Football League v Football League of Ireland programme (1965)

There was once a time when the term ‘international football’ meant one of two things. More often than not, it applied to matches where eleven men representing the peak of their country’s footballing ability were pitted against eleven more from a rival country. Sometimes, however, it could be applied to the long forgotten concept of inter-league football.

When national teams had such a wealth of talent that it couldn't all be picked for the same side, it wasn't uncommon for a match to be arranged featuring a selection of players from, say, the English Football League and those playing in a nearby league, often Scotland, Wales or Ireland. Here, the national team managers could assess players who might be considered suitable for a place in a future squad line-up or those players returning from injury that needed match practice as part of their rehabilitation.

The practice of organising inter-league matches began as early as the 1890’s and were in some instances just as popular as the full international games we know and love today. It wasn't uncommon for tens of thousands of people to pass through the turnstiles to see what was in essence an international match of sorts.

This was hardly surprising as inter-league games offered fans from across the UK and Ireland a chance to see Fantasy Football made real. Instead of wondering what it might be like if England’s Stanley Matthews played on the same side as Ivor Allchurch of Wales, it could technically happen if both players were picked in the Football League XI team.

In the case of the Football League of Ireland XI, their matches became part of the football calendar out of necessity. During the 1920’s, the Football Associations of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales failed to recognise what we now know as the Republic of Ireland FA, yet there was still a need for the ‘home nation’ teams to test their abilities against the Irish. To get around the problem, inter-league matches were organised until such a time when relations between all the parties involved allowed full internationals to be played.

There was also one other reason why inter-league games were so popular, namely that they were held in a wide variety of venues. Rather than making the long trip to Wembley or Hampden Park, there was every chance of catching an inter-league match in Blackburn, Motherwell or Swansea.

Evidence of this can be found in a match-day programme for the game between the Football League and the Football League of Ireland, a 5-0 win for the English representatives that took place on 27 October 1965. Played at Hull City’s Boothferry Park ground, this was in effect a run out for the England defence, if no-one else. With Gordon Banks in goal behind a back line of Cohen, Newton, Hunter and Jack Charlton, this was a familiar line-up that pulled in many of the 28,283 crowd on the night.

With the exception of Alan Ball and Peter Thompson, the remainder of the team were less familiar. Up front was West Brom’s John Kaye alongside Burnley’s Gordon Harris, while Harris’ teammate Brian O’Neill occupied the right half position. Everton’s Derek Temple completed the Football League’s starting XI opposite a League of Ireland team whose names were unknown to English fans then, and only now are a little more illuminating, largely thanks to the information offered up by the internet.

A few of the Irish players, such as Liam Tuohy and Peter Fitzgerald, had already enjoyed short spells playing in England (at Newcastle United and Chester City respectively), while some had that highlight to look forward to back in 1965. League of Ireland left back Paddy Mulligan would go on to sign for Chelsea in 1969 and Crystal Palace in 1972 before making his name at West Bromwich Albion in 1975 where he made 109 appearances.

Up front, however, was a player by the name of Ronnie Whelan. A striker capped twice for the Republic of Ireland prior to this match being played, he was the father of a four-year-old son also named Ronnie who would go on to become one of the all-time greats for both Liverpool and the Irish national side. From such inconspicuous situations do future legends come.

As far as the programme is concerned, we’re provided with the welcoming (if starchy) words of Harold Needler, chairman of Hull City, J.Richards, president of the Football League and P.Haltin, president of the Football League of Ireland, plus profiles and pictures of all the players involved. There are also numerous adverts for local businesses in the Hull area, including The Dragon Chinese Restaurant (“The Bamboo Room is available”) and JJN Mackman Ltd (“Specialists in Wedding and Birthday Cakes [and] Pork Pies”).

If you look hard enough these days, you might still find inter-league matches being held from time to time, and the League of Ireland XI are among the most active of those teams still playing. Sadly the growing prominence of European club football during the 1960’s largely reduced the need for such fixtures in England and the Football League XI have rarely played since.

That’s a shame in many ways because inter-league matches offered something a little bit different and had a sense of purpose that’s difficult to deny. For the fans, there were stars to watch and admire as they played at a local ground. For the players, there was the chance to take part in a high-profile game when a full international was perhaps unlikely. For the team selectors, there was also a useful opportunity to assess individuals hoping to catch the eye and earn a cap or two.

And in this day and age, who wouldn't want to see a Premier League XI taking to the field to play against the best another country had to offer?

Forget fixture congestion - this was football played for everyone to enjoy, full of innocent pleasure the like of which many of us have long since forgotten.

FA Cup Final Programmes (1946-2012)

Continuing FA Cup Final Week here at The Football Attic, we present a video montage showing the front covers of all of the FA Cup Final match-day programmes from 1946 onwards.

Pick your favourites, pick your worst, then tell us what they are - we look forward to hearing from you!

England v Scotland programme, 1969

The final crucial game in the 1969 Home International Championship saw the holders and world champions England facing the only team that could top the table in their stead - Scotland.

The match was played at Wembley and for the first time in decades the Home International competition was played at the end of the season. Rather than having all matches scattered from October to February, the Home Internationals were now played over the course of one week in early May. It was physically more demanding for all the players involved and also less significant than the previous tournament that had acted as a qualifying contest for the 1968 European Championships.

Nonetheless, the old rivalries still remained and England fancied their chances of retaining their title. A 3-1 win over Ireland and a 2-1 win over Wales meant England needed only a draw against the Scots who knew they had to win. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent was the invited Royal guest, and she, along with 90,000 or so others would ultimately witness a high-scoring and enjoyable match.

Inside the programme, Brian Glanville set the scene by reminding us that this was all part of England’s preparation for the 1970 World Cup Finals as well as being a much welcomed annual grudge match. Only the right sort of players would be included in the Mexico '70 squad and the feint-hearted need not apply:

“The question of ‘big match temperament’ becomes increasingly vital” said Glanville. “It is risky to make quick judgements on whether or not a player has this temperament. In 1934, after Stanley Matthews, in his second international against Italy, had had a poor match, a columnist wrote in the Daily Mail that he’d shown ‘the same faults of slowness and hesitation’ as in his first match, against Wales. ‘Perhaps’ wrote the columnist ‘he has not got the big match temperament.’”  That’s the Daily Mail for you, Brian…

The England team was in the early stages of transition after the success of 1966 and, as Glanville had pointed out, Ray Wilson and George Cohen were no longer among the squad players listed at Sir Alf Ramsey’s disposal. Instead, new faces were emerging including Everton defender Gordon West, Blackburn full back Keith Newton and a promising young Leicester striker called Allan Clarke.

On the visiting side’s roster were numerous quality players, many of whom had stopped England from beating Scotland at Wembley since 1961. With Celtic's Tommy Gemmell at the back, captain Billy Bremner of Leeds United in midfield and Rangers striker Colin Stein up front, the Scots had more than a fighting chance of winning.

The England manager, however, was focused on the longer term plan of retaining the World Cup the following year. In ‘Sir Alf Speaks’, Ramsey explained the preparations already well underway in the lead up to the competition: “You are probably aware that in a few weeks the senior squad of players, most of whom I trust will be in the World Cup party next year, leave to play two matches in Mexico. Then we go on to play Uruguay in Montevideo and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. While in Mexico I intend to finalise accommodation and training arrangements for our stay there next year. I am reasonably aware of the problems facing us, particularly from a climatic and altitude viewpoint.”

Aside from match practice and accommodation, however, Sir Alf was also looking at the clothing his players would be wearing at the World Cup, and here we were given something of an exclusive: “We have been testing light-weight shirts, boots and equipment for some time. In the World Cup, we shall play in an all-white strip, which affords maximum advantage and comfort under the conditions. Our change strip will be all sky-blue.” Nice…

Back at Wembley, the fans had everything they needed in their programme to feel the sense of occasion alright. There was a quiz featuring ten questions that only the most die-hard fans could have answered, and there were trivia facts galore about the match to come.

One surrounded the fact this would be a live match covered by BBC Television – something of a rarity back in the 1960’s. A large audience watching from home was hoped for, and even an all-time record wasn't out of the question: “It will take 27 million, the number which saw the World Cup Final and almost half Britain’s entire population. One million fewer watched Manchester United beat Benfica – also at Wembley – in last year’s European Cup Final.” No pressure then…

The actual figure for that final TV audience sadly remains something of a mystery, but for the England fans witnessing the match in person, there was at least a happy ending. England won the match 4-1 and the Home International championship was there’s once more. A suitable occasion to celebrate with a glass of a well-known brand of Pale Ale, no doubt...

England v Spain programme, 1968

You can tell how old this match-day programme is because on page 2 there’s an explanation of what the European Championships is all about and how it came to be formed. Your average English football fan actually had to be told what the competition was all about.

This somewhat thin pamphlet commemorating the occasion of England’s quarter-final against Spain in April 1968 may not contain much, but it gently informs and educates the reader about a tournament that was still only eight years old at the time. Of the two previous occasions when it was held, England hadn't taken part in the first and had been eliminated in the Preliminary Round during the second.

Things were different now, however. England were world champions and had qualified for the quarter finals of the 1968 European Championships by finishing top of a group featuring Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Spain, the visitors to Wembley for the first leg of this knockout tie, were European champions but had struggled to edge past a decent Czechoslovakia side in their group.

The Spanish side were making their second visit to Wembley in less than a year, as shown on page 4. A friendly match in May 1967 had resulted in a 2-0 win for the home side but “victory did not come easily, nor soon.” England fans had waited until the 72nd minute for Jimmy Greaves to break the deadlock while Roger Hunt added a second six minutes later.

Sunday Mirror journalist Sam Leitch made light of the fact that there was an abundance of goalkeeping talent at England’s disposal. As well as the legendary Gordon Banks, Sir Alf Ramsey could also call upon the talents of Chelsea’s Peter Bonetti and Manchester United’s Alex Stepney.

For those who think Chelsea’s free-spending habits are a recent development, Leitch provides food for thought: “How remarkable that both Bonetti and Stepney began last season with the same club - Chelsea! Despite having the security of Bonetti. Chelsea went out and paid a new record fee for a goalkeeper of £55,000 to Millwall for Stepney. Then put him in the reserves.”

The top talent between the sticks didn’t end there. Peter Springett (Sheffield Wednesday), Peter Grummitt (Nottingham Forest) and Peter Shilton (Leicester City) were all pushing for attention as well as someone who Sam Leitch came desperately close to tipping for future greatness: “Then there is a young man called Dave Clemence who appeared for England’s Under-23 team against the Welsh Under-23 earlier this season. Clemence is the Liverpool reserve keeper!” I wonder whatever happened to Liverpool’s ‘Dave’ Clemence...?

Jack Rollin, statistician par excellence, was on hand to give a profile of Spain’s recent success in the European Championships as well as England’s previous matches against them. Fortunately for the English, Spain had only won three of the last nine encounters, although one had contributed to England’s disastrous campaign in the finals of the 1950 World Cup.

With fortune on their side, then, Ramsey’s team could stride confidently out onto the Wembley turf knowing that only an earlier rendition of ‘Oklahoma’ by the Band of the Irish Guards could possibly outshine them.

By the end of the night, the home fans would witness a 1-0 win for England thanks to a late Bobby Charlton goal, and if they’d forked out the £21 fare for a two-day trip to Madrid the following month, they’d have also seen the 2-1 win that ultimately earned Sir Alf’s men a place in the Euro ‘68 semi-finals.

Official Programme of the 1970 World Cup

A cheery red cover invites you to thumb through the 66 pages of this souvenir programme created as a guide to the 1970 World Cup. Priced at just six shillings (or 30p for any Brits harbouring decimal thoughts a year ahead of their time), this was the official handbook guaranteed to help you get the most out of the FIFA’s ninth global tournament.


Or at least two-thirds of it was. Some 23 pages were set aside for adverts, thus proving that rampant commercialism isn’t as new as you think. But what adverts – some for official partners like British Leyland (England’s coach providers), some for popular brands of the day like Mobil oil, and some for utterly random items like Action Man dolls (complete with sporting outfits, mark you). Even the Esso 1970 World Cup Coin Collection gets a look in.

But never mind that, I hear you cry – what sort of useful information could I find inside such an august publication? Well once we’ve been informed who makes up the World Cup Organising Committee, we’re given a short history of the competition translated into four languages. Throughout the programme, everything’s available in English, French, Spanish and German and printed in black, blue, pink and black again respectively.

After that, there are details about the previous tournaments, the qualifying results for the 1970 Finals and the ever-useful fixture list for the sixteen teams taking part.

Then it’s onto an illustrated profile of those teams and the stadia they were due to play in. Taking one group at a time, we get a black and white photograph of each venue plus a line up for each squad with monochrome images of six of the players.

Here we realise the limitations brought about by a lack of colour – and the lack of a photographer. The harsh Mexican sunlight means the likes of V Pereda and I Calderon are shown half-and-half in extreme brightness and shadow. The Swedish players look like they’ve had their photos taken at the local police station, while Bulgaria’s finest appear so dim and grainy as to be barely identifiable at all.

Yet it’s the Czechoslovakian team that causes most concern. Their team are depicted not photographically but as a series of paintings the like of which wouldn’t look out of place in the waiting room of a mental institution. Whether the budget ran out to pay for a measly six photos at the headquarters of the Czech FA we’re not quite sure, but it’s safe to say even an 80-year-old Spanish woman could have done a better job than this.

Finally at the back, there are pages where you can fill in all the scores of the matches as the tournament progresses plus the player line-ups for the two competing finalists. All in all, a curious mix of content which, it could be said, lacked the excitement brought about by Pele, Banks and their ilk, but nonetheless tried valiantly to build on the success of the previous tournament four years before.

Attic Kits Feature in Coventry City Matchday Programme

Today is a very proud day for The Football Attic and in particular, the Rich (@sofa_soccer) shaped half.

In today's Coventry City Matchday Programme for the game against Bury, 3 of my fantasy kit designs are showcased to all who buy a copy. As someone who, like Chris, spent hours of his teenage years designing kits, to have them in your home team's programme is just fantastic!


Before I go into how this came about, I want to say a big thank you to Derek and Gary of the brilliant Got, Not Got, for it is they who made this all possible. For those of you who may have missed it, we interviewed the Godfathers of Retro back in February.


Last year, I posted on twitter my ideas for a new CCFC kit, which garnered a mostly positive reception. GNG got in touch and mentioned they were doing a few features in the CCFC programme and if I sent them the designs, they might be able to get them in. I winged them over and a few weeks ago, Derek got back in touch to say they'd be featured in an upcoming issue. Derek also suggested I create a 3rd one, perhaps based around Cov's infamous use of the colour brown. Being a fan of those Coventry shirts, this gave me the perfect chance to combine the colour scheme with my favourite ever CCFC kit design...the 1987/89 Hummel outfit. I quickly put it together along with some words to accompany the kits and then tried to stop grinning before my jaw fell off.

Courtesy of GNG / CCFC Matchday Programmes

Last night, I downloaded the electronic edition of PUSB (Play Up Sky Blues) and eagerly flicked to page 13 and THERE THEY WERE!!!! I quickly read the whole article, grin back in full effect :-D

While I have never been a collector of programmes, my overriding memories of them being more the advert for Steve Earle than anything else, I do always get one when I go to a match and I have to say, putting aside any CCFC bias I may have here, that I do think Cov's programme is great. So often I've found reading a matchday prog to be a chore, rather than a joy with way too much of what seems to be filler or ads, but the CCFC one is rammed with actual proper articles. Oh and the front covers on this year's issues are brill! I HAVE to get one of those away tops!


The article can be seen above, but before I show you the kits in full, I'd like to again say a huge thanks to Got, Not Got and to Coventry City's Matchday Programme for making a teenage boy's dream come true...no, not the one about Janet Ellis ;-)

And so, the kits in full:

Home

Away

3rd

FA Cup Final Programme, 1980

A quick skim through the Official Souvenir Programme of the 1980 FA Cup Final shows that it was a mixed bag of trivia, some of it dry, some of it brilliantly evocative.

Inside, we first see the Timetable and Programme of Events for May 10th 1980. The running order for the biggest afternoon in English football had a familiar feel; marching regimental bands at 1.10pm, the marching band of Kansas State University at 1.35, more from the regimental bands of the Guards' Division at 2.30 and again at half time, Abide With Me at 2.45 and The Duke of Duchess of Kent shaking hands with the players at 2.50. So far, so regimented.

On page 5, we get a word from Ted Croker, FA Secretary, who speaks of the growing trend for Second Division clubs to do well in the FA Cup Final (Sunderland and Southampton being recent examples at the time). This was a good omen for West Ham although, as Croker said, Arsenal "seemed to have reserved a permanent place at Wembley. This will be the club's third Wembley Final in succession – a record…" He signed off by telling readers that the Final would "be seen on TV in over 60 countries" and by hundreds of millions of people. It would probably have been more were it not for all those regimental marching bands showing up every five minutes.

Further inside the programme, there are detailed club profiles on Arsenal and West Ham along with full colour pictures of the two teams, in case you'd forgotten what they looked like. Furthermore, there are double-page profiles of the two teams to give some detail on the playing staff in each case. We're told that "in August 1977, [Pat Jennings] joined Arsenal from neighbours Tottenham Hotspur. Would Spurs have let him go for £45,000 if they had known he would play for their greatest rivals at Wembley in 1978, 1979 and 1980?" Probably not, but there again if my aunt had balls, would she be my uncle? The answer to both questions is likely to be the same.

The FA Cup Final programme of 1980 serves as much as a condensed reference book as any kind of souvenir. There are pages devoted to previous Cup Final results, Cup Facts ('compiled by Jack Rollin') and Goals Galore ('Scoring feats from past FA Cup Finals') but aside from the statistics and the plentiful colour action photos of both teams, the real charm can found in the filler material. Here, we get a perfect snapshot of the era through the adverts dotted willy-nilly throughout.

There's one for the Sunday Mirror featuring "Kevin Keegan of England and Hamburg – soon Southampton" who was writing a column for the weekend tabloid at the time. Keegan also cropped up in a small advert for Mitre Sports, alongside another for Adidas bearing a tiny caption telling us that Umbro International (Footwear) Ltd were "the sole UK distributors of Adidas products." Quite a sporting gesture on the part of the future England kit suppliers in more ways than one.

Elsewhere, there's an advert for the Victor range of men's toiletries - a useful reference for anyone wondering whether Brut 33 was the low point in male grooming products at the start of the 1980's. Another advertises Skol, surely as ubiquitous in pubs back then as pictures of topless models on Big D peanut dispensers and a predilection for cirrhosis of the liver and lung cancer among the regulars.

But for those wanting a lasting memory of a wonderful day at the FA Cup Final, page 48 of the programme was where it was all happening. There it was possible to choose your commemorative gift to remind you of the big day from a range of Wembley branded products. Blue and white wrist band? Certainly – that'll be 90p. How about a "slide card" as a pocket size-record of all FA Cup Final matches since 1872? No problem – 55p.

And if the 'Italian-made sports bag' didn't take your fancy (despite being made from 'durable nylon - £4.99') there was always the opposite page featuring 8mm soccer home movies. Two hundred feet of celluloid bliss – some even with sound – from just £8.30. What more could a football fan want? Perhaps a ticket to the upcoming Harlem Globetrotters game, but for that you'd need to contact the Wembley Box Office.

England v USSR (Match-Day Programme, 1984)

We're delighted to bring you our very first guest post courtesy of Rob Langham, a member of the team behind the brilliant blogsite The Two Unfortunates. Here, Rob takes us back 28 years to an international game he attended at Wembley and the match-day programme that accompanied it...

The programme for England’s international against the USSR, a match that took place on 2 June 1984, is a fascinating time capsule, not least due to the advertising strategies of the time - more of which later.

Unbeknownst to all of us at the time, the Soviet Union only had another seven years to run. Mikhail Gorbachev was still a year away from assuming office and our relationship with the USSR was filtered through the prism of the late Cold War period - tit for tat Olympic boycotts and Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s video for Two Tribes perhaps the most memorable manifestations of international relations.

That was a polyglot Soviet side. Having performed solidly at the 1982 World Cup in Spain, they, like England, had failed to reach that Summer’s European Championships in France. Far from Russian-dominated, the various republics of the union were well represented with captain Aleksandr Chivadze and Tengiz Sulakvelidze representing Georgia, Sergei Aleinikov and Sergei Stukachov hailing from Belarus and Kazakhstan respectively, and the Armenian Khoren Oganesyan acting as the XI’s primary creative force.

All of that was to be swept away two years later of course - as incoming manager Valeriy Lobanovskiy made a better fist of what Ron Greenwood had tried to do with Liverpool players for England the previous decade by jettisoning much of the existing squad (including Oganesyan - dropped for developing a ‘star complex’) and packing the team with the Ukrainians of Dynamo Kyiv.

But for now, it was an effective and unspectacular unit that cantered to a 2-0 victory against an England led by Bobby Robson.

In his programme notes, Robson opined about the lack of availability of players on a consistent basis and it was a weakened team that eventually took the field here - Mike Duxbury’s horrendous error allowing for the first goal and provoking a chorus of boos in a sparsely populated Wembley.

The old guard - Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher, Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins and Trevor Francis was supplemented by a number of newcomers with perhaps the most significant being Gary Lineker - appearing in the squad for the first time in the 1-0 defeat to Wales that Spring.

But the number of unlikely names betrays a team in transition after the failure to overcome Denmark in European Championship qualifying. Former NASL man Steve Hunt, David Armstrong, Mike Hazard and John Gregory all made it to Bisham Abbey.

The most intriguing of the inclusions was winger Mark Chamberlain, Dad of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a man who performed spiritedly on the afternoon - overshadowing the man on the opposite flank, John Barnes (the latter was to have the last laugh a few days later when he scored after a mazy run against Brazil).



There was also a Watford inflection to things - as reigning European under-21 Champions, Robson had seen fit to promote a number of that set up to the full team and Nigel Callaghan was one to benefit. Add to that Luther Blissett, at the time a Milan player but forged at Vicarage Road nonetheless.

But the theme didn’t end there. In a year that saw the Hertfordshire club reach an FA Cup Final, the programme advertised ‘The Summer of 84 Concert’ for later that month, with chairman Elton John headlining, supported by Nik Kershaw, Paul Young, Kool & The Gang and Wang Chung plus DJ appearances from Steve Wright and Simon Bates among others. Dull and dreary England’s 2-0 defeat may have been but presumably considerably less horrific than the entertainment offered by that shower.

Elsewhere in the publicity sections, the prospect of gridiron action involving the Tampa Bay Bandits and Philadelphia Stars was offered (no, I haven’t heard of them either) and a typically oblique Benson and Hedges adorned the back page - MIDDLE TAR.

Our thanks go to Rob for that wonderful trip down memory lane, and don't forget you can catch more of Rob's writing (together with that of many other fine folk) at www.thetwounfortunates.com. We also urge you to follow TheTwoUnfortunates on Twitter, too.

If you'd like to contribute an article of your own, please do so - simply contact @COakleyFtbl or @sofa_soccer on Twitter or leave us a comment on one of our blog posts and let us know all the details. Cheers!

Steve Earl's Football Programmes

Since I first bought a copy of Shoot! for 42p (a price rise of 2 pence on the previous week’s issue I found out later...scandalous!), I have always been drawn to the adverts section near the back of football magazines. The promise of football-related goodies, often in full colour, tempting me all these years. 

Looking back on 25 years' worth of ads, it’s funny how some things have changed and others not. The ads aimed at kids have changed dramatically, moving with the times, as one would expect. Pastel shaded drawings of rosy faced children in England pyjamas (the ad was for football pyjamas, I'd like to point out) replaced with the headache inducing ‘LOOK AT MY AWESOME STUFF IT’S SO AWESOME AAAAAAAARGH!!!!!’ style adverts prevalent in today’s brain mush kids’ football rags.

Adverts aimed at the older end of the age spectrum have changed little; their sober, informative format giving the consumer just what they want – information about what the product is, what it does, how you can obtain it and, in the ‘olden’ days, the standard line about allowing 28 days for delivery.

One specific advert that never seems to have changed is the one that always caught my eye as a lad and still does now.  That of Steve Earl’s Football Programmes.

Advert from Shoot!, July 1986

 

When Saturday Comes, January 2012

The same goofy, child-bearing-hipped football fan – arm still raised aloft, still giving that curious thumbs up, possibly referring to the FREE programmes (NB: in these hard economic times, this is now just a free programme catalogue) the ad’s strapline has always carried and still clutching a handful of programmes. This figure has been invading my conscious mind for over 21 years and yet, despite this apparently excellent marketing device, the crucial piece of info missing from my memory when I came to research this was... who the hell is this advert for? For as much as I could remember the cartoon, that it was for football programmes and that it offered FREE programmes, I had no idea who was selling / giving them away.

In truth this is probably down to me not really being into football programmes, so I never felt the need to read past the first few lines. I did consider sending off for some free ones back in the day, the offer of free things by post having a very strong allure to a child whose only real post up until that point had been the limited edition Star Wars figures (send 3 names / proof of purchases from the backing cards).

Upon further research (reading my old copies of Shoot! after a trip to the garage), I discovered it was for the aforementioned Steve Earl.  I also discovered, to my disappointment and mild horror as it almost torpedoed the whole angle of this post, that in the copies of Shoot! from 1990, the advert had shrunk to only a few lines and more importantly, Mr GoofyProgrammeMan wasn’t there!!!  Rising costs and an imminent recession obviously took their toll and poor old GPM was laid off. It also now cost a whopping 50p, albeit in unused stamps, to obtain the desired free, sorry, FREE programmes. 

 

1990 - FREE Football Programmes still available, but no Goofy Programme Man?

Thankfully, despite worldwide economic meltdown, Steve seems to have fully embraced the value of solid branding and restored good ol' Goofy to his rightful place...just to the left of the title.

One more thing I love about this advert is that, through all the years, the font may have changed, GPM may have taken a sabbatical, colour may have arrived, but one thing that has remained constant is the address.  Broad Street, Bungay, Suffolk NR35 1AH.  I can just picture it now...actually, with Google Maps and street view I can do just that...so here it is...

The Promised Land!

Steve Earl's Football Programmes, I may never have sent off for your enticing offer, but you have been a steady rock in my turbulent life for two and a half decades and for that, I salute you!