Flanagan's Football Files

I know it has become more and more common in recent years, but a story popped up on my phone that, while most people would probably dismiss it, still made me feel sad. Watford have announced that they will no longer be producing physical matchday programmes this season. As I said, this has gradually become more common, and at my club we are now one of the few that still produce a printed programme.

It’s understandable, I suppose, with the speed at which news can be found on social media. Even websites in some cases are becoming dated, let alone printed material. For me, though, it feels different because my first involvement in football was through programmes at Millwall at the age of 12. By 17, as I became more and more involved on the commercial side, I was designing and writing much of the programme. At the same time, I was also collecting programmes and filling the gaps in my collection was a real joy. Finally finding that one missing issue was a delight that many people today would struggle to understand.

Watford have explained their decision in detail. The club revealed that sales of programmes have not reflected the effort and cost of producing them. Just 455 were sold for last season’s home game against Swansea City in March, 565 for the visit of Bristol City in November, while the highest figure was 1,045 for the derby against Luton Town in February.

In a statement, the club said:

'It is evident as a progressive and forward-thinking club that we need to be agile and keep evolving our output in line with the rapidly changing content consumption habits of our supporters.
The appetite for a matchday programme is sadly no longer there. The media, communications and marketing team can now fully focus on continuing to bring fans the latest behind-the-scenes content in digital form, serving the demand for social media content across all our growing channels.'

Supporters who want a physical souvenir will still be able to buy an A5 squad list, but the traditional programme full of features is gone.

The club has confirmed that no full-time staff have been made redundant. However, the Watford Observer reports that several long-standing programme sellers, some who have worked in the role for more than 20 years, have been told their services are no longer required. Compensation is believed to be in the process of being organised, but nothing is yet in place.

So there is no longer a need for programme sellers, and it will also mean collectors’ fairs will fade out even more quickly than they already have. They will become like other hobbies that once thrived – stamp collecting, postcards, picture albums, Meccano – but which have slowly declined. As we keep being told, it’s 'progress.' Technology has developed so rapidly over the past 15 years, probably faster than in the previous 100.

I even remember, as a kid, people queuing outside the newsagents around 6pm on a Saturday night to buy the evening paper with the football results. If you missed Sports Report on the radio or the full-time scores on the Vidiprinter, that was the only way you found out the results before the Sunday papers. Now, social media provides instant news, which is great in many ways, but it also fuels the sense that people want everything instantly. And as we know, in some cases that simply isn’t possible.

For my part, I’ll carry on producing programmes for Barkingside while I remain at the club as Chairman. We include them as part of admission, but I’m not sure how many people truly want them as opposed to just taking them because they’re free.

I suppose it just has to be accepted as part of how the game we love continues to evolve at all levels.