Roy Calmels

[johnlitster]

ROY CALMELS, who died in April aged 84, was one of the most significant figures in the huge growth of the hobby of programme collecting. In 1976, he became a partner in Sports Programmes, replacing Gordon Andrews who formed the company in 1973 to be joined shortly afterwards by Tony Stanford, firstly as manager and then a partner.
Sports revolutionised a hobby that had largely relied on bargain bundles advertised in football magazines, and exchanges in the school playground and in the collectors’ pages of the recently deceased Football Monthly and Soccer Star. Programme shops were comparatively short-lived and usually located in and around London. Norman Lovett’s British Programme Club had filled the gap, on the back of his regular articles in Football League Review, but it had evolved into an auction vehicle. Sports quickly became market leaders as they were the first to issue a fully comprehensive list of priced programmes, which grew to 56 foolscap-sized pages.
These would appear on collectors’ door-mats rolled up and posted using Royal Mail’s cheaper Printed Papers rate (annoyingly used by a handful of football clubs in the late 1960s). Collectors would prioritise a comprehensive scan of its pages, ringing the programmes they needed for their collection, then telephone the Coventry number at the appointed opening hour. It rarely took less than half-a-dozen attempts to get through; most of us were invariably late for work/lectures that morning, or had to find another telephone as the morning progressed.
Every programme was priced, no matter its antiquity or rarity; no wonder everyone bought from Sports, who compounded their virtue by being scrupulously honest and professional. Another reason for their success was that they were prepared to offer realistic sums when they bought collections, so not only were they the preferred dealer for buyers (collectors), they were likewise first choice for sellers (former collectors or inheritors). Sports raised the bar in football programme trading.
Within a decade, they succumbed to the financial lure of auctioning their rarer items and ultimately, and ironically, ended by exclusively auctioning their enormous stock, item by item, month by month. Roy retired from the business in 2020, and his son Danny followed him two years later.
Tony Stanford, a supporter of his home-town team Coventry City, was a former machine tool fitter who turned his hobby into his career. He died, aged just 48, in 1994. Dob 28/9/45. Roy, born in Bushey in January 1941, was a manager of an Insurance Brokers company until he joined the partnership, and had been a prominent collector since 1955. A season ticket holder at Queens Park Rangers, he also followed his local non-league team Wembley FC, with whom he became increasingly involved, latterly as Football Secretary. When his parents sold their hotel in Wembley, Roy, Joy and Danny moved to Bedfordshire, and took an interest in Rushden & Diamonds as they rose into League football.
Sports continued as a partnership between Roy and Tony’s widow Cynthia, until Roy reached retirement age and the partnership was amicably dissolved, with Roy continuing as Sports Programmes, and Cynthia selling the stock of non-football items.
Issue 27 of Programme Monthly contained detailed profiles of both Tony and Roy, along with a considered article by the latter on the status of the hobby in June 1983.

[BHA1]

Well said

[colchestersid]

I hadn't heard of this - Roy and Tony professionalised the hobby and as John says were completely honest and reliable in everything they did. As well as the catalogues and offers lists they also anchored the big London fairs for many years - their stall was always overwhelmed. I also remember they did a pioneering live auction at Wembley FC in the early 1990s - there must have been more than 250 collectors in the room

RIP Roy and condolences to his family

Simon

[Thedoog10]

Sad news ,lovely guy helped me know end with my collection many many years ago .

[oldprogs1]

He was by far the best ever programme dealer and he always had great offers lists.

[pafcprogs]

Like many of you I would know the day of the catalogue drop and scour quickly before the constant dial-engaged-redial engaged until that glorious moment when someone answered ( usually) Tony

I visited the Midlands base once when I sold up the first time ....to raise a deposit for a house with my then partner. Seemed like a fortune then but in reality was a couple of grand.

RIP Roy.
_________________
Currently disposing of my collection so please email any wants lists to [email protected].
Most Plymouth post 1959 but plenty of others including reserves, friendlies, Cup Finals Internationals and Club issues, handbooks and other sports.