Our latest programme review focuses on ‘Turf’ – the issue produced by Burnley. Read our full review below and check out all the Premier League issues for 2021/22 here.
After going digital last season, Burnley return to a printed programme for 2021/22, producing an attractive 68-page perfect-bound issue, entitled ‘Turf’. This is one of the league’s best designed programmes, making good use of the club’s colours to complement a series of clean page layouts. Each issue also benefits from some nice cover artwork, with representations of a couple of Subbuteo players in each team’s kit.
Perhaps the pick of the original articles in the programme is an archive feature looking back 40 years to Burnley’s Division Three title winning campaign of 1981/82, including notes from matches over the course of the season, with images and programme covers from the time. Another retro feature looks at ‘Last Minute Winners’ that Burnley have scored – recounting the key moments from the match with line-ups and a copy of the programme cover from the game too.
‘Looking Back’ turns back the clock 10, 20, and 30 years to assess Burnley’s fortunes on the corresponding weekend, complete with details of the matches played. ‘Tales of the Turf’ is a detailed interview with one former Clarets player, while one current member of the Burnley squad is featured over six pages, with ‘Away Days’ providing a supporter’s perspective on a recent game away from Turf Moor.
Opposition coverage is spread over eight pages, the first two of which provide brief notes on the club, as well as club records, an honours board, and a historical timeline, including pictures of the club’s ground and some key figures from the past. There are four pages of player biographies, which include a good number of the club’s squad – not just their first eleven, as well as a manger profile and ‘Opposition View’, which provides the thoughts of a visiting supporter on their club’s fortunes and prospects.
Each issue of ‘Turf’ includes plenty of information about all aspects of the club, including a couple of pages on the women’s team, with details of results and fixtures, as well as pages on the under-23 and under-18 sides. There are columns from manager, captain, and boardroom, as well as recent news, and a couple of pages on the club’s community work. ‘Where In The World’ meanwhile turns the spotlight on one of Burnley’s overseas supporters’ groups. Previous matches are covered with pictures only, while there is a four-page statistics section for the first team, which includes a look at Burnley’s last meeting with their matchday opponents and a profile of one player who turned out for both clubs.
Burnley’s programme is the smallest in the league, with 53 pages of content once advertising space is taken out. As this issue shows, however, this is not a barrier to a club producing a high-quality programme. ‘Turf’ may not have quite the amount of original content as some issues in the league, but there is still plenty packed in, providing a positive overall impression with some worthwhile reading and classy designs and layouts.