Our final Merit Award for the 2019/20 season is awarded to Exeter City, for their superb programme – ‘The Grecian’. Beautifully presented, and containing a range of interesting features, Exeter’s issue is the pick of the bunch for League Two, coming out on top of the also very impressive programmes from Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle.
Containing an impressive 92 pages – only two other clubs in League Two offer more than 70 pages – Exeter’s programme provides plenty of reading. Among the best features is a look back 30 years to the 1989/90 season when Exeter, under the guidance of boss Terry Cooper, won Division Four – the only league title achieved by the club in its long history. The story of the season has unfolded in Exeter’s issues over the course of the season, through a detailed four-page feature that includes various pictures from the time, as well as information about the players and memorable matches along the way.
Another historical series is ‘Grecian Managers’, which looks at the men who have taken charge of Exeter down the years. The articles tell the story of each manager’s career and reflect on key seasons under their guidance. The programme also includes a column on the ‘ECFC Museum’ and another retro feature in the shape of ‘This Week in City’s History’, which provides news snippets for each day of the week – an interesting variation on the usual ‘On This Day’ columns employed in many clubs’ programmes.
Other readable information comes in the form of various articles that cover a range of footballing topics, as well as an extended feature with one player, and a dedicated junior section for Exeter’s younger supporters.
Opposition coverage is nicely handled, with the section being reflective of the high design and layout standards throughout the programme. Making full use of the visiting club’s colours, the section is spread across seven pages, including an attractively designed ‘cover’. Content includes a scouting report, manager profile, key players to watch out for, and a feature on players that have enjoyed more than one spell at the club.
‘The Grecian’ also includes a whole host of information about all aspects of the club, with information about Exeter’s Academy and women’s teams, features on the work of the club’s community trust, and a page on the supporters’ trust, which is the majority shareholder of Exeter City. All the traditional programme features are also present, including the manager’s column, news updates, and stats pages.
With 52 pages of content within the programme, and charged at just £3, ‘The Grecian’ offers impressive value for money. Whilst size does not always equal quality in respect of many modern-day programmes, the team behind Exeter City’s issue deserve great credit for producing such a consistently excellent programme.