Today’s On This Day feature looks at Liverpool’s programme from their 2017/18 fixture against Southampton. Read the full review below and see all the other Premier League issues from the season here.
This season, Liverpool are celebrating their 125th anniversary and this matchday programme includes some excellent original artwork on its cover. This is taken from a ‘Dream Scene’ created by sports artist Jamie Cooper, which is reproduced in full across a fold-out section in the centre of the programme.
Following quite lengthy columns from Manager and Captain, ‘Countdown to Kick-Off’ previews the day’s fixture, including a range of relevant stats. The programme features a couple of interviews with current players, whilst one of the best articles in the programme is ‘The Big Read’. In this issue, the column is called ‘1993/94 – A Kid Called Fowler’. Covering six pages, this looks back at Robbie Fowler’s emergence in the Liverpool team. This is a well written piece, which successfully evokes the early Premier League era.
In other club content, there is a page each on the Ladies and Academy teams, plus a page of each team’s results. First-team match reports includes brief write-ups alongside full match details and pictures, whilst a detailed stats section includes player records, the league table, and a well-designed season record.
The section on visitors Southampton includes an introductory article, a brief write-up on the club’s Manager and four key players, as well as basic pen-pics on the other squad members. Further snippets include the tactical line-up for the visitor’s last match, notes on last season’s meetings, and ‘Three Heroes’ from the visitors ranks. A related picture is provided in ‘Back Story’, which features former Liverpool and Saints striker Kevin Keegan.
Historical content takes the form of ‘A History of Liverpool in 100 Objects’, which is unfortunately allotted only a small space in the ‘Anfield Extra’ section. The article here looks at Liverpool’s Division Two championship trophy from 1962. ‘125 Great Liverpool Goals’ features the years 1932 to 1935, with plenty of retro images and text about four significant goals. Given Liverpool’s successful history and the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations, some additional historical features would have been welcome.