Our ‘On This Day’ feature for 26th October looks at Manchester United’s programme from their meeting with Chelsea in the 2014/15 season. Read the review below and see the other Premier League programmes from 2014/15 here.
The familiar square shape of ‘United Review’ usually signifies high standards in programme production and this issue from United’s October 2014 match-up with Chelsea was no exception. Containing plenty of reading, including some interesting historical articles, and featuring impressive design work throughout, this was another quality issue from United.
Manager Louis Van Gaal used his programme notes to welcome Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho to Old Trafford, recalling the time that the two spent together at Barcelona, with Mourinho serving as Van Gaal’s Assistant Manager. The connection between the two was explored further in ‘Two of a Kind’, which recalled Mourinho’s emergence at Barcelona under first Sir Bobby Robson and later Van Gaal, as well as the meeting of the two managers in the 2012 Champions League final. The piece also noted that (at the time of writing) Van Gaal and Mourinho had won 31 major honours between them.
‘Forever & Ever’ was a five-page historical section, which opened with a picture from a 1956 clash between United’s ‘Busby Babes’ and ‘Drake’s Ducklings’ from Chelsea. The picture showed United’s Tommy Taylor putting the Reds ahead in a match that they would go on to win 3-0 against the defending League champions. ‘Up for the Fight’ profiled Stan Crowther, who signed for United from Aston Villa in the wake of the Munich disaster, playing wing-half for stand-in boss Jimmy Murphy while Wilf McGuinness recovered from injury. Crowther would move to Chelsea in December 1958 and make 58 appearances for the Blues. The section concluded with two-pages on various items of memorabilia related to George Best. These included the match-ball from United’s FA Cup tie at Northampton Town in February 1970, in which Best scored six times.
The main player feature in the programme focused on United’s former Chelsea attacking midfielder Juan Mata. Over four pages, Mata reflected on his time at Stamford Bridge and his progress at United following his move from London the previous January. Former United midfielder turned club ambassador Ji-Sung Park penned a column in which he recalled previous high-profile clashes against Chelsea, including the 2010/11 Champions League quarter-final match-up, which United won 3-1 on aggregate.
‘Reunion of the Rojiblancos’ was an article that analysed the development of various players from United and Chelsea who had spent their formative years at Atletico Madrid. Over four pages, the feature looked at United’s David De Gea and Rademel Falcao and at Chelsea’s Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois, and Filipe Luis, noting how Atletico incentivised the performance of young players by giving them relatively low-release clauses.
Coverage of previous matches was very well presented, making good use of the larger page size of the United Review to include a written report, pictures from the game, line-ups in a formation graphic, and stats from the match. The centre pages of the programme showed an action picture from United’s recent game against Everton, and the moment when Radamel Falcao scored his first goal for the club. The programme also included four pages of first-team stats, (though oddly there was no mention of United’s reserve or youth teams), while there were also various pages of club news and a column from United legend Paddy Crerand.
Seven pages of the issue were devoted to visitors Chelsea, with quality design work again to the fore. The opening two-page spread of the section featured a large picture of a supporter draped in a Chelsea flag, with the club’s crest also displayed prominently above details of the opposition content. ‘Squad Focus’ looked at Chelsea’s team and the options available to Mourinho, alongside a form guide and the team’s line-up from their most recent game. The following three pages were taken up with pen-pics of Chelsea’s players, while the section was concluded with an interview with former Blues winger Pat Nevin, in which he offered his opinions on the club’s form and prospects.
A typically impressive issue from United then, with much of the content being related to the day’s matchup against Chelsea. Eschewing some of the blander features that are common in many programmes, United Review included several well-written articles which, allied to the quality design and layout, made for a highly readable issue.