Football Programmes Centre

tackler7 · Joined: 26 May 2011 Posts: 256

I am trying to pin point a period when programmes changed from the nice thin easy to store item to the bulky tomes of today.

Was it a gradual shift?

Who were the first club to regularly produce a bulky programme?

Can we link the change to any specific event - i.e start of the Premier League etc.

Goonerak · Joined: 01 Oct 2011 Posts: 186

Late 80s / early 90s when they started to compete with the fanzines.

holtie96 · Joined: 30 May 2009 Posts: 2309

The football league review didn't help in the 70s
Also the FA cup final programme in the mid 1980s can't have helped
That is my Penneth worth

Tynie Topics · Joined: 26 Nov 2009 Posts: 3509

I would say perfect binding has a lot to do with it, without the restriction of how many pages can be stapled together.
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sharrowblade · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:21 pm Post subject:

Derby County have a lot to answer for with those bloody newspapers.

Mad

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A Sheffield United Programme guide

smk06 · Joined: 25 Nov 2008 Posts: 455 Location: North of Leeds

You got your money's worth though - you ever tried reading one?!

Mtbhull · Joined: 11 Dec 2014 Posts: 64

Yes bulky programmes are a pain to store if they are stapled. Perfect binding on the other hand does enable you to store end on really well and identify a programme easily. I do wonder though what perfect bound programmes will look like after 50 or 60 years - loose leaf would be my guess - does anyone know the life of a perfect bound magazine?

Newspapers were a real pain - the first example is have is from Maxwell's time at Oxford - was he responsible for other clubs taking it up?

stingray · Joined: 14 May 2011 Posts: 60

Oldham did it for two years from 1966 to 1968.

Derby followed suit from 1971 to 1983 with a brief return to normality at the start of 1979/80.

Others (mostly in the mid/late 70s) included Blackpool, Northampton, Rochdale, Rotherham, Shrewsbury and Tranmere. Needless to say, they didn't last long.

botanybaykid · Joined: 06 May 2009 Posts: 292

Don't forget Notts.County

Grumpypants · Joined: 09 Feb 2012 Posts: 473

And Plymouth Argyle.

chelseachris · Joined: 01 Mar 2011 Posts: 74

Huddersfield had a newspaper programme last season.

derby1884 · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 8:05 pm Post subject:

sharrowblade wrote:

Derby County have a lot to answer for with those bloody newspapers.

Mad

I loved "The Ram"

Harry Brown was a terrific editor who more often than not wouldn't tow the party line - accordingly, it was usually a cracking read.

Season 97/8 was when our programme suddenly became "bulky". Quite late in the day compared to others, I'd think.
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Karb · Joined: 21 Jan 2015 Posts: 462

Did Preston produce a newspaper style programme at one time, or did I just imagine that?

Back to the original question, I use box files to store my programmes, and looking at my storage, its not an exact science by any means as there will be different numbers of games in each season but:
1968-69 was the first season that I couldn't fit more than one season's programmes into a regular sized box file
1988-89 was the first time I needed two regular sized box files for a season (one for homes and the other for aways)
In 2002-03 I had to start using large box files
2012-13 was the first season that I needed three large box files for one seasons programmes

derby1884 · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2015 9:10 pm Post subject:

Not quite a newspaper-style issue from Preston - but it was a large A4 issue on "rougher" paper.
Is this the one you're thinking of?

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Dorking · Joined: 05 Feb 2010 Posts: 2420

Preston did a newspaper programme (like Derby did) for at least one season

tackler7 · Joined: 26 May 2011 Posts: 256

I don't include newspaper formats in my definition of 'bulky'. They may be a pain to store (I know another hobby is collecting newspapers first and last issues) but they are not bulky in the general sense.

bigearl79 · Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 440

York City programmes circa early 80's. That's what we need more of lol.

pompeypete · Forum Moderator Joined: 17 Sep 2009 Posts: 1095

tackler7 wrote:

I don't include newspaper formats in my definition of 'bulky'. They may be a pain to store (I know another hobby is collecting newspapers first and last issues) but they are not bulky in the general sense.

I would say about 2005, when I stopped buying away programmes.

It was almost the norm for a programme to be 100 pages !!!!!

Impossible to store, all different shapes & sizes.
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CarlisleUtdMem · Joined: 20 Apr 2009 Posts: 359

2001 onwards I would say
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Grumpypants · Joined: 09 Feb 2012 Posts: 473

I think the programmes became bulky in 1985 after the FA Cup Final between Everton v Manchester United.