Beginnning a football programme collection
To effectively start a football programme collection, a person needs to choose a specialism to their collection. There are thousands of football programmes available in the United Kingdom, and even more around the world. To give a collection some sort of purpose a theme should be adopted to avoid needless accumulation and to keep to a preferred budget.
Of course, it will sometimes be the case that you come across a programme that joins or crosses two themes at once. These may prove to be valuable purchases in years to come as they represent a special or historical event, which will revive memories for football fans from around the globe in the future.
A football programme is a great way to remember a memorable event at a specific game. This could come in the form of some sort of achievement such as a player milestone, which is featured in the programme itself. A player milestone could come in many formats, such as an appearance record, a goal scoring record, the final match of a players career, a number of years of service by a player, and much more.
The sadder side of football is also often recorded in match programmes. These historical events interest collectors who see them as poignant reminders of the past. They are highly collectible and valuable as a result. The tragedies at Hillsborough, Ibrox and Bradford have collectible programmes connected with them, not only for the match itself, but also the subsequent commemorative matches.
A notably collectible set of football programmes to own are those associated with the Munich Air Disaster involving the Manchester United team and Busby’s Babes. The programme from the game against Partizan Belgrade who Manchester United were playing on the tragic trip can sell for over a thousand pounds. A similar sum can be obtained for the programme against Sheffield Wednesday directly after the disaster, where the players list wasn’t filled in for the Man United team.
Notable occurrences are usually reflected in the content and design of the programme. Important football programmes to collect are final matches in an old stadium, or the first issue within a new one. Most programmes of this type are easily available with interesting articles and historical information, making them a gem in any football programme collection.
Football programmes can mean different things to different collectors. You may value a prticular programme highly for entirely personal reasons and memories which they may conjure up. For others the pursuit is one of passion, understanding more about the history and traditions of a football team that they support. Whatever your reason, collecting football programmes is a highly rewarding hobby, and comes highly recommended to any football supporter.