- Clubs increasingly abandon printed programmes to save on costs and effort.
- Digital updates provide instant information that hard copies cannot match.
- Tangible souvenirs offer fans a permanent record and a nostalgic time capsule.
In recent times, more clubs have stopped producing printed programmes. This isn’t just about Norwich City.
The icons of opening titles of shows everywhere, why is that clubs are getting away from this and what could we potentially be losing?
The argument against
Clubs and companies alike can make a reasonable case. As someone who has worked with print companies, I can appreciate that the process costs money and that putting each one together takes time and effort.
There is also the reasonable argument that the information in printed programmes can’t be as up-to-the-minute as what you get when listening to the radio, looking up websites or seeing updates on news shows.
The argument for
What a lot of people would lose at Norwich City when it comes to no more souvenir printed programmes is something that is a physical record of the match that you went to see.
This is something I’ve seen as a film fan. There was something oddly satisfying about a printed ticket stub that just doesn’t feel the same as a printed receipt or a QR code. You can’t really display a QR code on a wall!
As someone who produces comics, I also know that there are fans who crave something tactile. There is a feel to a printed programme that makes you want to read through it. Months later, you can read it and remember a different time.
In some people’s cases they may also want to collect them and each one can be a time capsule of the period, showcasing the changes in style as well as the different players, managers and so forth.
A possible compromise?
For now, it seems that printed programmes will remain a part of the Norwich City process. It is something reassuring to see, in much the same way as your fancy hot dogs or drinks can still exist alongside cups of Bovril and meat pies.
In a time when photos can disappear from your phone, computers can lose files from updates, and so forth, there is a benefit to having something tangible that you can show to people that you were there.
Don’t get me wrong, I love writing for a website and what we can offer is great both during the season and afterwards.
But it should be something that people can have alongside a more traditional souvenir, and to have a record of club history that can be shared for future generations.
NOTE: The cover image is of a Norwich City programme from the 2017-18 season, when the club used Norwich-based design studio, Patterns of Play, to produce a season’s worth of stunning bespoke covers, all designed by local creatives.
