2023/24 Programme of the Season Award

1st Place: West Ham United

2nd Place: Newcastle United

3rd Place: Sheffield United

 

Aston Villa (v Arsenal 09/12/23)

£3.50 (84 pp / 67 net / P)

Score 33/40 – consistently well-presented and containing plenty of readable features

 

Bournemouth (v Chelsea 17/09/23)

£3.50 (88pp / 67 net / P)

Score 26/40 – not as strong as previous Premier League issues from the club, but still a well laid out issue

 

Brentford (v Burnley 21/10/23)

£3.00 (56pp / 45 net / S)

Score 28/40 – a reduction in content from the last few seasons, but featuring some of the best opposition coverage of any top-flight programme

 

Brighton & Hove Albion (v West Ham United 26/08/23)

£3.50 (68 pp / 47 net / S)

Score 26/40 – a solid programme featuring good, clean page layouts, but lacking the range of content to compete with the best

 

Burnley (v Bournemouth 03/04/24)

£3.50 (68 pp / 44 net / P)

Score 27/40 – lots of club information and updates, but would benefit from a few more features showcasing the club’s history

 

Chelsea (v Nottingham Forest 02/09/23)

£4.00 (52 pp / 43 net / S)

Score 28/40 – very well designed, and with some good retro articles, but lack of opposition content prevents this from competing for awards

 

Crystal Palace (v Wolverhampton Wanderers 03/09/23)

£3.50 (76 pp / 65 net / P)

Score 31/40 – a very strong visitors section, but held back by a limited number of features

 

Everton (v Crystal Palace 19/02/24)

£4.00 (84 pp / 62 net / P)

Score 30/40 – as solid as we’ve come to expect, but quite heavy on advertising for an 84 page issue

 

Fulham (v Everton 30/01/24)

£4.00 (100 pp / 82 net / P)

Score 35/40 – another excellent issue from the Cottagers – only narrowly finishing outside of the top three

 

Liverpool (v Luton Town 21/02/24)

£4.00 (84 pp / 62 net / P)

Score 29/40 – another issue held back by limited opposition coverage, but featuring some nice design touches and with a decent amount of reading

 

Luton Town (v Sheffield United 10/02/24)

£4.00 (84 pp / 63.5 net / S)

Score 27/40 – plenty to like, including impressive club updates, but the design feels inconsistent and text can be tricky to read

 

Manchester City (v Fulham 02/09/23)

£4.00 (84 pp / 63.5 net / P)

Score 27/40 – solid but uninspiring – there is at least a decent amount of original content to read

 

Manchester United (v Brighton & Hove Albion 16/09/23)

£4.00 (84 pp / 61 net / S)

Score 34/40 – without question the best designed programme in the league – looks fantastic and offers plenty for home and away fans

 

Newcastle United (v Brentford 16/09/23)

£3.50 (84 pp / 70 net / P)

The Magpies have maintained the high standards they’ve set in the last few seasons, delivering another impressive issue for the 2023/24 season. With a low proportion of advertising, and 70 pages of content, each programme provides excellent value for the cost of £3.50.

The historical section of the programme features several interesting pieces that are familiar from recent seasons. These include the ‘United’s History in 100 Objects’, All Things Black ‘N’ White’ with club historian Paul Joannou, and ‘Tales From the Archive’, which tells the story behind an old club-related picture. For the Brentford issue, Joannou related the story of Chilean player George Robledo, described as United’s first overseas star, who played for the club between 1949 and 1953, scoring the winner in the 1952 FA Cup Final.

‘The European Years’ marks Newcastle’s return to the arena of continental football with a look back at past exploits in European campaigns, with comprehensive notes on the club’s matches in each season. ‘United Revisited’ turns the spotlight onto old Newcastle programmes, including reproductions of covers and selected pages from the issues featured, while ‘Collectables & Memorabilia’ does a similar job with other items of note, including ticket stubs from big matches. ‘They Wor Black and White’ and ‘The Poster Boys’ both tell the tale of notable United players from the past.

There’s plenty to like in the coverage of United’s matchday opponents. Spread over ten pages uninterrupted by advertisements, the visitors’ section includes an opening article setting the scene for the day’s game, pen-pics of the first-team squad and manager, and a form guide that includes a graphic showing how the team are expected to line-up. ‘Know Your History’ includes details of previous names and grounds, as well as details of previous matches against Newcastle, while ‘Power Trio’ looks at three significant games from the opposition’s history.

Club information is also extensive, with the latest news, columns from the manager and captain, reports on the work of the club’s charitable Foundation, and coverage of previous matches, as well as reports and statistics from each of the club’s teams, including an impressive amount of content featuring the women’s team.

The programme also benefits from a logical flow and features clean, unfussy page layouts that make reading through each issue a real pleasure. ‘United’ remains one of the best of the Premier League programmes for 2023/24.

Score 38/40 – a high-class issue, benefiting from some genuinely fascinating historical content, and coverage of all aspects of the club on and off the field

 

Nottingham Forest (v Tottenham Hotspur 15/12/23)

£3.00 (68 pp / 46 net / P)

Score 29/40 – a good all-round programme, but suffers in comparison with the best given the limited page-count

 

Sheffield United (v Manchester City 27/08/23)

£3.50 (100 pp / 82 net / P)

The Blades’ matchday programme has a familiar feel from recent seasons, always offering a welcome, high-quality addition to the range of issues on offer in the Premier League. With 100 pages, and only 18 pages of advertising content, there is plenty of room for the writers to get to work, and they make full use of the space available, delivering a significant amount of content each matchday.

The central historical section of the programme, which provides the bulk of the original content within each issue, runs to just over 20 pages, including a nice mix of written and photographic features. Among the highlights are ‘Memorable Programme Covers’ which focuses on an issue from the past, reproducing the cover alongside notes on the match and the team’s fortunes during the season in question, and ‘Read All About It’, which looks back at a day from the club’s history, as told in the pages of local newspaper ‘The Star’.

‘Blades Tales From Around the UK’ tells the stories of players from the home nations who have represented Sheffield United, while ‘United’s Most Memorable Premier League Moments’ does precisely what the title suggests. ‘John Garrett’s Fables and Folklore’ is always an entertaining read, and ‘Remembering Cricket at the Lane’ enables Blades’ supporters to reminisce about time spent watching cricket back in the days when Bramall Lane was not just a football ground.

The opposition section of the programme runs to nine pages, beautifully designed in the colours of the visiting club. A short introductory article is followed by profiles of the club’s manager and various key players, as well as articles on one ‘All-Time Great’, notes on the club’s history in ‘Where it all Began’, and a defining moment in ‘Greatest Day’. The section also includes some statistical highlights, and a feature that looks at players who had more than one spell with the club in ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’.

In terms of club information, each issue offers up an extensive stats section, news updates, notes from previous matches, a report from the club’s Community Foundation, as well as updates and stats from the under-21s, under-18s, and women’s teams.

Always one of the best reads each season, UTB deserves recognition for its sheer consistency and the weight of quality original content. Whilst it is possible to quibble about certain design choices, including some overly small text in the stats section, each issue is nevertheless well presented and a pleasure to look through.

Score 37/40 – UTB remains one of the best programmes in the country, with enough reading to keep readers occupied on match-day and beyond

 

Tottenham Hotspur (v Liverpool 30/09/23)

£4.00 (84pp / 64 net / P)

Score 32/40 – one of the better Spurs offerings of recent seasons, nicely designed and providing plenty of content

 

West Ham United (v Newcastle United 08/10/23)

£4.00 (116 pp / 85 net / P)

The Hammers continue to lead the way in the Premier League with their terrific issue, which once again stands out from the crowd thanks to an impressive array of content and eye-catching design work.

As with the last few seasons, each issue includes a wealth of reading, including several highly readable historical features. Perhaps the pick of these are the ‘Hammerabilia’ and ‘Programmed’ columns, which reflect on times past with the aid of old photographs, programmes, and press clippings. The various features within the programme often weave in connections to the Hammers’ matchday opponents, something also demonstrated in the ‘Boots in Both Camps’ column, which has a former player from both clubs reminiscing about their career.

As well as the retro features, there are columns from the likes of talkSPORT presenter Ian Abrahams, journalist Ken Dyer, and sportswriter Duncan Wright, as well as an extensive interview with a member of the Hammers’ first-team. Plenty then to keep supporters occupied before the match and long afterwards too.

Opposition coverage is as good as with any issue in the league. Set out over eleven pages, all presented in the visiting club’s colours, the coverage includes facts, figures, and historical records, as well as a manager profile, analysis of the squad including a depth chart, and a tactical assessment from the team at the Analytics United website.

The programme also offers up an impressive level of depth of coverage of all aspects of the club, including news and other updates, comprehensive information about upcoming away trips in the excellent ‘Over Land and Sea’ features, and detailed coverage of the club’s academy and women’s teams. The latter includes coverage of recent performances, alongside stats and player interviews – once again, all excellently presented.

At a time when several clubs have increased the price of their programmes, even while taking steps to reduce the size of their issues, West Ham have remained committed to delivering a huge programme for each game, with 85 pages of content, providing excellent value for money even given the £4 cost. Where it not for the quality of the writing and features inside, such a programme might feel unnecessarily bulky, but to the Hammers’ credit, they continue to provide high quality issues, week after week.

Score 39/40 – as close to flawless as we’ve seen, this is another outstanding effort that deserves to be recognised as the best in the business

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers (v Aston Villa 08/10/23)

£4.00 (84 pp / 66 net / P)

Score 32/40 – always a fine programme – the ‘Old Gold’ history section offers some of the best reading of any issue in the league