Chapter 1: Why are football clubs moving away from printed match programmes?
Shrewsbury Town Football Club announced last month that they would stop printing their match day programme after sales became far too low to make production viable. Might seem like an inconsequential decision, but it is part of a bigger story of a decline of match programmes as a growing number of football clubs opt to go paperless.
But can a QR code or an app or a digital programme provide the same experience? To discuss this, I'm joined by football journalist Seb White and also by John Kelly, author of The GAA Covered, The History of the GAA in Match Programmes. Good morning to you both. You're very welcome. Seb, I might start with you. Shrewsbury Town, probably not a household name, but they are part of a trend.
They're not the first to get rid of their match day programme.
no no absolutely not and um i think whatford have done something similar they've done quite an innovative idea to replace it but yeah it's a it's obviously something that's always been a requirement uh in 2018 the efl decided it didn't have to be print it could be digital but we are seeing more and more clubs move towards that digital model and
And unfortunately, yeah, it's taking away one of those key cornerstones of the game.
Yeah, but I suppose programmes are becoming less and less relevant because Team News is online as soon as it's announced.
Yeah, well, that is the thing. Obviously, you can get the various news, transfer updates, all details about the club on social media, but... I think the one thing about the programme is it's in an ever-evolving world. It's that counterpoint on the Saturday. You can catch up on important stuff. If it's in print, it feels more viable, more relevant.
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Chapter 2: Can digital formats replace the traditional match day experience?
So I think I'm a bit of a traditionalist, but I do think they still have a place. And I do think that there are clubs doing different things and making programmes that actually are still relevant and an important part of that. match day experience and one that can still be relevant years later when you're looking back at it and in your hand and you're remembering those moments, those emotions.
So, yeah, I do believe that there is still a place for it. It's just it requires flexibility.
OK, and what sort of flexibility are you talking about? What sort of innovations are you talking about?
Yeah, I think you can't longer... It needs to be more of a magazine. I recently did a piece about Brentford And they've taken a long-form approach to it. So there's more longer-form interviews and it's not a regurgitation of what is in and available on social media. I think taking time, and again, obviously that costs, but I do believe a longer-form approach.
It's magazine, not just a matchday programme.
OK, but maybe fans might have to shell out a bit more for something like that, would they?
Possibly, possibly, but I do believe if you make a good product and make something that is worthwhile and it feels like it's special, which I do believe Brentford and other clubs, even the club I'm involved at in the lower league, in non-league, Hampton and Richmond, if you make something good and viable, people will purchase it.
Okay, and there is still a collector's market in these things?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's programme fairs all over the country at various football grounds week in, week out, and I think, again, as we move into an increasingly digital world, I think having something tangible is still important. And again, I grew up and got into football from looking at my dad's old matchday programmes and the programmes that I got for my first few games over the years.
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Chapter 3: What innovative approaches are clubs taking to keep match programmes relevant?
The adverts reflect what's happening in and around, you know, the businesses and things like that. So I do believe they're important. And again, being physical, it won't get lost amongst the swathes of online content over the years to come.
Absolutely. Stay with us, Seb, if you can. I want to bring in John Kelly, author of the GAA, covered the history of the GAA and match programmes. This isn't as much of an issue in GAA, is it?
No, definitely not, David. The last 10 to 15 years, I would say, would have seen a slight decrease in sales. But the Irish and the GAA match going public in particular retains a strong affinity to the printed programme. And it's still an integral part of the match day experience, particularly in the GAA, I would say.
Now, over COVID, obviously, things had to go online, things had to go digital. Did that have an effect?
Certainly it did. The seasons 2020 and 2021, obviously, sometimes with no attendances, sometimes with very much reduced attendances, meant that the programmes weren't printed, certainly in the numbers that they would have been before that.
DBA, the company that prints the programmes on behalf of the GA, introduced the online or the digital version of the programme at that stage, which has continued. I wouldn't understand how the sales of that have increased, but I think that it's still very much the physical programme that is looked for.
But for younger people in particular, they're getting their team news probably on an app or whatever. So the programme isn't quite as vital as it might have been in days gone by.
Yeah, absolutely, David. It's certainly a generational thing for people of my generation. It's the physical programme where the younger people are accessing content via their phones or devices. And as you mentioned earlier, you know, with the conduct final and the monster final this weekend, the teams will be released tonight on the social media platforms after training.
So people will have a good graphic of what the team looks like already. So it probably decreases a little bit.
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