Matchday programmes – beginning of the end?
1 May 2018 1 May 2018
Summary
• EFL to vote on end to automatic match programme publication
• Is this the beginning of the end for matchday programmes?
• What’s your collection like?
• Do you have a favourite programme
By Matthew Henry
https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/43959769.................................................
The fuss over football programmes is out of step with modern times, just like them
Kevin Garside 12:49 Tuesday May 1st 2018 Football EFL, Football Programmes, Kevin Garside
Football clubs to vote in June to scrap or to maintain the practice of compulsory publication of match day programmes
The end of the world is nigh, or rather the end of football match day programmes, which according to my Twitter feed are things easily conflated.
A point of order, if I may. It is only the compulsory nature of the production process that is under threat, not the programme itself. Should clubs vote to maintain the edict when they gather in June then you get to exercise your free will over the decision to buy or not.
Should the edict be voted out then clubs get to exercise their free will over the decision to publish or not. If it’s a yes then it’s down to you if you buy or decide it’s not worth your money. If it’s a no its because you have stopped buying anyway. This a model you might recognise since it replicates the mores and values that govern the liberal, democratic model of society in which we live.
Old technology
Whether we like it or not programmes are old tech, their purpose usurped by modernity. In days of old, when white horses patrolled Wembley and boots had steel toe caps, programmes had a use, providing information about a club that could not be had elsewhere. There was, therefore, a compelling case to buy.
But there is little we can’t now access online. This is reflected in sales, which for many down the divisions are in retreat and do not cover the costs of production, and are thus a serious drain on resources.
It makes me chuckle when I happen across anachronistic notes on the opposition towards the back of the book, most recently at Arsenal for the visit of West Ham. There was a page devoted to the ‘dangerous system’ deployed by David Moyes plus the obligatory glossary of players as if Pablo Zabaleta, Patrice Evra and Andy Carroll were strangers to us.
Essential reading
In days of yore before the advent of live TV and matchday streaming this was essential reading, delivering insight into players with whom we were unfamiliar. These days we know the opposition just as well as we know our own. Even managers’ notes are often culled from pre-match press conferences and not given directly to the author.
Player interviews are necessarily soft focus celebrations, which is fair enough, but not necessarily a selling point. And as for holiday snaps of ‘reds’ and ‘blues’ in football shirts from all points around the globe, well that is one feature I can live without.
Football history
It seems to me self evident that the way forward is to give clubs the choice to do as they please. The chief executive of Mansfield Town, Carolyn Radford, put the case best when speaking to the Guardian. “We’d always have a programme because it’s a voice from the club to the fans and it’s something some people keep religiously,†she said.
“It’s part of the fabric of the club and an important piece of memorabilia, a collector’s item. I know we’re moving more online, but it’s different having something to hold. It costs us more to produce than it raises, so I can see commercially why some clubs would want to get rid and I think if it was no longer compulsory a lot of clubs, particularly in the lower leagues, would drop out. But it’s still an important part of football’s history.â€
There you have it, a reasoned conclusion that we can all live with. Publish if it works for you despite any losses you might incur. Or don’t because it no longer has relevance to the club or the fans.
