Our latest review of the 2020/21 Premier League programmes is now available, with a look at Newcastle United’s issue. You can read the full review below and click here to take a look at all the top-flight issues for the season.
The Newcastle programme is the issue that shows the most marked improvement since last season. Having undergone a revamp ahead of the 2020/21 season, each issue is now B5 in size, providing more space than the A5 issue of recent years. Whilst the price has gone up by 50p, there is certainly enough content to justify the price increase.
The best features are a series of historical articles, the pick of which is arguably ‘The Wonderful World of Football Programmes’, penned by columnist Stan Gate. This four-page feature looks at various programme from United’s past, with a focus on issues produced for past matches against the day’s visitors. There is also a ‘Collector’s Corner’, offering information about unusual or rare items and other news on collecting the club’s issues. Including images of various covers for the featured programmes, this is a highly readable column that would surely be of interest and value to collectors of United’s issues.
‘The United History Blog’, written by club historian Paul Joannou, offers a couple of pages on Newcastle’s past, making good use of retro images alongside the written content. Joannou also pens ‘Windows Into The Past’ – highlighting lesser known stories from Newcastle’s history – all well presented with plenty of photos to complement the text. ‘Lost Grounds’ meanwhile recalls those former venues once visited by Newcastle, looking back at the ground itself and the club that played there, as well as noting United’s fortunes there.
‘Guest Appearance’ offers up an interview with a former Newcastle player. Spread over five pages, the feature offers some interesting reflections on their time with the club, as well as a statistical fact-file. There is also an eight page interview with one current player – all well laid out and uninterrupted by adverts, which makes a welcome change from many clubs’ issues. ‘Zoom Army’ references the use of online communication tools during the pandemic – seeing fans submitting their questions to one of the club’s players.
The day’s visitors to St James’ Park are afforded six pages – again with no breaks for ads – with content provided including a page of opening notes on the club’s recent record, which is followed by a manager profile and pen-pics of the club’s squad, which offer a nice level of detail for each player. There are also details of the last five meetings between the two teams. An additional article or two, perhaps including some notes on the tactics employed by the team would strengthen the section but, as with the rest of the programme, what is here is certainly worthwhile and well presented.
The programme is also strong in terms of information about all aspects of the club. There are the usual columns from manager and captain, a couple of pages of news, match reports – spread over three pages, with line-ups, key moments, stats, and several photographs – and a couple of pages of news from the club’s foundation. Coverage of the club’s academy teams is well handled, with a profile of one under-23 player and a statistical section for both the under-23s and under-18s. As with the first team’s stats section, some of the text here is very small, which is a shame given the quality of the design and layout throughout the rest of the programme. Unfortunately, there is no mention of Newcastle’s women’s team.
Praise is certainly due to the team behind United’s new look programme. Benefiting from a consistent feel throughout and with good use of colour and photography and clean page layouts, the programme is easy to navigate and read through. All of this, together with the quality of the historical content in each issue, has elevated the Newcastle programme to being among the pick of the Premier League issues.