Im guessing that the majority of football fans have at one point in their life had a couple of programmes they’ve kept hold of for some reason, of course most of these end up in the loft or in the in bin but try and remember why you kept that programme in the first place and you can begin to understand why some people can become obsessed with growing their collection.
In saying that though some of the prices paid and lengths gone to by some collectors is frightening and you do have to wonder why they do it, for example I know of one particular person who travelled the length of the country to attend an auction where a programme missing from his collection was up for sale, he ended up paying nearly £150 for it and was absolutely delighted.
What programme was it, was it a Cup Final, a big promotion game, a derby match? No, it was a Darlington Reserve team game from 1965 !!
Obviously collecting to that extreme isn’t everybodys cup of tea but programme collecting really is an excellent area to get involved in, they look good, are a good read, arent too expensive (unless you want a Darlington reserve team game from 1965!!) and are fairly easy to get hold of.
Of course the above statement isn’t true all of the time, obviously if your collecting last years fixtures it is a lot easier to get them all than if your after 1985’s season for example.
So how do you start ?
Chances are you will already have some of your own teams programmes but whether you have or not the process is the same.
In the “good old days” your only real hope was going to the teams own club shop where they used to have back issues, nowadays though with the way these club shops have changed this sometimes is not an option.
Some clubs do have shops dedicated to their memorabilia, for example there is a great shop called The Back Page just outside Newcastle Uniteds ground who have boxes full of Newcastle programmes.
However this sort of shop is nowadays sadly not the norm so searchs are of course done on the internet.
The first point of contact we would suggest must be Ebay where there are thousands of programmes listed daily, to help you in your quest we have set up a search box BELOW where you only need to stick your teams name in to get you on your way.
Don’t be disheartened if Ebay does not find you the programmes your after straight away, chances are it will end up being listed there at some point so just keep trying.
We also visit specialist auction houses and if you would like us to look out for any particular programme (or bulk buys) for your team we would gladly do so.
The internet is not the only option open to you though, there are loads of football programme fairs taking place throughout the country and there is bound to be one near you, of course the advantage of these local gatherings of programme dealers is that if you are a fan of your local fan then chances are there will plenty of the local teams programmes available.