Our ‘On This Day’ feature for 23rd October looks at Blackburn Rovers’ programme from the 2011/12 season. Read our review below and see all the other Premier League issues from 2011/12 here.
With 76 pages, the Blackburn issue was marginally smaller than most other issues in the league for 2011/12, but a low advert count meant that there were still 62 pages of content. These were used to good effect with some interesting reading.
The opening pages of the programme were given over to previewing the day’s fixture, with the team line-ups on page three, followed by Blackburn’s team news and a ‘Stat Pack’ with various pieces of information about Rovers and their opponents for the day. These items were followed by Steve Kean’s Manager’s column and news from the club.
‘A to Z’ featured Blackburn legend Bryan Douglas writing on various former Rovers players. Douglas was perfectly placed to write this feature, having made 438 league appearances for the club. Here he looked at the letter ‘E’ with profiles of Mike England, Fred Else, and Bill Eckersley, the latter of whom made more than 406 appearances for Blackburn between 1947 and 1961, as well as winning 17 England caps during that time. A well written feature, with a more personal touch than many such articles.
‘Twenty Premier League Years’ marked two decades since the formation of the new top-flight of English football. The club had been in the Premier League in all but two of those first twenty seasons and this feature recalled Blackburn’s fortunes down the years. In the Spurs issue the focus was on the 1996-97 season – a time of change for Rovers with the departures from the club of Alan Shearer, Kenny Dalglish, and Ray Harford. The article also references Tottenham’s fortunes from the season, as well as various news snippets from the time.
In terms of other content, there was a six-page interview with Rovers defender Martin Olsson, as well as a picture of the player over the centre pages. ‘Ewood Emales’ contained an interview with Chris Samba, with questions submitted by Rovers supporters. ‘You’re Hired’ meanwhile looked at the experience of one Rovers player in establishing themselves in the game and earning their first contracts, providing a worthwhile insight into the process faced by younger players.
Coverage of the club’s other teams was impressively handled, with four pages on the under-18 academy team, including coverage of recent matches, a player interview, and notes from Academy Manager Phil Cannon. There were a further two pages on the club’s reserve team and a page dedicated to Rovers’ Ladies’ team. The first team’s previous matches were covered over two pages, with picture from the game alongside line-ups and notes on the key moments. There were also four pages of first-team stats included.
The section on visitors Tottenham Hotspur went under the title ‘In Town Today’ and was very well presented with a full-page picture from a recent Spurs game opening the section. The following two pages contained a write-up of Spurs recent form, alongside various stats, club facts, and notes on the club’s most recent outing. The section then provided pen-pics of Tottenham’s key squad members, as well as manager Harry Redknapp. A further two pages then looked at club connections – players who had appeared for both Rovers and Spurs – and memorable matches between the two clubs, including a 7-2 victory for Rovers back in 1963.
This was an impressive programme from Blackburn, featuring a decent amount of reading. The issue was smartly presented with some nice design touches and benefited from a consistent feel throughout.