Programme Reviews

Key

PP = Total Pages

Net = Total Pages Less Adverts

P = Perfect Bound

S = Stapled

 

Arsenal (v West Ham United 08/11/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 20 net / S)

 

Aston Villa (v Norwich City 20/09/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 20.5 net / S)

 

Charlton Athletic (v Arsenal 01/11/86)

£0.70 (24 pp / 16.5 net / S)

The 1986/87 season marked Charlton’s first in the top-flight for nearly 30 years. They issued a 24-page programme, which contained 16.5 pages of content. Although only Leicester City and Newcastle United provided fewer pages than this, there was still room for some interesting reading in the Charlton issue.

The programme opened with ‘Scene One Take One’, which commented on the unpredictable nature of the first few months of the season, with Norwich City and Wimbledon both having topped the table, whilst Liverpool had fallen to a 4-1 defeat at Luton Town. Charlton had made a decent start themselves, having won at four of the previous season’s top six clubs. Manager Lennie Lawrence’s column previewed the day’s fixture against Arsenal, noting that both teams were on a run of six straight wins. The ‘News and Views’ page meanwhile featured a picture of midfielder Robert Lee with his first England Under-21 cap, won in Italy the previous season. The news page also noted that Charlton’s recent win at West Ham was the club’s 1000^th victory in all competitions. That victory at Upton Park included a goal from Jim Melrose after just nine seconds of play, and the goal was featured across several video stills.

‘Off the Park’ profiled Charlton’s Alan Curbishley (who would of course go on to manage the club) who was making his way back to fitness following six months out injured. There was also a column from club captain Mark Aizlewood, while the centre-pages of the programme featured pictures from Charlton’s midweek win at Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup. ‘Reds in Reserve’ contained basic notes on the club’s reserve and youth teams, and there was a two-page statistics section featuring results and tables for each of Charlton’s teams. There were also two pages on visitors Arsenal, which featured a short introduction together with brief biographies of the club’s players and a team group picture.

The best feature in the programme was ‘Flashback’, which opened with a look at the attendances achieved by Charlton when Arsenal were the visitors. The Highbury club were described in the column as “always the star attraction in our calendar” given the historic connection of the Gunners to Woolwich. The article recalls the first meeting of Charlton and Arsenal at The Valley, which was won 2-0 by the North London club with goals from Ray Bowden and Denis Compton. Further meetings between the two clubs were also covered, including a famous 5-2 win for Charlton at Highbury during the 1950/51 season.

‘Flashback’ was a top-class feature from Charlton, offering a greater insight and quality of writing than the standard historical fare common to many issues of the time. Taken together with other very readable articles, the Charlton programme overcame its low page count to provide a solid value for money issue.

 

Chelsea (v Everton 04/04/87)

£0.70 (32 pp / 27 net / S)

 

Coventry City (v Watford 27/09/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 18 net / S)

 

Everton (v Manchester City 02/05/87)

£0.60 (32 pp / 28 net / S)

 

Leicester City (v Chelsea 29/11/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 16 net / S)

 

Liverpool (v Sheffield Wednesday 16/11/86)

£0.60 (32 pp / 23.5 net / S)

Liverpool’s programme for 1986/87 offered 23.5 pages of content for the cost of 60p, making it one of the fuller programmes of the season. Several of the pages were taken up by photographs, but there was also some decent written content included.

Player-manager Kenny Dalglish penned a page of programme notes, in which he mentioned that the day’s fixture against Sheffield Wednesday was the club’s first live TV appearance of the season – a reminder of just how much times have changed with the game taking place in mid-November! ‘Captain’s Eye View’ offered the thoughts of Liverpool skipper Alan Hansen, who here discussed team-mate Steve McMahon who had joined the club from Aston Villa just over a year earlier.

Sheffield Wednesday were introduced with an article that provided an outline of the club’s history, noting the Owls reputation as a yo-yo club and their achievement in regaining top-flight status after spells in Divisions Two and Three. The team was covered in more detail over a three-page section that began with profiles of Wednesday’s backroom staff, including manager Howard Wilkinson. There was a colour team group picture of Wednesday and notes on the club’s players and recent transfer activity. The article noted that the club had “gradually built up one of the strongest playing squads in the First Division”. ‘Action Replay’ meanwhile recalled Wednesday’s visit to Anfield the previous season, where they earned a 2-2 draw, whilst there were also notes on the team’s form in the first three months of the season.

‘A to Z’ was a three-page feature that recounted the history of Liverpool, featuring notable moments from the past, league tables from the late 1920s, and notes on various players who had scored hat-tricks for the Reds. Among the latter was Jack Balmer, who hit hat-tricks in three consecutive league games in the club’s title-winning season of 1946/47. ‘The Years Between’ looks back to events taking place 5, 10, and 15 years ago, whilst there was a comprehensive two-page stats section. Liverpool’s recent 4-0 win over Oxford United was recalled across six full-page images, including photos of goals from Dalglish and a penalty converted by Jan Molby.

There was plenty to appreciate about this Liverpool programme, with detailed coverage of the visiting team, readable historical content, and plenty of club information. Overall, a good solid issue from the Reds.

 

Luton Town (v Coventry City 18/04/87)

£1.00 (40 pp / 28 net / S)

 

Manchester City (v Queen’s Park Rangers 20/09/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 18 net / S)

 

Manchester United (v Southampton 13/09/86)

£0.40 (24 pp / 18 net / S)

 

Newcastle United (v Leicester City 04/04/87)

£0.50 (24 pp / 14 net / S)

 

Norwich City (v Liverpool 11/04/87)

£0.60 (24 pp / 17.5 net / S)

 

Nottingham Forest (v Aston Villa 13/09/86)

£0.50 (24 pp / 18 net / S)

 

Oxford United (v Newcastle United 11/04/87)

£0.60 (32 pp / 19 net / S)

 

Queen’s Park Rangers (v Wimbledon 11/10/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 21.5 net / S)

 

Sheffield Wednesday (v Oxford United 04/10/86)

£0.60 (32 pp / 24.5 net / S)

 

Southampton (v Tottenham Hotspur 02/09/86)

£0.60 (32 pp / 23 net / S)

 

Tottenham Hotspur (v Charlton Athletic 18/04/87)

£0.80 (36 pp / 28 net / S)

Tottenham’s programme boasted the joint-highest number of pages of any issue in the league, with 28 pages of content, the same number as offered by Everton and Luton Town. The programme for the match against Charlton Athletic followed Tottenham’s FA Cup Semi-Final win over Watford, a picture from which appeared on the cover, with goal-scorer Steve Hodge congratulated by Glenn Hoddle. There were further pictures from the day inside the programme in ‘Action Replay’.

The day’s fixture was previewed in ‘Welcome to White Hart Lane’. The column noted Charlton’s need for points as well as congratulating goalkeeper Ray Clemence on his breaking the British first-class appearances record that afternoon. That achievement was further marked with a page containing details of Clemence’s career and words from the man himself, as well as details of his 1,098 previous appearances. Another Spurs player receiving acknowledgement was striker Clive Allen, who was shown receiving the PFA Players Player of the Year Award. Allen had recently broken Jimmy Greaves’ long-standing record for most goals in a season by a Tottenham player.

There was extensive coverage of the day’s visitors to White Hart Lane. There was a well laid out double-page spread that included a colour team group picture, as well as player pen-pics and a profile of the manager. ‘Star of Old’ offered a brief profile of a key name from the visiting club’s past, with the Charlton programme covering former Addicks’ inside-left Don Welsh.  In addition, ‘Diary’ provided a blow-by-blow account of Charlton’s season to date, while ‘Opposition View’ offered insights into the visiting club from former Spurs player Paul Miller. ‘Encounters’ meanwhile included a statistical summary of previous meetings between Tottenham and Charlton.

Coverage of Tottenham’s other sides was impressively handled, with match reports and other news for the Reserves and Youths. Those teams were also well covered in the programme’s two-page statistical section, which offered results, fixtures, and tables for each of Tottenham’s teams. The programme also included supporters’ letters in ‘Off the Post’, a ‘Junior Spurs’ page, and ‘A to Z’, which was a recurring series that contained statistical records of the players who had represented the club down the years. There was also a preview of Tottenham’s next match, ‘Flash Back’, which recalled matches from 5, 10, and 20 years ago, and a column from manager David Pleat.

This was certainly an excellent issue from Spurs, offering a range of interesting content and especially impressive coverage of their matchday opponents.

 

Watford (v Nottingham Forest 07/02/87)

£0.70 (24 pp / 21.5 net / S)

 

West Ham United (v Luton Town 20/09/86)

£0.60 (24 pp / 19 net / S)

 

Wimbledon (v Manchester United 29/11/86)

£1.00 (32 pp / 22 net / S)