The main job for a match day programme is to entertain a football fan for ‘x’ amount of time before kick off. They could also be sentimental pieces if the game was important such as a programme from a final.
The majority of match day programmes have the same back cover which consists of both teams professional squad. I like the simplicity of the back cover for the Liverpool programme (top), as it is clean and easy to read; the bold capital letters also help this. Something I like with the Plymouth programme (bottom) is the creativity of using the goal post as the basis of a white block for the text to go on. The including of both teams home kits at the top is also something I’m a fan of. Something I don’t like about the Liverpool back cover is that its a bit small and could probably be a bit bigger, removing some of the empty space; this however is a minimal issue that I am nit picking. One thing that I don’t like about the Plymouth programme is the use of green and red text, I think It makes it harder to read and would have looked better in black.
The front cover of a match day programme has to be eye catching as it’s the first thing the potential buyers see. Most of the time you only see the team that the programme is for and no images of the opposing team. This however has been changed for the Plymouth 2018/19 match day programmes as they have a cartoon drawing of a Plymouth player and then on the back cover there is a cartoon drawing of the opposing team. In the Liverpool programme there is a picture of the majority of the first team squad with the best players being the biggest. I like this idea but I feel it would be hard to recreate for my own programme due to being able to get hold of good enough images of all the players. For the special edition programme (middle) they had to make it neutral as it was for 2 teams. I like the half green half blue background; both sides aren’t too overpowering which still makes it have that neutral feel which is something I like. I also like the grass at the bottom of the picture. Something else is how clear the text is throughout the front cover especially the price tag which I would like to incorporate into my programme. For the Plymouth programme (bottom) I really enjoy the graphics. The way that the image carries on from the front cover to the back is something I would like to do myself; the only concern I have is the fact that the ball doesn’t line up over both pages. I really like the idea of the border all the way around. I however don’t like the contents of the rectangle box which looks wrong. I also don’t like the black and white image of the manager in the bottom right however I do agree that something needed to go there to fill the gap.
I am a big fan of the use of white space at the top of the right page causing the text to start half way down, I think it looks very clean and am very tempted to include it in my own work. I think the image on the left hand side is a good idea however I would be inclined to add some text and turn it into a poster that readers could rip out and stick on a wall.
I like the header in this page. If I was to recreate it for a Plymouth Argyle programme I would change the colour of the lines and text to green, I would then change the name from Jurgen Klopp to Derek Adams and replace the picture to the correct manager and add a green tint. I reckon the whole layout of this page would be good for one of the articles in my programme. The font of the title is bold making it very eye catching and easy to read. The simplicity and use of white space with this page makes it look very clean.
This section of a programme is one of my favourites and has to be a must in my programme. Face to Face is a segment where a player is interviewed and asked some serious questions and also some silly questions such as “‘which of your teammates are most likely to land a role in a Hollywood movie” or “cream or jam first on your scones”. It’s good light hearted reading before a game and also makes the player shown as more fun to the readers. I’m a fan of the pictures as they all have context to the interview. Younger readers are also going to enjoy seeing their favourite players photoshopped into weird scenarios such as Gregg Wylde in a 60’s white suit dancing.
The 2 double page spreads above are from the Wembley play off final programme; this programme was twice the size of the normal. I like the fact that the colours used are the colours of the clubs. Out of the two I prefer the bottom one as the use of black and white makes the colours stand out more; plus blue and yellow are more bold. I don’t like the picture of Curtis Nelson in between the text as it looks out of place. If I was to recreate that page I would make that image the same effect as the background.
I like the idea of putting a map in my programme but at the same time it feels pointless as the only place they sell programmes is at the stadium so you don’t need to find your way once you’re there. However it could be used for finding local pubs and what part of the stadium you need to go to. This could be useful for my match day programme as Home Park isn’t in the centre of the city so it could be useful for away supporters to have a map on how to get to the city centre and back.
This concept isn’t something I’ve seen before, I like the idea of interacting with fans and giving them the opportunity to have their opinion in the next programme. I could include this in either my programme or on my website. I like the use of the different shades of green and also the pictures. It also doesn’t have to just be the fans, it could also be the players and coaches.
I like the idea of having a gallery or poster in my programme. I like the idea of having 3 smaller picture boxes. If I was to do it though think I would edit the photos instead of leaving them standard as I don’t think it would go with the overall theme of my programme.
Going back to my earlier point in making a away day guide for fans, giving them all the info they need. I could also include this on my website. The information could consist of the address, capacity, images of the away stand and views, attendances, local pubs, things to do before game and how to get to the stadium from different modes of transport.
I always see young children holding match day programmes when I go to games so I think it would be a good idea to include something for them and what better than a page of Plymouth Argyle related puzzles like in this Plymouth programme. I Like the idea of including a ‘Who Am I?’ puzzle as its something they can get the older members of their family involved in. I would have to research how to create a crossword. I Would also include a face swap which I could make on photoshop. I would also include the answers at the bottom of the page upside down.
A stats page is a common place in most match day programmes. There are many ways they are displayed and there are often several pages of stats in a singular programme. For this edition of the Plymouth programme there is quite a basic stats page showing the league table, appearances, goals and assists with some more in depth stats going down the right hand column. I like the bold green title as it looks good in the box and its a nice font that I would definitely consider using. I like the layout and text as they look clean and easy to read; I don’t like the pictures as I think they look slightly out of place and need to have a border. I do like the way of identifying who is in the picture by using a different colour of text over the players name. There are definitely some aspects of this page that I will take into consideration when it comes to creating a stats page of myself.
This is a much more eye catching and easier to consume stats page, the use of graphics will also appeal to the younger audience but not at the cost of the older audience. I like the colour of green used in this and also the including of both teams badges. I also like the header as it again looks very eye catching with the bold text and use of colour. I don’t like the overlapping badges and the two semi circle graphs.
This is a page I have seen countless times in match day programmes and football magazines. I like the use of colours in this one. I don’t like the random badges everywhere overlapping text as it makes it look out of place.
I like the simple blue and white colour scheme present here. I’m also a fan of the white badges and percentages below it. I don’t like the circle percentage section on the right hand side. I also don’t like the fact that the arrows overlap the section breakers.
I really like the graphics used on the second page here. I could see myself using this idea for my own stats page. I also like the section breakers and the bold text. I don’t like the big chunks of small text as I don’t think that should be on a stats page, there should be minimal text.
This is one of my favourite layouts for a stats page. I’m a big fan of the way they kept all the graphics white to match the theme. I think if I was to create one similar to this I would have a big image in the centre of the page surrounded by boxes, basically building the layout around the image.
This page also has the same theme as the page above. I think if I was to create one of my own I wouldn’t use this theme more than once; however I like the different box segments and Bold title and subheadings.
I’m a really big fan of this page and the simplicity of it. I like the drawings of the players and I want to include them in my own match day programmes. I don’t like the badges as I don’t feel like they are a necessary.