The demise of the matchday programme: talkSPORT study shows 13 clubs across English game have ditched one of football’s great traditions – and more are set to follow

A pie, a pint and programme was always traditional fare for any fan attending a football match, but some clubs have ditched the match programme altogether.

Rising print costs and a lack of demand at some clubs has seen an end to this football must. 

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While special editions such as Arsenal's farewell to Arsene Wenger sold 100,000 copies, many fans are turning their backs on printed editions, with most clubs reporting that just 10-20% of their attendance now buy them on a matchday.  

A talkSPORT investigation has revealed that 21% of Championship clubs no longer produce printed matchday programmes.

Blackburn Rovers, Millwall and Reading have stopped altogether, while Bristol City and Swansea City offer digital only versions.

Across English football, 13 clubs no longer sell printed programmes. As well as Blackburn, Millwall and Reading, Fleetwood Town, Forest Green Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers, Bradford City and Mansfield Town have all ceased production.

Crewe Alexandra now produces a monthly magazine instead, while Stevenage and Reading Women offer online options only alongside Swansea and Bristol City.

That means 12.5% of the 104 clubs across the Premier League, EFL and Women’s Super League no longer sell printed copies.

The news comes after EFL clubs voted to scrap rules making it compulsory for sides to produce matchday programmes in 2018.

A lack of demand has been cited as one of the main reasons why some teams have pulled the plug on this important tradition according to club sources, alongside the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ben Donovan, Head of Media and Communications at Swansea, explains: “2011/12 was our first season in the Premier League and from that season right through to the 1920 season I think, every single year our physical programme sales dropped year on year.

“It started off at about one in four people attending a game at the stadium would buy a programme but that dropped to a figure around one in six or one in seven. So, we just didn’t feel like it was a commercially viable product for us anymore.

“We just thought it was the best decision to move everything away from that and go fully digital because we felt there was more opportunity and we were able to deliver a far better product.”

Another issue has been rising print costs and Arsenal’s Managing Editor of Publications, Andy Exley, revealed that significant price increases have left clubs in a difficult position.

Exley said: “We’ve been really hit by what’s happened in the print industry. Over the many years I’ve done this, we’ve looked at our costs and what we’re going to produce for the programme each season and the costs have remained remarkably similar. We are literally talking a 1% increase year on year.

“But in the last year, the print industry has been hit so hard. It’s been a perfect storm of massive energy costs [and a] massive increase in paper costs. I know the printers have been quoted increase in paper costs literally by the month. I know Brexit hasn’t helped at all in the situation.

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“So, we then went from an annual 1% increase potentially in print costs to around a 40% increase for everyone now in one hit. So, you, therefore, suddenly had a situation where your sales are edging down and your costs have gone up by 40%.

“At Arsenal, for the first time in eight or nine years, the programmes have gone up from £3.50 to £4. We hate putting the price of the programme up, but sadly, everyone has seen the price of everything go up. But that has allowed us to keep the programme at the same size.”

However, despite programmes no longer being as profitable, most teams still view them as a key part of the matchday experience.  

Mark Denham, Head of Communications at Cardiff City, said: “What they are is one of the few remaining tangible mementos from a matchday that somebody can take home with them.

“Digital media is so throwaway. Nobody talks to their grandkids about a tweet they saw 20 years ago, but they’ll show them their first ever matchday programme and that can’t be ignored.

“I can still smell the hot dogs and the stale beer from when I first started coming to Ninian Park in the mid-90s, and I’ve still got all those programmes from the 95/96 season and my first scarf. If you start taking these things away and it just becomes about a digital ticket and looking at your highlights on whatever media package you’re looking at, those memories fade quicker.

“The matchday programme perfectly encapsulates what making memories is about as a football fan and you will take that through your life. It’s one of those things we really must protect.

“My concern would be if clubs stopped making a printed matchday programme, it won’t come back. I think it will be too difficult to get through to the decision makers financially to bring it back if you let it slip. It could just fade into oblivion in football.

“It will be a sad day if it does. It's not something you can easily replace and I do think we have to give it life blood over these next few years as clubs and governing bodies otherwise it will just slip away sadly.”

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Critical league matches, FA Cup ties, European fixtures or local derbies tend to lead to a rise in demand.

Sales are also strong on the first match of the season or for the first home game for a new manager and for Rick Everitt - a prominent Charlton supporter who worked as the club's communications director and was the founder and long-time editor of the Voice of the Valley fanzine - programmes are a perfect method for clubs to communicate with fans.

He said: “I think that it’s so important that the club has a voice and I think the fans look to that to see what the club are saying and what’s going on.

“They should want to produce the programme as an expression of what the club is about and what’s going on because they know fans still want it. There is a future for clubs who do their programme well and who put an effort into it.

“That rule change was a weak move by the EFL and I don’t really respect or welcome it. Too often in clubs, the people who make the decisions are not people who actually understand communications or understand how the fans experience the match. It’s a sad state of affairs really.”

Special editions are also popular among supporters. Sheffield Wednesday, for example, commissioned a reprint for the first time in their history for their match against Ipswich Town after producing a unique copy to remember Her Majesty the Queen.  

Swindon Town also had huge demand for the one-off programme they produced to honour the Queen and their Head of Media, Dave Wrixton, believes special editions have real collectability.

“As well as attending the game itself and being able to join in with the minute’s silence and actually embrace the activities we had on to pay our respects, I think the programme gave fans the opportunity to take something home with them that they can look at in years to come,” he said.

“It was almost a collector’s item in a way because if you were to collect every single programme from us during the season, they would all be red and there would be one black one that stands out in the collection that I think really pays homage to such a really poignant time.”

However, there is a real drop in demand at midweek fixtures, with some clubs telling talkSPORT that demand can be down by 30% or 40%. This is largely due to fewer people attending matches due to work or school or a change in matchday routine.

Women’s football programmes, however, are bucking the trend following this summer’s European Championship according to Arsenal’s Managing Editor, Exley.

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He finished: “[Demand] has increased significantly. Now the crowds have gone up, we’re actually making a profit on the women’s programme.

“We’re selling a significant amount at Boreham Wood. When we come to the Emirates games, for the Tottenham game, we printed 15,000 programmes, which for a women’s game [is unheard of]. I don’t think we’ve ever printed more than 7,000-8,000 ever.”