years’ – a countdown of the greatest United players in the first quarter-century of Premier League competition. This includes various images and details such as appearances and titles won.
‘My Favourite Trophy’ has one former United player select his top piece of silverware from the trophies he has won. This feature sits next to United’s honours board, which displays the various competitions won by the club. ‘The United Family’ is a section dedicated to the club’s fans and features an interview with one fan whose turn it was to feature in United’s distinctive ‘masthead’ image that has adorned their programme down the years.
‘Around the Club’ includes news from the United Foundation, as well as ticket and stadium news. There are single-page updates on the Academy and Reserve teams, before a good stats section covering four pages that includes another very nicely laid out double-page spread that handles the results and line-ups for the season.
‘United Review’ is a very strong all-round issue. One of the few downsides is the high proportion of adverts within the programme, which take up nearly 30% of the available space. The programme could also make more use of historical content, especially given United’s illustrious past. However, these are minor criticisms for what is a high-quality United programme.
Score 17/20 – one of the best designed programmes in the league, ‘United Review’ is a pleasure to read.
Newcastle United (v Leicester City 09/12/17)
£3.00 (84 pp / 55.5 net / P)
One of the more advert-heavy issues in the league, taking up approximately one-third of the programme, Newcastle’s issue still provides decent value for money despite the lowest number of net pages in the league. There is plenty of good quality, well-written, original content within these pages, with the programme costing just £3.
The best features are an extensive interview with manager Rafa Benitez, covering some ten pages, which goes beyond the usual fluff pieces many programmes settle for, and a series of historical articles towards the back of the programme. ‘Gems in the Attic’ looks back 125 years to the introduction of the club’s current name, while a four-page feature looks at memorable matches against the day’s opponents, including pictures of the programmes from those fixtures.
The design and layout are largely well suited to the size of the programme. The text can appear a little small on occasions but is usually perfectly readable – the main exceptions being the use of some dark colours on a black background in the statistics section and the league tables for the under-18’s and under-23’s teams, for which you may need a magnifying glass!
Opposition content is limited. A good introductory article on the visitors is worth reading but the programme provides only basic pen-pic information on the players. More interesting is a ‘scene setter’ page towards the front of the programme, which provides a form guide, the line-ups from the last fixtures played by the clubs, and a head-to-head record.
Score 13/20 – plenty of interesting reading and an attractive design makes up for the number of adverts.
Southampton (v Brighton and Hove Albion 31/01/18)
£4.00 (84 pp / 63 net / P)
Southampton’s programme remains the only issue in the Premier League that commands a cover price of £4. Despite the cost, still one quarter of the programme (21 pages out of 84) is taken up with adverts. Calculated on a net pages per pound ratio, this makes the Southampton issue the worst value for money in the Premier League. This would matter less if the content justified the cost, but much of what is inside is run of the mill stuff.
The programme does benefit from a decent design, with an impressive piece of cover artwork featuring Saints player Shane Long, to whom an eight-page interview is devoted inside. Sadly, the interview is less worthwhile than the artwork. Other design highlights include a recurring ‘stripes’ motif on page numbers and some headers, which works well in providing a consistent feel to the programme. The text is not too densely packed, with plenty of white space that provides an easy reading experience. The stats section is also well presented, making good use of colour on the line-ups page, although the league table, with white text on a red background, is less easy on the eye.
The main strength of Southampton’s programme, without which its score would likely be in single figures, is the opposition section. The eight pages devoted to their visitors include key club facts, a tactical assessment (including an excellent formation graphic), information on the projected starting eleven, and a look at former players not generally known for being associated with the club.
The programme also features eight pages of historical content, including a look back 40 years to the 1977/78 season, when Southampton won promotion from the old Second Division. A column called ‘That Reminds Me’ examines ten Saints players who returned for a second spell at the club after a period away.
This is not a bad programme by any means but, at a time when plenty of other clubs are doing far more for less, the issue is an expensive disappointment.
Score 11/20 – largely perfunctory stuff that does not come close to justifying the price tag.
Stoke City (v Manchester City 12/03/18)
£3.50 (84 pp / 64 net / P)
Stoke’s programme benefits from some attractive original design work and images. This is clear from the front cover, which features a stylised graphic of a Stoke player against a backdrop drawn in the club’s colours, which might best be avoided by anyone who suffers from migraines. The presentation of text and photographs is well handled throughout the issue, giving the programme a clean feel, and features some well put together original artwork at the start of various sections.
An example is the opposition coverage, which is printed in the familiar Sky-Blue colours of visitors Manchester City. The section includes an impressive opening page graphic of City’s home shirt, positioned such that the club crest is in the middle of the page. An introductory article is followed by player pictures and profiles of key squad members. Space is also provided for a City ‘Cult Hero’, a badge breakdown that looks at the components of City’s crest, Premier League stats, and the likely line-up for the match. This is accompanied by excerpts from a recent interview with manager Pep Guardiola.
In terms of original content, there is an in-depth interview with a Stoke player that covers seven pages. ‘The Year We Wore’ is a series examining iconic Stoke kits from the past. In this issue, the article features Stoke’s kit from the 2010/11 season, when they were FA Cup runners up to Manchester City. ‘Inside the Cabinet’ is a look at trophies won by Stoke, while ‘Our House’ commemorates 20 years of life at the club’s current stadium with a six-page interview with a player who has called it home during that time. A ten-page photo section shows life behind the scenes at Stoke, with images from training sessions and matchdays.
There is a decent amount of information about the different areas of the club. Columns from the Manager and Captain sit alongside a single page from ‘Voice of Stoke City’ commentator, Nigel Johnson. Updates on Stoke’s Under-23s and Under 18s are followed by a four-page interview with Academy graduate Tyrese Campbell, son of former Everton and Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell. ‘Stat Centre’ includes key Premier League stats for Stoke, as well as results, fixtures, and tables for the First Team and Academy squads.
Given the quality of the design work, it comes as something of a surprise to find a couple of spelling errors (on pages 15 and 25), which are the kind of error that should have been picked up a spell-check or proof-reader. It is only these errors that prevent the issue picking up full marks for design and layout. The programme could also have benefited from some coverage of recent Stoke matches, as well as some words on the club’s Ladies team.
Score 15/20 – featuring some excellent original artwork, Stoke’s programme is one of the design highlights of this season’s Premier League issues.
Swansea City (v Bournemouth 25/11/17)
£3.00 (84 pp / 66 net / P)
One of three smaller A5 issues in the league this season, Swansea’s ‘Jack Magazine’ packs a lot it, making good use of its 84 pages. The programme kicks off with columns from manager and captain, as well as Chairman Huw Jenkins (OBE), Guardian columnist Stuart James, and local journalist Julie Kissick. The programme then provides basic match reports from previous games, with stats and a brief write-up.
‘Where Are They Now?’ features a former Swans player and provides a reminder of their career and post-playing activities. ‘Swans and Dragons’ looks at former Swansea players that have represented Wales at full international level. This is followed by ‘Travelling Jacks’, which is a useful feature for Swansea fans following the team away from home. The column occurs a couple of times in the programme and looks at upcoming away trips with a range of useful information, including travel tips, places to park, and the best places to get pre-match food and drink.
The visitors section is well presented, covering five pages and a further two pages of club connections. This section makes good use of the visiting club’s colours and full-page photographs. These images are a good example of how the programme uses darker backgrounds with white text to provide a comfortable reading experience, while making optimum use of the space available.
The programme contains several features about the club’s work in the community, including a funding programme to support local groups, and a two-page spread on community work with club ambassador and former player, Lee Trundle. The programme successfully communicates the club’s efforts in this area and includes a page on awards won by the club for their community work.
A six-page player interview goes into some depth with its subject, before ‘Classic Seasons’ examines Swansea’s promotion-winning campaign of 1969/70. This feature includes pictures of players from the time, as well as putting their achievements in the context of world events from the time. ‘Looking Back’ examines matches from this week in the club’s history, again with player pictures as well as a background image of Swansea’s former ground, The Vetch Field.
‘The Academy’ reports on the club’s Development Squad and Under-18s, as well as mentioning Swansea’s other youth teams and highlighting some of the work the club does with its younger players. This is followed by two-page features on a member of each of the main youth squads, which includes the respective team’s results and tables. There is also a one-page interview with a young recruit to the Swansea Ladies team. The stats section provides the usual double-page spread for the season record, including details of the squad’s league and cup appearances.
‘Jack Magazine’ is one of only five Premier League issues still charging just £3, helping to make this programme good value for money. This is an example of how to deliver a more compact issue, with praise due for the quality of design and layout throughout the programme.
Score 14/20 – solid content in all the important areas and a clear pride in the club’s connections with the local community.
Tottenham Hotspur (v Huddersfield Town 03/03/18)
£3.50 (100 pp / 72.5 net / P)
A nicely designed Tottenham issue with plenty of decent content, the Spurs programme is only kept out of the leading spots in the division by some underwhelming opposition coverage that can’t compare with the best of this season’s issues.
The programme benefits from a nice clean design, with good use of the club’s colours. White backgrounds and dark blue text are used throughout much of the programme with the historical sections of the programme contrasting well with their use of darker backgrounds.
There is some good quality original content within the programme, with excellent use made of retro images to complement the historical features. ‘Tottenham Tales’ includes articles looking at stories with links to the team’s matchday opponents. Similarly, ‘Gold Dust’ looks at more historical links and includes ‘Main Issue’. This features information about a fixture between the two clubs from 1925, including a match report and images of the matchday programme, which was then printed on Tottenham’s distinctive pink paper. ‘The 100 Club’ is a series looking at players that have netted 100 times for Tottenham, which here looks at Cliff Jones. ‘Wembley Memories’ features recollections from a former Spurs player about their appearances at the national stadium for club and country.
In terms of more contemporary content, the programme includes a player interview covering seven pages. This is largely unremarkable stuff but does include a ‘Career So Far’ section featuring images and highlights that adds a nice touch to the usual interview fare. ‘Road to Russia’ looks ahead to the World Cup by interviewing a Spurs squad member whose country has qualified for the tournament.
Club information is well presented, with the manager’s column being followed by a couple of pages of club news and a two-page action shot from Spurs’ last fixture. ‘Match Report’ has the stats and line-ups from the club’s recent matches. These reports include several photos but no text about the game itself. There is some excellent coverage of the Under-18s, with match reports, fixtures, and results, as well as a player profile. The first-team stats section is comprehensive, with records for first team players as well as the Academy squads, and a clearly laid out season record.
The opposition section is titled ‘Arch Rivals’ in reference to the club’s temporary Wembley home. This section includes brief notes on club information, the opposition manager, and recent form. Player pen-pics are well presented in the opposition club’s colours, with one player highlighted as ‘One to Watch’.
With more comprehensive opposition coverage, the Spurs issue would rank as one of the best in the league. We have come to expect quality programmes from Tottenham down the years and this is another Spurs issue with much to commend it.
Score 15/20 – some excellent historical content is the highlight of a typically strong Spurs programme.
Watford (v Arsenal 14/10/17)
£3.50 (100 pp / 81.5 net / P)
Watford’s issue gives the impression of a programme in search of a coherent identity, having something of an inconsistent feel. A significant part of this may be down to design problems, with many pages feeling under-utilised. The amount of blank space feels rather obvious on several pages, with a mix of font sizes contributing to a disjointed look.
One positive design aspect is the programme’s impressive front cover, which features an image of a Watford player on a dark backdrop, together with basic match details. Following the manager and captain columns, an eight-page player interview is an example of the problem of an excess of white space. Whilst this no doubt creates a comfortable reading experience, it leaves the feeling that there is insufficient content to fill the programme’s 100 pages.
A lengthy opposition section is the best element of this programme. The section kicks-off with a simple but effective full-page graphic of the visitor’s crest. This is followed by key stats, a manager profile, basic pen-pics, and an opposition player interview. ‘From the Away End’ is an interview with an opposition supporter, while ‘Dream Team’ sees a former player who represented both clubs select their best eleven from those they played alongside and coached.
‘We’ll Never Play There Again’ is one of the best features. This column looks at match programmes from visits to stadia no longer in use. ‘Forty Years On’ is a four-page look at Watford’s Division Four title-winning campaign of 1977/78.
It is good to see six pages given over to Watford’s Academy, including an interview with one young player. The club’s Development Squad benefits from a full results and line-up section of the type that most issues usually reserve for the first team only. However, the use of black text on a dark green background, coupled with the small font size, makes parts of these pages hard to read. This seems rather unnecessary given the amount of space that remains unused. The issue also includes two pages on Watford Ladies, including a player interview.
The first-team stats section has similar design problems to those identified elsewhere in the issue. The section suffers from very small text, surrounded by lots of white space. A basic league table is also provided, but once again in an unnecessarily small font.
Given the design flaws, perhaps Watford’s programme would benefit from more use of background colours or images. A move to a smaller paper size, along the lines of the Newcastle and Swansea issues, may also help.
Score 11/20 – Despite a few well-handled aspects, the Watford programme is one of the weaker issues this season.
West Bromwich Albion (v Stoke City 27/08/17)
£3.50 (68 pp / 59.5 net / S)
The smallest programme in the league, with just 68 pages, West Brom nevertheless deliver a high-quality issue. A low number of adverts keeps the net page total at a decent level – higher than Newcastle’s 84-page programme, for example. Most importantly, the Baggies once again deliver a programme full of excellent, well-written features, with a strong eye on historical content and a definite feel for the club’s fan-base and the place of the club within the local community.
The cover design includes a landscape photograph of a memorable moment from the club’s recent history, along with related commentary and basic match details. Following the standard columns from manager and captain, the programme includes some excellent, extensive match reports from previous games. These are very well written compared with many club’s basic efforts. The season stats page comes early in the programme, with a good, simple layout that includes line-ups, player stats, and the league table. The youth team and development squad are given similar stats pages, with full result and line-up details.
The opposition section takes a different approach to most clubs, eschewing the usual pen-pic approach for a piece that runs through the opposition team in narrative style. This is complemented here by an excellent historical piece that focuses on Stoke’s famous side of the early 1970’s.
A ten-page feature follows, looking at one of Albion’s players. This includes 20 memorable matches from his Baggies career as well as all his key stats (and haircuts!) ‘From the Throstle’s Nest’ looks at the international adventures of various West Brom players, including references to programmes from those matches. ‘A Face in the Crowd’ provides an interview with a former ground-staff member who relates the highs and lows of supporting West Brom and the experiences of being a disabled supporter.
‘Albion’s XI’ looks at a team of former players with something in common – in this case, players who went into management. The always interesting ‘Story of the Albion in 100 Objects’ feature continues, featuring a shirt and pennants from the club’s tour of North America in 1969. Another column recalls events from 1968, when West Brom won the FA Cup for the fifth time.
This season’s West Brom issue again shows what can be done with the matchday programme, given a high level of care and thought. This issue has the feel of a programme prepared with supporters in mind, rather than being the type of glorified promotional brochure that too many clubs settle for. Even the travel information section includes a full-page write-up on past trips and future visits. Moreover, this is all done without the programme ever taking itself too seriously and with no little humour. This may not be quite the best programme in the league, but the team behind West Brom’s issue should be congratulated on the consistently high quality of their programmes in recent seasons.
Score 16/20 – another quality Baggies issue, with the emphasis on high-quality, fan-focused content.
West Ham United (v Watford 10/02/18)
£3.50 (100 pp / 69.5 net / P)
With slightly less than 70 pages of content in a 100-page programme, this season’s West Ham issue is second only to Newcastle’s in terms of the proportion of the programme given over to adverts. It is therefore to the credit of the programme’s design team and writers that the issue still feels quite substantial.
The issue starts with the usual columns from manager and captain, as well as joint-chairman David Sullivan. These columns are followed by three and a half pages of club news and a two-page tribute to former player Vic Keeble, which is well-written, featuring memories from former team mates and supporters. The issue features plenty of interviews with club personnel, including manager’s assistant Billy McKinlay, new signing Jordan Hugill, and first team player Joao Mario. This latter feature includes a related article recalling the other Portuguese players that have turned out for West Ham.
There is extensive coverage of West Ham’s Academy, including a two-page interview with a member of each of the Under-23s and Under-18s, along with columns from the Academy Manager and Under-18s Coach. This section includes the respective teams’ league tables but omits any fixtures or match reports. To West Ham’s credit, the same level of coverage is given to the club’s Ladies team. The first team stats section is very well laid out, making good use of the available space and club colours. There is no reporting of recent first-team fixtures – an unfortunate omission given the quality of the other club coverage.
The opposition section is a rather mixed bag. A good introductory article and a page written by a fan of the opposing club sit alongside pen-pics, within which four key players are highlighted. Unfortunately, the design of this section doesn’t make use of the visiting club’s colours. With only four pages devoted entirely to the visitors, the section is one of the weaker such efforts in the league.
The programme includes some good historical content. ‘My West Ham Scrapbook’ sees former player Tony Gale selecting five key moments from his time at the club. ‘Moment in Time’ is a two-page photo spread featuring an action shot from a former meeting of West Ham and their matchday opponents. ‘On This Day’ focuses on a memorable match from West Ham’s recent history and profiles the players who were involved, along with a brief match report. ‘Top 3 Best Unseen Things at Upton Park’ is a nostalgic, light-hearted look at memories from the club’s former home. The programme ends with a two-page interview with former player Stuart Slater, who turned out for both West Ham and Watford during his career.
Score 14/20 – West Ham’s issues overcomes the high proportion of adverts to provide a worthwhile reading experience.