So what does make a 'good' programme ?

[Guest The Judge aka RED OR DEAD]

Mike Odgers has referred to Matchday progs in another thread re; good v bad ones, it made me wonder what makes a good prog ?

Im my humble opinion, a prog should have the basics of an upto date league table, future fixtures, recent match reports and of course the team/officials lists. Anything over and above that is a bonus. In the Newquay prog, we have the Managers view, Peppermints (Graham Drew) notes and my very own Wise Words. Three, sometimes differing views on whats going on at the club but a good read with your half time cuppa.

There are things I would like to add to the prog but lets' hear what you good forum users think.

[cornishteddyboy]

In my Pz Combo programme I do a piece of a couple of photos of grounds and ask people if they know where they are.

League attendances, games played, goals scored per player, etc go down a treat.

[Money Man]

Judge you are spot on with regards what should go in the programme . Afc St Austells programmme this year has all what you stated plus also this year and in colour I may add the managers report, chairmans report and presidents report all with photos, also we have a section for our successful 2nd team.

We have over 30 1/2 page adverts a credit to the efforts of Lea Cooper and James Chapman.

To Finish we have to put in the Ground rules and regulations and a free full colour page add of the league sponsors Carlsberg.

In my opinion in the Carlsberg Southwest league West the New Programme from Afc St Austell will win est programme hands down. Thank you Headland printers for all your help on this.

Thanks for your time

Money man

[Gareth Rowett]

Has the manager report been updated? It is a good programme, as are from what I've seen St Blazey, Penzance and Bodmin are also good, it's a tough task editing a programme, I did it for a couple of years when I was younger for Sticker. Well done those who take the time to put something together.

[Money Man]

Sore point young man ........ All sorted though

[Paul]

Nothing like a good program to have a quick flip through at half time. Saturdays match at Parkway was my 470th St Blazey program. Of them,a real mixed bag but some real quality ones.

St Blazeys have always ben very consistant. Glossy cover, Chairmans notes, a good read about whats happening about the club, managers notes, an update on the team and players. Always worth a read. Then you have the previous meetings page, league table, attendances (a must!!) tops scores, fixture list. Middle page has always been the two teams for the day. Then a league update, player profiles, and maybe the odd review from the 2nd team, sunday team, womens team.

Programs worth looking at in recent years have been Buckland (The best last season in my opinion), Penzance, (always a good read) Bodmin.

:thumbsup:

[DanBlazey]

Buckland's programme is by far the best, no doubt. The only thing they get wrong is the pricing; it should be £1.50 or £2.

It seems wrong to me that they produce an amazing 64-page glossy programme presumably at a loss to the club, but a big club like Falmouth can staple together 2 A4 sheets and charge the same price.

Am I wrong?

[Guest Postie Pidge]

It seems wrong to me that they produce an amazing 64-page glossy programme presumably at a loss to the club, but a big club like Falmouth can staple together 2 A4 sheets and charge the same price.

Am I wrong?

Yes you are wrong, Falmouth's is 4 A4 sheets (5 if you include the cover).

If you want to pay for, or find someone who can print a glossy cover, or who wants to advertise in it then let me know and we'll produce a better quality one.

Lack of volunteers, canvassers, skivvies whatever you wanna call them make it hard for the person(s) involved to produce one.

Falmouth's won't win any awards but it has the team line ups (unlike Clyst), the match officials, a focus on the 4 teams with fixtures and goalscorers and a mention for the East/West Divisions as well.

This will be the last time (due to space) I can include the line up for all 4 teams in every game this season across the middle page.

[DanBlazey]

Last season we were there it was 2 A4 sheets.

It wasn't a personal attack; I always enjoy my trips to Falmouth.

My point remains; that the poorer programmes shouldn't be priced the same as the better ones.

Based on St Blazey's being £1, which I think is right, I think Falmouth should charge 50p and Buckland £2.

[Guest Postie Pidge]

It was 4 A4 sheets for every game last season.

Dan, if we did 40 programmes and sold them all, at £1 we would make such a small profit you wouldn't even be able to buy a drink after the game. Some games where we don't sell them all we make a loss - that's business though. Until we get someone who wants to sponsor them, make do with what is there at the moment or don't buy one, it's that simple.

[DanBlazey]

Hi Pidge,

I have to correct you I'm afraid.

Last season's Falmouth v St Blazey programme was two A4 sheets including the cover (or cover plus A4 sheet). I have the programme with me right now!

I understand the problems you are facing and wish you all the best.

[Guest Postie Pidge]

Ah I apologise Dan, I presume you are talking about the glossy programme we had printed for free? That lasted up until Christmas

[DanBlazey]

Possibly! Ours was Boxing Day!

[Paul]

Have to agree with you Dan, I think £2 would be good value for a Buckland/Pz program. If clubs make such a big effort then they should charge that bit more. Im sure most wouldnt complain if the quality is there.

[DanBlazey]

Once again, Dan and Paul are in agreement. The other thing we agree on is the greatest team in Cornwall :D

[Midlandsman]

As a ex programme editor for over 12 years and I now tend to swop programmes about, as my wife sells them for the Autism Group, good ad there for the South western Groundhop at Easter, Please come and visit our stall 4 for £1 programmes from all over the UK! I have read loads of programmes throughout the years. I like to see a good programme but its not the end of the world, I understand the cost and the time it takes to produce one, I was lucky, I would collect sponsor a goal and that always covered the cost of the programmes that I would run off throughout the season and never made a loss. I must say that some of the programmes I have seen this seaosn are very good, Newquays is very good and Holsworthy's was excellent, both had information in that I like to read. One bear bug and you dont seem to get it down here, is where a league do a newsletter and its in every damn programme you buy for a month from every club in that league. Whether you do a 12 page programme or a 52 page programme well done to all thje programme editors, I know you can only put in it some weeks what is sent to you, nothing worse than waiting for a away sides details and they dont arrove grrrrrr

[cornish-blue]

Great Thread

must say i have seen penzance's programme's i brought it because we got a great deal to advertise in it and i wanted to see how our advert looked, it was 1 of there first games of the season and i was very impressed, and i'm sure it will only get better

far better than a couple of others i have seen.

[nabbot]

Anyone who wants a Buckland programme for a particuler match can e-mail the club address on the web site add for the attention of Paul Hardingham he will then check stock. He will then send details he requires. Cost extra £1 for postage. Also becasue they are sort after "by the hoppers" you can reserve them three days in advance of a game so your not dissapointed when you arrive and they may well have all gone, once again state clearly for the attention of Paul Hardingham, e-mail same address with your details, the gate will reserve on the day upto 45 mins before KO.

Paul Prints from 40 to 70 pending the game, obviously its imporrtant the club produce some thing worth reading for your trip back, you will also see apart from club input they now have "weekend hopper page" weekend reports from matches they go to all over the country, always makes me wonder.

Bucks also produce a monthly newsletter which at this point you will see in the club house, also availbale on Buckland jnr website located in the news items section such as the floodlight improvements, 3G jnr elite school, future building plans and latest news. Also well worth a look & Jnr website easy to find on google plus story of chairman venture to outer hebrides to watch a game with six other supporters.

cheers,

[cornishteddyboy]

How many clubs give each team and ref free copies of the match programme as a reminder of each match they play in?

[Dave S (MUFC)]

Interesting comments about programme editing! Mike Odgers will know from all my regular contact with him years and years ago that my brother & I have been programme editors at Mangotsfield United for 19 years. It's a difficult task at the best of times and I have every sympathy for people who edit club programmes on their own. Ours has always been a 2-man task and one of us couldn't do it without the other. I would therefore never criticize another club's programme in any shape of form because we know it's a lot of hard work involved.

Our programme always contains at least 3 or 4 pages about the visitors, editorial column, soccer news around the globe, a column looking back at past Mangotsfield matches, a "What the papers say" column, my own column, a tongue-in-cheek column written by a "fan on the terraces" who likes to moan about this and that, when he has to, plus all the usual line-ups, fixtures, stats, a photo or two & a general chit-chat column. That's an average type of issue for us, and we still only charge £1.50, which is cheap for the Southern League. Even so, if we sell 60 copies a game these days, we've done well. Times have changed in the programme-buying dept in my view. We don't sell as many as we used to. Some people who come into the ground just aren't interested in buying one these days, but you'll get that at most clubs.

When I was on here on Tuesday, talking about the replay programme v Truro, I was actually writing some stuff for it at that time, and lo and behold, we now have a replay! If that replay game hadn't happened, then we'd have been at home in a league game v Bishops Cleeve and most of what we would have prepared would still have gone into the next programme v BC, with everything about Truro taken out & replaced by BC info. It all takes time and for us, programme editing never really gets out of its most hectic spell (the autumn) until we finally get knocked out of all the cups and then we know exactly how many issues are left to do.

Happy days! :D

[Guest The Judge aka RED OR DEAD]

In the Newquay prog today, an announcement was made that from now on, all progs will be issued free, although I should imagine a charge for the Boxing day match prog will be made due to not knowing the numbers involved.

[Dave S (MUFC)]

Free programmes at Newquay!! Well done to your club for that gesture. That's certainly never happened at Mangotsfield before. Mind you, I was at Odd Down today for their Toolstation game v Keynsham & it was £5 admission including the programme. There is certainly no price shown on the Odd Down programme cover.

Talking of Newquay, I think the Mangos came down to you in a Vase fixture in the early 90s? I know we also went to St Blazey around the same time and lost 1-0 there.......

[Paul]

Hang on a minute......what is it with clubs giving programs away for free. Today I was at Ivybridge and they to gave us a free program. It wasnt bad either. Glossy cover, info on St Blazey, usual thoughts from a few people, stats etc. Well St Blazey fans must have had 25 programs today. And I can guarantee that everyone who went today would have paid for one. So theres £25 theve lost. Can clubs really afford to turn that down everyother week? I dont think so. And someone has had to put a fair bit of time and effort into it and their efforts arnt making a penny for the club!! Seems a poor decission in my opinion.

Thoughts anyone????

[Guest The Judge aka RED OR DEAD]

Newquays prog was only 50p. Glossy cover etc but the club felt that perhaps attracting advertisers by saying we give a free prog rather than 20-30 sold progs, more folk would see the ads and therefore feel it a better option to advertise with our club rather than perhaps another.

Unfortunately Paul, no other club in SWPL 1W has the number of travelling fans that Newquay do and therfore we do not benefit from a decent income from away supporters. I do not know if the prog will be free v G on boxing day but perhaps a 50p charge would cover the extra printing costs for such a big game in the town.

[Guest The Torpoint Editor (fingers)]

Hay you guys, don't forget me the Torpoint programme editor Robbie the fingers Morris, sure you can mention the Bucklands and Penzance's, but who came runners-up in Premier Division Last Season, with full colour 64 page programme.

[DanBlazey]

Hang on a minute......what is it with clubs giving programs away for free. Today I was at Ivybridge and they to gave us a free program. It wasnt bad either. Glossy cover, info on St Blazey, usual thoughts from a few people, stats etc. Well St Blazey fans must have had 25 programs today. And I can guarantee that everyone who went today would have paid for one. So theres £25 theve lost. Can clubs really afford to turn that down everyother week? I dont think so. And someone has had to put a fair bit of time and effort into it and their efforts arnt making a penny for the club!! Seems a poor decission in my opinion.

Thoughts anyone????

Hi Paul,

I received a message from someone "in the know" regarding the Ivybridge situation. Apparently it's to do with Ivybridge playing in a public park and therefore making it very difficult to legally charge admission to the ground.

The way of getting around this is therefore by getting spectators to pay "admission by programme". Effectively, you paid £4 for the proggie but watched the match for free!!

DB

[cornishbaggie]

Playing in a public park...................

Are you slagging ivybridge Dan ? :D

[urby]

Does that mean if I don't want a programme I can get in for free ?

Hay you guys, don't forget me the Torpoint programme editor Robbie the fingers Morris, sure you can mention the Bucklands and Penzance's, but who came runners-up in Premier Division Last Season, with full colour 64 page programme.

Cant be Buckland they came third :P

[DanBlazey]

Urby - theoretically, yes. Although why anyone would want to avoid paying at this level when we know how hard it is to keep clubs afloat, I don't know.