Match day programmes were once an essential item for football supporters
Match-day programmes were once the essential item for football supporters, for some they still are.
But, for anyone involved in the semi-professional game though, it can be the bane of their lives.
By league rules, clubs have no choice, they have to publish one, but many club officials will be able to testify that the position of programme editor can be the hardest to fill. There are some fantastic programme editors across the region who produce excellent publications. However, other clubs struggle to match the quality, simply because the person responsible has to do multiple jobs because of a lack of volunteers. Are programmes worth the time and effort? In some cases, yes.
How many shall we print is a regular question and clubs are dammed either way. Predicting crowds is a difficult task. Clubs are condemned if they print 50, but 70 people want them and they quickly sell out. If they think 50 is sufficient, but only ten people buy one, the club is left to pick the cost and are stuck with a box of unsold programmes. Numerous club shops across the region prove that hundreds of programmes don’t get sold every season. If just ten people read a particular copy, was the effort of putting it together worth it? These are real issues for clubs at the bottom end of the spectrum.
Cost is also a major issue, whether the programme is professionally printed or a DIY publication, because making a profit on programmes is difficult. Even if the programme is homemade there are still paper and ink cartridge costs. Clubs do sell advertising space to pay for some of the cost, but not all are successful in covering the shortfall.
If there is a need for a printed publication then maybe a monthly magazine by every club – instead of a programme – would serve a better purpose as it could be used as commercial advertising tool. Allowing clubs to do this would not be unprecedented either. A few years ago, the Evo Stik League made the extraordinary decision to allow Radcliffe Borough to produce a monthly magazine instead of a match-day programme.
Alternatively and more radically, producing an online programme would eradicate printing costs, and enable clubs to keep selling advertising space. Although they still have to print hard copies, a few clubs do publish their programmes online to great success.
Programmes of old, certainly in Non League, were a key source of information for supporters. Times have changed and that necessity is more-or-less gone because of the advent of the Internet and Social Media. Supporters find out who has signed for their club either from the respective official website, Facebook or Twitter.
Most spectators at the lower steps are more bothered about the names of the players turning out. What the vast majority, certainly in the Evo Stik and NCEL, actually want is a team-sheet, not a programme. Secretaries are regularly harassed for team sheets, regardless of whether the line-ups are on Twitter or not.
Surely printing team-sheets could be made a league requirement in the Evo Stik and NCEL, with publishing a programme being made optional. Some clubs would welcome this kind of opportunity.
Over recent years I have tried three or four times to find someone to take over our programme and three times different people have shown an interest but asked “How much do you get paid” totally agree extremely hard to find a volunteer to take on the roll of programme editor, I get very frustrated at times with ours setting deadlines for contributions but not getting them til hours after. A lot of late nights isn’t good when your up at 4:30 to do your day shift its definitely like having another job, but I suppose a lot of satisfaction when I see the finished programme and it’s always nice to receive positive feedback.
Yes it is a horrible responsibility. Surely no need certainly at NCEL LEVEL. Come on league officials. Let us take the plunge and scrap them or make them an option and NOT a reqirement. A team sheet printed 30 mins before KO is all that is needed. It cost our club nearly £800 last season. A massive loss to us.
Programmes can still be a money maker as well as a nuisance.
Yes it’s a hard job, and perhaps shouldn’t be a necessity, but I feel that it is a service that a club should do their very best to provide.
Just a couple of notes;
1. Radcliffe borough are to produce an individual match day programme next season again (a monthly one is a waste of time and spectators money as content is even more outdated)
2. I find it hard to believe that a single club has lost £800 on programme costs unless there has been very unfortunate circumstances or bad management
It is a big demand at any level. But as mentioned above it can be a very much money making way. Here is how.
At Nantwich Web produce a 28 match day programme costing £2 and printed in house. The printing equipment is paid for by a local stationary firm which has its logo on the front cover.
The club use to print external but yes was expensive the only time now we printed out of house was for the FA Trophy semi final which was an extra pounds for nearly double the amount.
A match day programme is a key experience of the match day experience.
You won’t get visited by any groundhoppers if you don’t print a programme. So then you’ve lost their admission money and possibly raffle/refreshments too.
When I get to a game and there is no team sheet I feel like going home!
TEAM SHEETS PLEASE!
The only reason leagues insist is because you have to include ads for their sponsors, but the percentage of supporters who buy a programme continued to diminish.
I passed the job on a couple of years ago because although our programme won awards (having taken hours of unpaid labour to produce) people didn’t buy. We’ve tried cutting the price, to no avail.
We also do team sheets which people do want but we only give them free to people who have bought a prog. But it’s a mountain of a job with virtually no profit for the club at the end of it, in other words programme production simply isn’t cost effective for the amount of time and energy expended.
That is all that is needed Dean
Robert. I got mixed up. We had to have them printed externally . It cost about £600. To do that. It was colour but basic. 25 per game. After officials got one each and one for club then 20 to sell. Sometimes we sold 5 sometimes 10 so we lost out. A team sheet would be cheaper and the £600 could be used to better use.
I contributed to ours last season and at the presentation night i appear to have accepted sole responsibility to do it… for some reason 🙂
Addendum: Team sheet, and on the back print the league table, home club’s fixtures and away penpics. That’s all we need!
As someone who enjoys groundhopping it does not bother me if a programme is issued or not. If there is one, then I will buy one, but whether I visit or not would not and does not depend on a programme being issued.
I do know how time consuming it takes to put one together, as I did it myself for Oadby Town for three years around the turn of the century.