The Independent Voice of Ilkeston Football
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Offline - Registered: 14/6/2019
- Posts: 1,080
Death of the matchday programme
Not sure if other clubs have done it but Bradford City have just announced that they are axing their matchday programme.
"As from Saturday’s home friendly against Derby, the programme will be no more after the club reluctantly pulled the plug. Buying a matchday programme is a long-standing tradition in the English game, but in a more digitally-minded era with the rise of social media and online content, we feel as a club it is no longer efficient for us to continue producing a matchday programme."
- Matchman
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- Registered: 26/2/2016
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Re: Death of the matchday programme
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A lot of clubs at our level lose money on programmes. Many now only do online programmes to avoid the printing costs.
I think it's only a matter of time before producing a matchday programme becomes optional rather than mandatory.
A lot of time and effort go into producing a matchday programme and only a small percentage of people attending matches buy one.
Last edited by Matchman (08/7/2022 5:57 AM)
- Matchman
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- Posts: 13,866
Re: Death of the matchday programme
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Maybe team sheets should be mandatory. I've been to some grounds where they're sold for 10p or 20p.
- Trowell Nicky
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- Registered: 19/12/2019
- Posts: 367
Re: Death of the matchday programme
A teamsheet's all I want at a game - who's in our team and squad and who's playing for the opposition.
- WhiteBallProject
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- Posts: 4,432
Re: Death of the matchday programme
As an ex programme editor myself I find it sad to see what is happening to match day programmes. However I realise that in todays world they can only lose money. Clubs cut costs and sometimes the quality suffers and then fans don't buy them and then clubs make losses. At Ilkeston Town from 2017 to 2021 I had complete free reign on the programme as editor which was great but I spent at least ten hours every match working on the programme as a volunteer. Professional designers would charge at least £25 an hour to produce a programme, so you could say I saved the club £250 every programme or £5000 every season. Thats nearly £20,000 over four seasons. We were lucky at Ilkeston that I had Duncan Payne contributing from the Supporters, John Attewell writing match reports, Craig Lamont taking photographs, Wayne Morledge writing a column and Mark Frost contributing for the Juniors all for little or no cost to the club. We also had an excellent local printer in Moorleys .
The only way I could see a programme being viable is if a local company sponsored the programme solely and had a monopoly on all the advertising within it. Probably a couple of grand would cover all losses for a year!
- plymrob
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- Registered: 26/5/2022
- Posts: 93
Re: Death of the matchday programme
When I go to a game I want a programme... I'm not a regular, but have a great eclectic collection of teams and games from the past... Mostly Ilkeston, then Cheltenham.... but I also have my late brother's programmes... Chelt from the mid 1960s and swapping programmes at school... (mostlty SW) - and a 1966 World Cup overview programme. These are important to some... but clearly less precious to others.
I'll sign up for a keep the programme alive campaign... Physical copy is there; digital copy is lost....
That said - any takers for my Il'son programmes from the 'old' Manor Goriund to the 'new'...? I doubt my DCFC supporting son will object (too much) to a good home offered; but needs to be agreed before I pop my clogs..(because I cling on to stuff)....