Beginnning a football programme collection
To effectively launch a collection of football programmes, an individual needs to choose a theme to their collection. There are thousands of football programmes available in Britain, and even more around the world. To give a collection some sort of meaning a theme ought to be adopted to avoid unwanted accumulation and to keep to a designated budget.
Sometimes you come across a football programme that joins or crosses two themes at once. These may prove to be valuable acquisitions in years to come as they signify a special or historical occasion, which will revive memories for soccer fans from across the globe in the future.
A football programme is a good way to remember a memorable event at a particular match. This could be in the form of an achievement such as a player milestone, which is featured in the programme itself. Player milestones come in many forms, such as an appearance record, a goal getting record, the final match of a players career, a number of years of service by the manager, and much more.
The darker side of football is also often recorded in the programme. These tragic events interest collectors who see them as poignant reminders of the past. They are sought after and valuable as a result. The tragedies at Hillsborough, Ibrox and Bradford have valuable programmes associated with them, not only for the match itself, but also the subsequent commemorative games.
A very valuable set of football programmes to own are those related to 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 £1000. 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 Manchester United team.
Notable events are usually reflected in the content and design of the programme. Important football programmes to get hold of 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.
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 other collectors 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 soccer fan.
