Are paper football programmes on their way out?

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The match-day programme is a must for many football fans when going to watch a game.

Paul Matz, editor of Programme Monthly, admits that some people are wondering if paper programmes are going to be a thing of the past.

The days of the printed programme are numbered if professional clubs do not see the potential of it.

Football has seen changes as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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With fans not being able to attend games, sales of match-day programmes fell sharply. Only a small number of supporters made the effort to arrange for them to be sent out in the post.

In the past, clubs have had to destroy thousands of copies of programmes after games were canceled due to a coronaviruses outbreak.

A growing number of teams in England and Scotland have stopped producing physical programmes. Five teams from the Championship and one from the Scottish Premiership are included.

The matchday programme for Derby and Hibs has been moved to an online version.

The days of printed programmes being the only way to communicate with fans are long gone, according to Mr Matz. Digital world teams now have websites, numerous social media accounts, and even their own TV stations.

Image source, Paul Matz

He points out that the majority of clubs still sell physical programmes.

The English Football League could stop selling physical programmes after a ruling ended their obligation to do so.

From the start of the current season, the club went digital only. The previous two seasons were transitional, with the Welsh club introducing a digital programme, but also physical copies for those supporters wishing to buy them.

Fans can download the digital programme for free from the club website. Supporters club members receive it by email.

Image source, Swansea City AFC

The club says going digital offers all the elements provided by a printed programme, plus the ability to link to highlights clips and other video.

A club spokesman says that it also removes printing costs and that there is no need to discard printed programmes if a game is not played.

He says that the move to a digital programme was due to a decline in printed sales and income over the past decade. In the first season of the premier league, sales went up.

With most things being online now, we felt that it was the right move for us as a club, and we have plans to improve our digital offering even further next season and strive to give our supporters as much quality content as possible.

At the end of the current season, fans will be able to buy a complete physical set of the home programmes from 2021.

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People still want a printed programme, it is our staple bread and butter, according to David Cottrell, programme editor for the club.

When the team is doing well,Programmes are still popular and more so when we see big increases in sales.

People want something they can hold, touch, flick through at a big historic event. You might not get that feeling on the internet or on a phone.

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Mr Cottrell says that the historical content found in many programmes nowadays, as well as longer-form interviews, work better in print.

According to Reach Sports, the print numbers for visiting teams vary according to the opposition, with more produced for Manchester United than for any other team.

Image source, David Cottrell

The sell-out programme for the last home match of the championship-winning season, against Chelsea, and the mural-style cover for the Barcelona semi-final, were two of the most memorable programmes from recent years. Initially, the latter sold 60,000 and had a second print run.

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The printed football programme may be more secure at the non-league levels of the game.

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The marketing manager of Hanwell Town for the past two years is Elsa Jones.

She is responsible for overseeing a paper programme for every game, as well as producing a digital presence on social media.

Depending on away support, the programme print run varies from 75 to 100.

If we sell out nine out of ten times, we will have a maximum of five remaining programmes.

Image source, Bill Wilson

There is talk of a move towards a digital programme, and they are becoming more popular. If you are going to produce the programme, why not print it?

She says that the programme promoting Hanwell Town brings in a valuable source of revenue through advertising.

The club had four home games postponed in the winter of 2021-22 because of paper programmes. The club was left with unused printed programmes from those games.

We cannot afford to throw them in the bin and print new programmes, so we put an updated insert sheet in and put a sticker on the old one.

Mr Matz says he is positive about the future of printed programmes.