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End of the 'compulsory' matchday programme?

Discussions to be held on whether clubs must produce a matchday programme (an EFL compulsory requirement at the moment). Should it continue irrespective of the vote?

https://www.mix96.co.uk/news/sport/2567646/efl-clubs-to-vote-on-future-of-match-programmes-in-summer/

Comments

  • Yes it should! To me football is not something just to be consumed and forgotten. Its about feelings, memories, history. I have a rain soaked programme from Loakes Park days that takes me right back to the match (routine Isthmian League game against Oxford City) 40+ years ago and I can still remember myself as a 14 year old jumping up and down at the Gasworks End in the pouring rain when we scored a goal.

    I know (well hope) the clips online from Chesterfield will bring back magic memories in many years time, but for less dramatic games, the physical feel of something to connect me to that will bring back different, but probably just as important memories of random games with their own personal meanings for me as a Wycombe supporter.

    (Yes. I'm a sad, sad man)

  • It will be a sad day if programmes are no longer a part of a matchday. They become a keepsake and a focus of memories. They are an important historical document too.

  • If that happens someone needs to start a fanzine written by volunteers and available to all fans for a small monetary outlay.

  • I had no idea they were compulsory

    You learn something new every day

  • Getting the programme was essential to me as a kid.

    You get a bit older and struggle to deal with 100s littering the place up, and only about 3 or 4 pages being readable, but would still be a massive shame not to have them.

    Will probably get one at the weekend to chart Saturday's historical scenes.
    (pending getting there early, as I doubt we'll produce 4-5,000!

  • On a similar theme any idea what time they sold out of programmes last Saturday? Or did they just give up standing around in the rain? I got to the ground 15 minutes or so before KO and there was no-one selling them by then.

  • Any one know how many are sold at an average WWFC home game?

  • Stopped buying them when they got so large. 12 pages should be enough and price brought down to £2.00.

  • I suspect the production cost of a 30 page and a 12 page programme are not that different. I haven't bought one for years home or away (even when I went to many more matches than I do now). Expensive for what they are and with social media, much quicker cheaper ways of club communicating with supporters. Maybe they have had their day.

  • I also had no idea they were compulsory, but I'd be interested to know what requirements the EFL have (if any) for what constitutes a programme.

    Can't cash-strapped or lazy clubs just print out a double-sided sheet of A4 with the fixture, date and squads on it?

  • At one point they were good for the team lineups, but that was back in the days you'd be fairly sure of your starting X1 and squads weren't so key.

    the at a glance stats page was one I used to pour over, spending ages looking at the flow of the season , appearances etc, but I suppose that matters less as time goes on, and the club stat people will let you know if anything major crops up too.

  • From a personal perspective I would be sad to see programmes disappear. First thing on my mind when I get to a ground on match day is to locate a programme seller and buy a programme.

    Two thoughts from a commercial perspective:

    I recall that the mandatory programme publication requirement results from the EFL having sold advertising to sponsors on the understanding that they will get a full or half page advert in every match day programme at every club throughout the season - for example, the Sky Bet advertising that has appeared in every programme this year - and includes an obligation to carry a certain amount of advertisement/promotion of the EFL itself. The EFL will be cutting off or reducing potential revenue if the requirement is dropped.

    If individual clubs are finding they are making a loss from their programmes, either through poor sales or not being able to sell enough of their own advertising, then it makes no commercial sense for them to carry on and it does not seems fair for the EFL to force them to go on enduring losses; regardless of how much I would like them to continue so that I can have something to read on match day and keep for the memories.

    I would very much miss the 'pen pictures' about the opposing team members, which I often refer to during the match.

  • I've got a ridiculous stash of football programmes collected over the years. I'd be happy with a folded A4 thing with the fixture, teams & important club news & information.

    The trouble with many programmes now is they are too big, too expensive & outsourced to agencies who have no affinity for the club in question. Most Non-League programmes are a better read as they are written by dedicated fans.

    It would be a sad day if clubs ceased producing programmes. However, as so many have descended into almost reading like bland travel brochures I wouldn't mind a complete overhaul. What will WWFC be voting for at the EFL AGM?

  • As a side note, I bought my first Wycombe programme for a good few years a couple of months ago (Crewe match I think), and was impressed with the amount of interesting articles and columns in it. It was generally very impressive - so hats off

  • I instinctively feel sad that they could be on the way out, but at the same time have only bought 1 in about 15 years

  • i mainly stopped buying them as it’s a bit of a pain to keep hold of it for 90 mins in the terrace and quite easily gets lost when jumping up and down celebrating a bit like the umbrella I bought at chesterfield station! Agree with devc in the age of social media etc there a bit obsolete. If they vote to get rid of them it puts the decision in the hands of the club to either continue something that’s profitable or get rid of something that’s making a loss either way it’s an improved system in my opinion and beneficial for the club.

  • as far as Im aware programme are compulsory as far down as step 6 or the pyramid.

  • @eric_plant said:
    I instinctively feel sad that they could be on the way out, but at the same time have only bought 1 in about 15 years

    I had the same reaction, although this vote is just on whether clubs have to produce a match-day programme, many still might even if no longer compulsory.

  • I swear our programmes these last few years have been on flimsier paper than the old days.
    Even as a clumsy kid I managed to get them home in a lot better shape than the current version!

  • Must admit I stopped buying them as I have no room to store them.

  • I thought I read that QPR stopped them a few years ago.

  • I know how much time and effort goes into producing each programme and so i still buy each one as a further contribution to the club. However storage of them all is becoming an issue #loftfull

  • A season’s worth weigh a ton. Far too heavy for any shelf that I’ve put up so they’re piled up on the floor. Like @Uncle_T, I often refer to the visitors’ pen pictures during the game but generally don’t find time otherwise to read much of the rest of the programme whilst at the match. (Pre match and half time are for conversation.) Once home, they lie on the kitchen table for a week or two, often unread, before finishing up on the bedroom floor. Guy I give a lift to buys a programme for me but I would probably buy one if he didn’t for the same reason as @AlanCecil does.

  • Another word on programmes. If you get the chance read today’s. If you don’t well up reading some of the articles you probably don’t have a heart.

    Two things ring loudly and true. This current team is probably the best incarnation of what team spirit actually means and GA is an almost unique mix of passion and humility and we should be very pround and grateful that he he is our manager*

    (*this comment may have been a little influenced by the quality of the excellent real ale bar in the Vere Suite for which I am profoundly grateful for their services over the season)

  • I have a funny feeling it will be replaced by needing to be signed up to a Club app to get the information and that the app will amazingly cost as much or more per match than a paper programme while providing half the information. Or am I being unnecessarily sceptical?

  • Have gone from buying one every game to say 3-4 a season, but the last one of the season is always a nice one to look back over the year.

    £3.50 is a fair whack though, bearing in mind Premier league clubs charge that amount for what are more magazine type offerings with a lot of content.
    Ours is a lot better than most though.

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