Football programmes are under threat — and we want YOU to help us save them
The EFL is to rule on the future of football programmes next month - we need you to sign the petition to save them
FOOTBALL programmes are under threat – and we want YOU to help us save them.
After 120 years of being sold on matchdays, the English Football League (EFL) will next month rule on whether to continue making it mandatory for clubs to sell them at every game.
Critics say social media has made the 600,000 mags snapped up across the country every week outdated, while rising production costs mean they are becoming a financial burden for lower-league clubs.
But for millions of fans, the programme is etched into the fabric of football as much as a half-time pie.
So today The Sun on Sunday is calling on our readers to back our campaign to Save Our Programmes.
Join in by emailing us or filling in the form on the right, calling on the EFL to keep programmes an essential part of matchdays.
SIGN THE PETITION
BACK our campaign by signing , which we will pass on to EFL bosses.
'I call on the English Football League to save our programmes by continuing to make it mandatory for clubs to produce and sell them for every game.'
- Signed
- Name
- Address
- Phone no
Post this to Save Our Programmes, The Sun on Sunday, Features Dept, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF. Or email us at
Last night, Arsenal fan and Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan backed our campaign.
Piers, 53, said: “I’ve got hundreds of Arsenal programmes stashed away, many stained by tea, mustard, rain or the grime of a terrace where I hurled it after a defeat.
“Each one has its own unique memories, though often the hope in their optimism-charged pages can bring back very distressing ones.
“I can’t look at the 1991 FA Cup semi-final one without wanting to cry at the thought of Gazza’s 35-yard screamer breaking Gooner hearts.
“But there are happy ones, too. The programme from when Arsenal beat Leicester to become The Invincibles in 2004 brings back particularly poignant memories.”
Of the 72 football league clubs from the second-tier Championship down, 55 have vowed to continue printing, with 17 still undecided.
Piers added: “I encourage my sons to keep theirs because they’re pieces of history, and a good investment.”
Some programmes have become so rare that enthusiasts splash out thousands of pounds for them.
A copy of the 1901 FA Cup final programme sold for £19,000 at auction in 2014.
COLLECTOR'S ITEMS
YOU won’t quite need Man City’s riches but these rare programmes will still set you back a few quid . . .
World Cup Final ’66: England v W Germany
FA Cup 4th Round ’58: Man Utd v Ipswich
FA Cup Final ’23: Bolton v West Ham
Champions League Final ’99: Man Utd v Bayern Munich
Taxi driver Frank Jones, 46, from Worthing, West Sussex, started collecting them 15 years ago and now runs the dealership Old Football Programmes.
He said: “They are an integral part of football. I can’t imagine going to a game without one.
“Fans will be devastated. There’ll be an uprising.”
Football programmes were never intended to be great works of literature and the need to churn out quotes from footballers every week produced some hilarious moments.
How else would we know that Seventies Chelsea midfielder Steve Kember would “bring back hanging” if he was Prime Minister for a day?
There was also the anonymous Chesterfield player who was asked what his pet hate was. He replied: “I don’t have a pet.”
Charlton’s Derek Hales was not impressed by the questions posed to him in 1979. Asked to name his favourite player he said: “None.”
Programmes used to cost a penny and could just be a single sheet of salmon-coloured paper. Today, EFL teams charge as much as £3.50.
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Derby produced one the size of a newspaper in the Seventies, while West Ham’s was once so small it could fit in a supporter’s pocket.
Football writer and Arsenal fan Brian Glanville, 86, said: “I’ve been collecting them since I was a child.
“They are slices of history and it’d be an absolute travesty if they were no longer part of the game.”