This page features special issue programmes produced by Premier League clubs.

These issues have generally been related to landmarks such as a club leaving their home ground or celebrating particular achievements. There have also been more sombre occasions, such as West Brom’s superb programme commemorating the life and career of the late Cyrille Regis. Here is a selection of these programmes. Please leave a comment and let me know of any other special issues that should be included here.

 

Programme Reviews

Key

PP = Total Pages

Net = Total Pages Less Adverts

P = Perfect Bound

S = Stapled

 

Arsenal mark 50 seasons at Highbury (v Leicester City 21/12/63)

The Gunners produced a special 28-page commemorative programme for the visit of Leicester City in December 1963, marking 50 seasons of the club playing at Highbury.

 

Arsenal’s last match at Highbury (v Wigan Athletic 07/05/06)

£5.00 (100 pp / 83 net / S)

Supplement (68 pp / 68 net / S)

Arsenal marked their final fixture at Highbury with a beautifully produced 100-page programme. Costing £5 the main issue was presented together with an ‘A-Z of Highbury’ supplement.

Like the other Arsenal home programmes from 2005/06, the colour scheme for this programme reflected the darker ‘redcurrant’ shirts adopted by the Gunners for the season in honour of their first season at the stadium in 1913.

Alongside the regular matchday content, the programme contained a ‘Historic Highbury’ section, which featured more than 20 pages of themed content. This included reproductions of pages from Arsenal’s first Highbury fixture, against Leicester Fosse.

The special Highbury supplement ran to an advert-free 68 pages, and featured a host of historical information about Arsenal’s time at the stadium.

This is one of the finest programmes produced by any club in the Premier League (or any other) era, serving as an excellent tribute to Highbury, and full of history for supporters young and old, whether Arsenal fans or not.

 

Arsene Wenger’s last home match as Arsenal Manager (v Burnley 06/05/18)

£3.50 (82 pp / 68 net / P)

Supplement (64 pp / 64 net / S)

Arsenal marked Arsene Wenger’s last home game as Manager with a special edition programme for their fixture against Burnley.

Like the special issue produced for their final fixture at Highbury, this programme included a supplement covering Wenger’s time at the club. This supplement is 64 pages long, and includes two pages on each of Wenger’s seasons in charge at Arsenal. These pages include a write-up of the Gunners’ fortunes each year, together with team stats and a full-page image from the season.

The programme itself, which was sold at the regular season cover price of £3.50, retained the layout of the other issues from the season, and featured tributes to Wenger from legendary Arsenal figures such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Pat Rice. There was also a tribute from long time adversary Sir Alex Ferguson. All in all, a fitting tribute to a Manager who arguably had more impact on the Premier League than any other.

 

Everton’s 100th top-flight season in 2002/03 (v West Bromwich Albion 23/11/02 / Blackburn Rovers 14/12/02 / Bolton Wanderers 28/12/02 / Aston Villa 26/04/03)

To mark their 100th season in the highest tier of English football, Everton produced special edition programmes for four of their home fixtures. These were the fixtures against the other teams competing in the Premier League that season who had also been founder members of the Football League in 1888.

 

Leicester City crowned Premier League champions (v Everton 07/05/16)

£3.50 (108 pp / 78.5 net / P)

 

Sir Alex Ferguson remember George Best (v Portsmouth 03/12/05)

 

Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates 25 Years at Manchester United (v Sunderland 05/11/11)

£3.00 (68 pp / 44 net / S)

Supplement (28 pp / 26 net / S)

 

Manchester United mark the 65th anniversary of the Munich disaster (v Crystal Palace 04/02/23)

 

Manchester United commemorate Bobby Charlton (v Manchester City 29/10/23)

 

Project Restart Programmes 2020

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus led to a temporary halt in football around the world, including the Premier League. When the league resumed in June 2020, several clubs chose to issue special edition programmes covering all of their remaining games. These included Sheffield United (who also produced digital issues for each individual match during the restart), Southampton, and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

 

Tottenham Hotspur’s last game at White Hart Lane (v Manchester United 14/05/17)

£10.00 (124 pp / 94 net / P)

 

Tottenham Hotspur’s first game at their new stadium (v Crystal Palace 03/04/19)

£10.00 (124 pp / 97 net / P)

 

West Bromwich Albion commemorate Cyrille Regis (v Southampton 03/02/18)

£3.50 (132 pp / 122 net / P)

 

West Ham United’s last game at the Boleyn Ground (v Manchester United 10/05/16)

£4.00 (118 pp / 84 net / P)

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers celebrate the 60th anniversary of their 1958/59 title win (v Brighton & Hove Albion 20/04/19)

£3.50 (116 pp / 94 net / P)

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers mark 70 years since their meeting with Honved  (v Ipswich Town 14/12/24 )

For the visit of Ipswich Town in December 2024, Wolves produced a special issue recalling their famous clash with Hungarian champions Honved 70 years earlier. Wolves won that match 3-2, leading to some labelling them World Champions, and leading indirectly to the creation of the European Cup just a few years later. Also included with the Ipswich issue was a reproduction of the programme for the Honved match.