Following on from Part One of this post, this post covers the rest of the Premier League clubs, from Manchester City to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Manchester City
For City’s three home lockdown games so far, against Arsenal, Burnley, and Liverpool, they have produced a digital only programme. Click the links to view each programme. Unfortunately, the programmes don’t appear to be in a format that collectors can download to keep.
Manchester United
United produced their usual 84 page ‘United Review’ programme for the visit of Sheffield United on 24th June. The programme included an article on former United legend Tony Dunne, who recently passed away.
The Manchester United programme can be purchased here.
Newcastle United
Newcastle are one of the clubs that are producing digital only programmes for their behind closed doors fixtures. They have issued two such programmes so far during lockdown, for their games against Sheffield United and Aston Villa, both of which have been made available free of charge on the club’s website. These issues were 68 pages each, down from the 84 of Newcastle’s printed issues from earlier in the season, but still included their excellent ‘Programmes of the Past’ feature, looking at various issues from the Magpies’ archive.
Norwich City
Our Programme of the Season Award winner Norwich City have produced printed issues for each of their lockdown games to date. These have featured a different style of cover to the ‘retro kits’ covers used earlier in the season, with the Southampton cover being a tribute to NHS staff and other key-workers, and the Everton cover showing three Norwich shirts from years gone by. Each issue so far has been 84 pages, down from the 100 page issues from earlier in the season, but still including many of the features that so impressed us when handing out our annual awards.
It appears that the issues for the previous games are no longer available to purchase from the club, but future issues are available here, as is the programme from the postponed game against Southampton from back in March, which sold for over £200 on eBay during lockdown!
Sheffield United
The Blades took the decision to produce one programme covering all of their remaining home fixtures, although they did produce a separate issue for their FA Cup quarter-final fixture against Arsenal. The combined programme for their last four home games runs to 168 pages and costs £5. In addition to that programme, the club is also issuing ‘UTB-Lite’ – a digital only, slimmed down programme for each match, available from the club’s website on the morning of the game. These digital issues run to 32 pages and feature match reports, opposition coverage, and some of the features from the club’s regular editions earlier in the season.
It appears that the combined programme is now longer available to purchase online, but the UTB-Lite issue for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur can be viewed and downloaded here.
Southampton
Like Sheffield United, Southampton have issued one programme covering all of their remaining home matches. The issue contains 100 pages and costs £5. It features all the usual articles and section from the club’s 84-page issues from previous matches this season, with the addition of a two-page ‘Opposition Guide’ for each of Southampton’s remaining opponents, including away games. Unfortunately, the item is now showing as ‘out of stock’ on the club’s website.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs have produced programmes for both of their behind closed doors games so far, against Manchester United and West Ham United. The programmes are available both in print format and digitally. The link to purchase the programmes is here. Interestingly, particularly for the completist collectors among the Spurs fanbase, the club has just made a limited number of programmes available from the match against Manchester United that was postponed back in March. At the time of writing this is available here.
Watford
Watford have produced printed issues for their home games against Leicester City and Southampton, both of which are available to order direct from the club here. The Leicester cover featured a tribute to the Black Lives Matter campaign, while the Southampton programme included a feature that recognised the work of NHS staff, with information on what the club has done to support them and their local community in recent months.
West Ham United
The Hammers have produced programmes for their matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea, both of which have been made available in printed format and digitally. Both issues are full-size, 116 page editions, in keeping with the programmes produced by the club before lockdown. The Wolves cover was given over to hundreds of small pictures of Hammers fans, while the more familiar player-based image returned for the Chelsea fixture.
Printed copies for both games are now showing as sold out on the club’s website, but the digital issues can be viewed here for the Wolves game, and here for the Chelsea game. Printed programmes for the club’s three remaining home games are available to order here.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolves are another club to produce one programme covering all of their behind closed doors games. This ‘Restart Collector’s Edition’ is available to buy direct from the club here. The combined issue costs £5 and provides a mammoth 188 pages of content! The programme includes a separate section for each match, including a stand-alone ‘cover’ in the same style as the club’s other issues this season, featuring Louise Cobbold’s striking artwork of one of the Wolves players.
In addition, the club have also made available digital programmes for each game, available through the Wolves app. Information on the digital Bournemouth programme is available here.