Programme Reviews

Key

PP = Total Pages

Net = Total Pages Less Adverts

P = Perfect Bound

S = Stapled

 

Programmes marked with an asterisk (*) next to the number of pages also included the 16 page ‘League Football’ supplement.

 

Arsenal (v Manchester City 24/08/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 15.5 net / S)

 

Birmingham City (v Ipswich Town 28/12/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 13 net / S)

 

Burnley (v Luton Town 18/01/75)

£0.10 (20 pp / 14.5 net / S)

 

Carlisle United (v Birmingham City 21/09/74)

£0.07 (24 pp / 14.5 net / S)

Carlisle’s programme for their only top-flight season to date was a 24-page effort. The programme contained a significant amount of advertising content – indeed, more than any other issue in Division One that season – which meant a limited amount of reading material was included.

The programme opened with ‘Viewpoint’, written by journalist Ivor Broadis who reflected on Brian Clough’s recent departure from Leeds United after just 44 days and drawing a contrast between that appointment and Liverpool’s promotion of Bob Paisley to manager following the retirement of Bill Shankly. ‘Club Chatter’ meanwhile reflected on attendances at Brunton Park in the early part of the season, as well as recent fortunes on the pitch.

Coverage of visitors Birmingham City is provided over five pages, kicking off with a decent opening article that focuses on recent transfer activity, as well as providing the briefest of club histories. There is a full-page team group picture and an article on Blues’ striker Bob Hatton, who was returning to Brunton Park after two and a half years with Carlisle between 1969 and 1971. The centre pages of the programme are then given over to profiles of the Birmingham squad, including pictures of Trevor Francis and Gordon Taylor.

The programme also includes a page of results and fixtures for Carlisle and a Division One results grid. There are pictures of previous matches and snippets from newspaper coverage of those games in ‘What the Papers Say’. The Supporters Club are given a page towards the back of the programme and a league table shows Carlisle sitting in ninth position, though they would drop to last place by the end of the season.

A somewhat limited effort then from Carlisle, although the detailed coverage of their matchday opponents was certainly among the better examples in the division.

 

Chelsea (v Arsenal 14/09/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 13.5 net / S)

 

Coventry City (v Sheffield United 28/03/75)

£0.10 (16 pp / 12 net / S)

 

Derby County (v Leeds United 08/02/75)

£0.10 (16 pp / 10.5 net / S)

 

Everton (v West Ham United 15/10/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 14 net / S)

 

Ipswich Town (v Tottenham Hotspur 14/12/74)

£0.10 (16 pp * / 11 net / S)

 

Leeds United (v Liverpool 05/04/75)

£0.12 (24 pp / 15 net / S)

 

Leicester City (v Chelsea 01/02/75)

£0.10 (20 pp / 12 net / S)

 

Liverpool (v Wolverhampton Wanderers 27/08/74)

£0.07 (16 pp * / 13.5 net / S)

 

Luton Town (v Carlisle United 28/09/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 13.5 net / S)

 

Manchester City (v Middlesbrough 28/03/75)

£0.10 (24 pp / 18 net / S)

 

Middlesbrough (v Queens Park Rangers 23/11/74)

£0.10 (20 pp / 14.5 net / S)

 

Newcastle United (v Stoke City 12/10/74)

£0.10 (24 pp / 21.5 net / S)

Newcastle United’s programme for the 1974/75 season contained more pages of content than any other in Division One, with only two and a half of the issue’s twenty-four pages take up by adverts.

The best article in the programme came in the form of ‘The Untouchables’ – a series by Ronald Crowther of the Daily Mail, which in this issue featured the great Tommy Lawton. The author noted Lawton’s achievement of twice having scored four goals in a game for England but also the fact that he struggled financially, with former teammate Joe Mercer commenting “it wasn’t as though Tommy squandered his money. He never had it”.

Black ‘N’ White Comment, written by John Gibson of the Evening Chronicle, was a detailed introductory article that reviewed Newcastle’s recent results, noting the first team’s unbeaten run of nine games in all competitions and that the club’s reserve team were on a run of seven successive victories. The article also looked forward to the day’s fixture against Stoke City, noting the quality of the opposition and their recent signings Alan Hudson from Chelsea and Geoff Salmons from Sheffield United, (the latter of whom scored on the day).

The Stoke squad was profiled in greater detail across two pages that included player biographies alongside a picture of the Potters’ striker Jimmy Greenhoff. The programme also included a full-page team group picture and ‘All About Stoke’, which gave the club’s key achievements and honours.

The Newcastle United Supporter’s Club had a column, which in this issue contained arrangements for the forthcoming trip to Birmingham City, with a place on one of the coaches to the game costing £1.75! There were league tables for the first team and reserves, a profile of the match referee John Goggins, and ‘Scene One’, which featured news from around the top-flight. ‘Looking Back on Post-War United’ meanwhile was a statistical look back at Newcastle’s history, here focusing on the 1953/54 season.

The issue featured a lot of photographic content, including a picture from a recent Texaco Cup fixture against Aberdeen that showed Magpies’ forward John Tudor in action. The centre pages of the programme contained further pictures from that cup fixture, while forward Malcom MacDonald was the subject of another full-page picture.

One of the better programmes of its time, the Newcastle issue contained a good mix of well-written features and action photography. The programme may not have had the colour imagery that some clubs had begun to include in their matchday publications, but this was nonetheless a quality effort from the Magpies.

 

Queens Park Rangers (v Leicester City 26/12/74)

£0.10 (20 pp / 20 net / S)

 

Sheffield United (v Everton 12/10/74)

£0.10 (24 pp / 18.5 net / S)

 

Stoke City (v Coventry City 14/09/74)

£0.10 (16 pp / 10 net / S)

 

Tottenham Hotspur (v Newcastle United 07/12/74)

£0.07 (16 pp / 14.5 net / S)

The Spurs issue for 1974/75 remained very similar to previous year’s efforts, being a 16-page programme with limited advertising content. The issue had changed little in the preceding decade, which was perhaps reflected in the 7p cover price, which was less than all but three other Division One clubs that season.

The front cover had a simple design, featuring the match details and a picture of the cockerel that could be seen at White Hart Lane and on the club’s badge. The inside cover of the issue featured action pictures from Spurs’ recent match against Birmingham City, while there were also images from a trip to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United. An introductory article looked back at recent results, with the team plagued by inconsistency, sitting in 16^th place ahead of the fixture against Newcastle United. The visitors were covered across two pages, with a team group picture and notes on the club’s players and the manager Joe Harvey. The programme also included Newcastle’s record for the season to date and details of past match ups between the Geordies and Spurs.

The match line-ups were included as part of the centre pages of the programme, along with a profile of referee Arthur Jones. The issue also featured a page of club news, a ‘Roll-Call’ of appearance and scorer details for the club’s first team, reserves, and youth team. There was also a picture of Alan Gilzean finding the net against Red Star Belgrade in the players’ testimonial match the previous week. ‘Flashback’ looked at events that had taken place 10 and 20 years previously, while the first team’s results and fixtures were included on the inside back cover, with tables for each of the club’s teams on the back page.

The Tottenham programme suffered by comparison with the better top-flight issues due to its lack of reading material. Whilst the programme served its purpose in acting as a store of club information and records, the lack of additional material was marked given the advances made by many other clubs.

 

West Ham United (v Derby County 05/10/74)

£0.07 (20 pp / 19.5 net / S)

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers (v Burnley 14/12/74)

£0.10 (24 pp / 19 net / S)