Your collections

[dookie]

Hi all,
I still haven't been collecting for very long, though seem to have a ridiculously small collection. I think the main reason is because i am collecting only one season at the moment, so it's hard to get programmes so quickly.
My question is, a lot of you have massive collections, spanning over many years. How did your collections get so big? Did you just buy job lots? Or go to a lot of fairs etc and buy a lot at a time? Also, how many different seasons/competitions do you collect at a time?
Thanks
Tim

[Auchinleckian]

There's many different levels of collecting, with a number of significant influences bearing on how you collect
(1) Finance - some people make the mistake of thinking that spending big automatically gets you a better collection. Buy what you can afford, but let numerous people know that you're collecting programmes and you'll find that you will receive some.
(2) Availability - depending on what you're buying, collecting can be very easy (current season) to difficult (Accrington Stanley's 1961-2 season) Again, finance plays a big part in this.
(3) Space - if you've got planty of space, the sky's the limit.
(4) Advertising - adverts in newspapers are costly, but that's how I built up my collection originally. Adverts in newspaper windows, pubs, community cnetres are all well worth thinking about. It gets you known locally as a collector, and again, the programmes will come.
Best of luck.

[pastpirate]

I started in the seventies. For a couple of years I just picked one up at games I attended.Then I was given a small collection (50 odd) by someone and it sparked my interest. From then on I began to check the adds in our local evening paper and over the next few years bought about a thousand. After a while this got to the stage where each time I found I had more and more duplicates in these bulk lots so was finding it hard to fill in the gaps. Of course the club shop at Rovers was a great help and ebay has been great. There is a new way of picking up progs now. You may have heard of it. It's called "The Programme Forum" lol.
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I am not gas, I am a Pirate.

www.bristolroversmemorabilia.weebly.com The definitive list of Bristol Rovers programmes

[hydemaine]

I started collecting when I was a kid and my Grandad used to take me to Man City games one week and United games the next week (he was football mad)
Although I'm a City fan I never lost the interest in United programmes and I understand their popularity for collectors.
As an adult I've fallen really lucky and I've come across and bought relatively cheaply some fantastic collections.
I've bought off a bookseller on a market stall who didn't want the programmes he had because they weren't his 'cup of tea' I've bought from old bookshops I've got friendly with house clearance companies who put programmes my way.
Another great place to advertise is local post office windows I've had one or two items from this source and usually from older fans who dont really collect but have the programmes tucked away in in the loft.
There are many ways to find programmes other than ebay.

[matt blue]

I collect along side my father although to be honest i probably do about 99% of the searching these days.

We had quite a large collection prior to me getting started - since ive been involved ive probably tripled the size of the collection.

Recently ive been advertising in the local papers which is very cheap, i advertise on gumtree in the wanted sections but will try the post office soon

[foxes1]

Depends really what years you are looking for programmes from.I started from games I attended, then eventually scoured charity shops for job lots as well as Programme Monthly and dealers catalogues offers section.
If you are looking for post 1960 programmes, one of your best bets is a sports auction, these usually have boxes of them relating to one club and you can get them cheap, but a word of warning always view them first.

[James]

I started collecting at the first game i went to at Gillingham, they had some Spurs programmes there on the counter and i picked these up and carried on from there.

I've bought bulk lots used to visit a shop in Walthamstow run by Dave Ellis (god rest his sole) fantastic bloke, picked up loads of Spurs progs from the 60's to 80's quite cheaply, would always spend a couple of hours in there. Picked up things in the local papers for Gills collections, bargain bundles from Steve Earls catalogues.

one of the other ways i acquired a fair few programmes was when i was younger, people at my fathers work would go to various games (they all supported different teams) and they would give me the programme via my father. I've also had colleagues' give me small collections of programmes when they have been re-decorating their house.

The other thing i have done is sometimes take breaks from collecting to help raise funds for those rarer items,

I also subscribe to 5 teams home programmes each season, the advantage is that if the game is a sell out i have my copy and don't get ripped off on ebay. Also been lucky that my father used to collect programmes and has bought me a vast number over the years as well
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Maidstone/Tottenham fan

[oldbolt]

The majority of mine have been amassed over the last 30 years bought individually at the time they were printed but
I have bought a few bulk lots off carboots and people selling or giving them away on club websites in the last few years.I did get some bargain bundles off Steve Earl in the 80s but the ones not involving Bolton were thrown out by my mother when I left home.
I once put an advert in a free local newspaper saying I was interested in buying football programmes and got just one phonecall from somebody wanting to sell a signed Man Utd ball!
There was an ad from someone wanting to buy programmes and football memorabilia in the Bolton Evening News one night this week.It wouldn't have been cheap,at least £50 I would have thought to place the ad.

[Wulfrunian]

I just started by buying at the games I went to. having said that, attending games for over 50 years will get you a fair sized collection. over the last 3 - 4 years Ive started filling in the aways, and improving one or two of the homes of mine. I only buy what I can afford, and if i cant afford it I dont worry about it. Its a hobby, Its supposed to be enjoyble above anything else.
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FPC Predictor Cup Winner 2013

"You only have one life, I gave mine to the Wolves" - Stan Cullis 1916 - 2001

[PRESTON WCFC]

I Started by getting one from each game I went to. Then I started buying bulk collections of non league programmes off ebay. This was always cheaper than individual programmes. When I get a bulk lot I take what I want then put the rest on my website. The sales from there then pay for me to add to my collection. No profit for me but then I get all my programmes for FREE as the sales pay for them. I have then recently started buying bulks from auctions. I have also started to run the Worcester City programme shop that gives me first refusal on those that come in !!
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www.nonleagueprogrammes.webs.com

[dookie]

Hmm.. i might start looking for some job lots, though the only problem is that there aren't many Orient collectors, so there won't be many i'm interested in! Great idea about selling the ones you don't want to fund ones you do, will definitely have to start doing that!

[DarkBlue]

Hi all my collection mostly consists of Dundee FC programmes but I have alot of others which I have in high regard. I'm still a young pup(20) so most are recent but have alot of old Dundee and Scotland programmes I inherited from family members aswell as browsing through ebay.

[WileBrownAstle]

Whenever I go to a game I would buy a programme. But now that I go to Crewe Alex about five or six times a season I go in the programme shop and buy a few in there.
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[Senior82]

Buying bulk lots/collections is certainly a better way to go. For example, if you buy a batch of 50 programmes on ebay for £50, you could probably be able to collect them if the seller is local, or postage would be under a tenner. Now imagine buying 50 programmes seperately at £1 each. Still the same price but you'd probably pay another £50 in postage.

Just keep checking ebay and maybe ask around on any of your teams forums, see if anybody has a pile of programmes they don't want any more.

Local programme fairs are also good, just ask the dealers if they have a batch of your team, the 70's and 80's stuff they'll probably be glad to get rid of.