Hi all. Just wanted to gather some opinions about the Charlton programme Valley Review. Do you think it is value for money and what content do you actually like in it?
Seth Plum hates it but doesn't read it first before slagging it off so ignore his comments.
Giving how short staffed the Comms team are and how much grief they get from the regime, they do a great job.
Bits I like most are the historic articles from the museum but I might be just a little biased on that.
The in depth player interviews are worthwhile too and the match reports for the youth and U23 and womens teams are often new info to me.
The illustrations ie "the bigger picture" were a good feature.
Don't really like the deadly duos for the away team but can see that it's an effort to find a new angle on the other side.
I never pay as the museum gets a complimentary copy so can't comment on value for money. Never been a programme collector but £3 seems to be the Standard price at nearly all grounds.
Given that Meire wanted to scrap it, on that basis alone I say we should keep it.
PS The handbook is brilliant and I wish it was a stand alone issue.
My response is more about programmes in general, as it's a few years now since I bought a Valley Review (you all know why). But my opinion of programmes generally is that they need to develop significantly if they are to survive. The proportion of people attending matches without a smart phone is very small and getting smaller. In the eighties and nineties programmes seemed to get ever bigger and glossier with more pictures and more nonsense as clubs tried to position programmes as premium magazines. The eyes of those easily drawn to bright lights loved them, but I suspect a lot of programme collectors got frustrated with the amount of space they took up. Modern IT is a significant threat to the football programme: People can find out the teams instantly, thousands of high quality pictures can accessed instantly, better stats are available through Opta, Footballstats our own Statbank, and dozens of other places than are typically published in most programmes. Short attention-spanned kids are no longer dependent of Face Muddle or some other simplistic formularised quiz to get five minutes of entertainment, they can play interactive games all the way through every bore-draw.
In short, much or what people were prepared to pay a premium for 20 years ago is now available free and instantly on their phone. It strikes me that programmes need to alter if they are to maintain any audience at all. For the souvenir collector they need to become smaller and cheaper. For the more serious reader (and in many cases that may be the same people) they need longer in-depth articles; unique content that cannot be sourced elsewhere. As someone whose house must be a fire hazard with the amount of old programmes stacked up in the loft, I think Valley Review may have quite a task to reconvert me into a regular buyer. Sadly though, it looks like they'll have a fair bit of time to work on that.
Used to buy it every match without fail but haven’t bought since 2014. Regardless of the quality or not or the content, nobody should be paying money for this.
Seth Plum hates it but doesn't read it first before slagging it off so ignore his comments.
Giving how short staffed the Comms team are and how much grief they get from the regime, they do a great job.
Bits I like most are the historic articles from the museum but I might be just a little biased on that.
The in depth player interviews are worthwhile too and the match reports for the youth and U23 and womens teams are often new info to me.
The illustrations ie "the bigger picture" were a good feature.
Don't really like the deadly duos for the away team but can see that it's an effort to find a new angle on the other side.
I never pay as the museum gets a complimentary copy so can't comment on value for money. Never been a programme collector but £3 seems to be the Standard price at nearly all grounds.
Given that Meire wanted to scrap it, on that basis alone I say we should keep it.
PS The handbook is brilliant and I wish it was a stand alone issue.
I usually buy the handbook edition once a season. Interesting you invoke my opinion in your early remarks. Defensive much.
My change in order to buy it again (only my taste I emphasise) would be more copy, less pictures, easy accessed stats, a lot of stuff about the opposition, half its size on the A4 type scale to easily carry and put in a pocket, printed on Private Eye style paper and costing £2 maximum.
The programme is reasonable, but to me other club programmes are better as they have more content (for the same £3)
The historical features and the detailed player interviews are good, the "deadly duo" type features I imagine are syndicated as I've seen them in other club's programmes as well.
One thing I do like is that our programme always has cumulative player stats, it amazes me when you see the stats for the home players in some club programmes, and all it has is that season's numbers
I stopped buying programmes when they changed the size of them and started making them like glossy magazines, wouldn't pay more than £2.50 for a programme now, unless it was a special match.
I bought a programme at every game I attended from 1968 until our Premier league years. They moved home with me twice, from loft to loft. Eventually I offered them to the museum. They took some. The rest went for recycling, except maybe 50 'special' copies.
It was hard to break the habit, but I feel the programme has had it's day. Technology has overtaken it.
Nothing will entice me to buy one again. Bar another visit to Wembley.
I stopped buying a programme when I realised that my current large collection in the loft would only be fit for recycling in a few years time, a bit like me. I would buy the handbook edition as a one off every season.
I don't buy it anymore for obvious reasons but occasionally read it as the bloke in front of me asks me to look after his sometimes. I think it compares favourably with others that I occasionally get to see.
Anyone purchased this with CAFC cash? Wouldn't give me the option.
Get a full refund and then buy it
I'd be flabbergasted if Mr Elliot and chums end up giving a refund.
Cannot use CAFC cash to buy the programmes either as there is no money in the club. They are getting the dosh off fans now so they can get their order in with the printers.
Let me say huge credit to those who have had an input into getting this published. It current circumstances it cannot have been easy to produce a programme but they have put together in my opinion an absolutely first class edition. And it contains a very well written tribute to Seb.
Seriously, get yourself a copy even if you don't usually buy one.
And thanks again to all at the club who produced this programme.
Comments
Seth Plum hates it but doesn't read it first before slagging it off so ignore his comments.
Giving how short staffed the Comms team are and how much grief they get from the regime, they do a great job.
Bits I like most are the historic articles from the museum but I might be just a little biased on that.
The in depth player interviews are worthwhile too and the match reports for the youth and U23 and womens teams are often new info to me.
The illustrations ie "the bigger picture" were a good feature.
Don't really like the deadly duos for the away team but can see that it's an effort to find a new angle on the other side.
I never pay as the museum gets a complimentary copy so can't comment on value for money. Never been a programme collector but £3 seems to be the Standard price at nearly all grounds.
Given that Meire wanted to scrap it, on that basis alone I say we should keep it.
PS The handbook is brilliant and I wish it was a stand alone issue.
In short, much or what people were prepared to pay a premium for 20 years ago is now available free and instantly on their phone. It strikes me that programmes need to alter if they are to maintain any audience at all. For the souvenir collector they need to become smaller and cheaper. For the more serious reader (and in many cases that may be the same people) they need longer in-depth articles; unique content that cannot be sourced elsewhere. As someone whose house must be a fire hazard with the amount of old programmes stacked up in the loft, I think Valley Review may have quite a task to reconvert me into a regular buyer. Sadly though, it looks like they'll have a fair bit of time to work on that.
Interesting you invoke my opinion in your early remarks.
Defensive much.
The historical features and the detailed player interviews are good, the "deadly duo" type features I imagine are syndicated as I've seen them in other club's programmes as well.
One thing I do like is that our programme always has cumulative player stats, it amazes me when you see the stats for the home players in some club programmes, and all it has is that season's numbers
I bought a programme at every game I attended from 1968 until our Premier league years. They moved home with me twice, from loft to loft. Eventually I offered them to the museum. They took some. The rest went for recycling, except maybe 50 'special' copies.
It was hard to break the habit, but I feel the programme has had it's day. Technology has overtaken it.
Nothing will entice me to buy one again. Bar another visit to Wembley.
I assume many of the staff involved with the regular programme have been furloughed, so were they recalled to produce this?
Nice touch from the club putting Seb on there.
Instead of donating my surplus cafc cash, I'll be using it towards that.
The first lost season article sounds well worth the money alone 😂
Actually had tears in my eyes when I saw it
Anyone else paid for it like that?
Cannot use CAFC cash to buy the programmes either as there is no money in the club. They are getting the dosh off fans now so they can get their order in with the printers.
Let me say huge credit to those who have had an input into getting this published. It current circumstances it cannot have been easy to produce a programme but they have put together in my opinion an absolutely first class edition. And it contains a very well written tribute to Seb.
Seriously, get yourself a copy even if you don't usually buy one.
And thanks again to all at the club who produced this programme.