Forest Matchday programme - your feedback wanted

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I have some constructive suggestions although I am so full-on with work it's unlikely to be this week before I can send anything.

For now, over the last season there was an improvement. However .....

it's still not worth the money

the seemingly apparent absence of proof reading is embarrassing

the programme does not represent Forest at all well, but it can do and it will do.

More asap.

I haven’t seen the survey in the programme myself yet but there’s no time limit as far as I’m concerned for anything anyone wants to raise via me.

I entirely agree about the proofreading. It was very annoying when I spent hours collating all the European stats for the Villa semi-final programme only for the designers to make a right mess of the table with the overall stats and then nobody at the club proofread it so the mangled version was published. And that was after I had written that any possible errors in the stats were mine! And almost every issue there’s something that hasn’t been corrected - a chunk of text repeated, a sentence ending mid-sentence, a bit of text left in from the previous issue, etc. The worst example was when the cover of the Wolves programme spelled Wanderers wrong.

As I said to the editor yesterday, this is an official mouthpiece of a club at the highest level of the game and we shouldn’t be getting this stuff wrong. He knows this and he is also frustrated at the errors the designers have made (though as editor it should be him spotting them not me!) so I hope he can be assertive and get them to do a better, more professional job next season.

Anyway, thanks as ever for your interest in this and I hope you get the chance to have your say, either directly or through me.

 

[Malwood]

I still buy a physical programme for important games as a momento, eg the FA cup semi-final, the Europa league game against Porto that was Dyche's first game, that kind of thing.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I still buy a physical programme for important games as a momento, eg the FA cup semi-final, the Europa league game against Porto that was Dyche's first game, that kind of thing.

I think that happens a lot. I get all the home programmes but these days only get away ones from games I go to, (none since promotion apart from the FA Cup semi), though I did get the one from the 3-0 FA Cup win at Manchester City just after they became the richest club in the world and also the one from last year’s win at Anfield as it was our first win there since 1969. And the editor said the Bournemouth programme sold out, so I dare say quite a few people got it as a kind of souvenir of the season or maybe more away fans than usual got one as their European fate depended on the game.

 

[donny]

I think that happens a lot. I get all the home programmes but these days only get away ones from games I go to, (none since promotion apart from the FA Cup semi), though I did get the one from the 3-0 FA Cup win at Manchester City just after they became the richest club in the world and also the one from last year’s win at Anfield as it was our first win there since 1969. And the editor said the Bournemouth programme sold out, so I dare say quite a few people got it as a kind of souvenir of the season or maybe more away fans than usual got one as their European fate depended on the game.

My dad, who, like me, is a season ticket holder, and gets a digital programme, got one for the Bournemouth game because of the little fat bloke on the cover. Its another one to go into his collection of programmes.

 

[All I want is a boat]

I used to buy a programme every game I went to, but only buy 1 or 2 a season now, but my regular programme seller is, and always has been super friendly.
Would be very interested in sales numbers, but I haven’t read the whole thread yet.

I have never opened the digital one, Also interested in unique open numbers on that.

My feedback would be that it’s very good quality but actually making it less quality would be unique. Foldable for the back pocket would be good.

Content is also great, but if approximately 25% could be fan articles with a lucky dip of fan-owned small businesses advertising for a tiny fee that would also be a unique offering.

 

[valspoodle]

Is there facility for buying after the game? I used to buy before the game, never read it through properly because there was so much going on before games, then, after the game, find that it didn't fit comfortably into the pocket and just leave it under the seat.

Those I have brought away get read in the fullness of time if not straight after the match.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Is there facility for buying after the game? I used to buy before the game, never read it through properly because there was so much going on before games, then, after the game, find that it didn't fit comfortably into the pocket and just leave it under the seat.

Those I have brought away get read in the fullness of time if not straight after the match.

I don’t know of anything the club provides; there’s certainly no mention of programmes on the Forest store website. I’ve not been in the store itself for a few years so I don’t know whether or not they have anything other than the current one on a matchday. MSR News on the corner of Trent Bridge and Radcliffe Road have quite a few, usually the current season with maybe a handful of other ones from big games. I don’t know if they do mail order. Otherwise there are a few programme dealers online and you can usually find them on EBay too. The main Forest programme dealers online is Trent End Programmes as I used to have a subscription from Gary until the club offered me free copies because I contribute.

So if there’s a specific programme you want you should be able to find it somewhere.

 

[All I want is a boat]

Is there facility for buying after the game? I used to buy before the game, never read it through properly because there was so much going on before games, then, after the game, find that it didn't fit comfortably into the pocket and just leave it under the seat.

Those I have brought away get read in the fullness of time if not straight after the match.

If you would be so kind as to furnish me with your seat location, I can provide an excellent free of charge programme collection service.

Not that I’m tight or anything

 

[Fawazzock]

Dont go to many game since promotion, but nearly always buy a programme and barely read it

My lad will sometimes read them cover to cover, other times not at all.

I like the concept of a programme so I tend to get them. A collectible from the event.

I do miss the days of fanzines, and while those days are gone, I would like to see some of the character, humour, creativity, community and imperfect elements of a fanzine in the programme. Particularly the humour. The Oatcake of Stoke City was brilliant.

Also think variety of content is key for demographics across the decades and different interests. so many different flavours of football fandom.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Dont go to many game since promotion, but nearly always buy a programme and barely read it

My lad will sometimes read them cover to cover, other times not at all.

I like the concept of a programme so I tend to get them. A collectible from the event.

I do miss the days of fanzines, and while those days are gone, I would like to see some of the character, humour, creativity, community and imperfect elements of a fanzine in the programme. Particularly the humour. The Oatcake of Stoke City was brilliant.

Also think variety of content is key for demographics across the decades and different interests. so many different flavours of football fandom.


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Thanks for that. The age of the fanzine isn’t quite gone, though. There’s one called Oh Mist Rolling In that you can buy from Trentside (just round the corner from the bridge, next to an official programme seller) on match days. It doesn’t go for humour in the way some of the earlier fanzines did but it packs a lot in and has quite a variety of writers and subjects. Well worth its price of £3, I reckon, and from the number of issues they churn out over a season there must be a new one every 2 or 3 weeks, so there’s plenty to read for anyone who thinks the programme is too corporate or doesn’t have enough written content.

 

[valspoodle]

I don’t know of anything the club provides; there’s certainly no mention of programmes on the Forest store website. I’ve not been in the store itself for a few years so I don’t know whether or not they have anything other than the current one on a matchday. MSR News on the corner of Trent Bridge and Radcliffe Road have quite a few, usually the current season with maybe a handful of other ones from big games. I don’t know if they do mail order. Otherwise there are a few programme dealers online and you can usually find them on EBay too. The main Forest programme dealers online is Trent End Programmes as I used to have a subscription from Gary until the club offered me free copies because I contribute.

So if there’s a specific programme you want you should be able to find it somewhere.

Thanks for the info, I was a bit busy yesterday, so forgot to reply.

 

[valspoodle]

If you would be so kind as to furnish me with your seat location, I can provide an excellent free of charge programme collection service.

Not that I’m tight or anything

I don't go to games these days, so I'm afraid I can't take advantage of your generous offer. A few of the suggested solutions might be useful though, which I shall explore. Plus that fanzine mentioned.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I don't go to games these days, so I'm afraid I can't take advantage of your generous offer. A few of the suggested solutions might be useful though, which I shall explore. Plus that fanzine mentioned.

Duane, who edits and sells OMRI, was saying he’s putting together a mailing list as there are presumably a few other readers like me who are keen to support the fanzine but don’t live near enough to the WFCG to buy each issue in person. If you’re interested I would be happy to pass on the details when I hear them.

 

[valspoodle]

Duane, who edits and sells OMRI, was saying he’s putting together a mailing list as there are presumably a few other readers like me who are keen to support the fanzine but don’t live near enough to the WFCG to buy each issue in person. If you’re interested I would be happy to pass on the details when I hear them.

Yes please.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Yes please.

OK. If/when I hear anything I’ll let you know.

 

[All I want is a boat]

I don't go to games these days, so I'm afraid I can't take advantage of your generous offer. A few of the suggested solutions might be useful though, which I shall explore. Plus that fanzine mentioned.

Thanks V

Im not a marketing expert, but I do think a pivot away from the “match day magazine” could be a decent shout. Fan contributions are so important and just on this site alone there are some vey eloquent writers.

From a Forest fan with a genuine 1959 programme

 

[Steve B]

Introduce some humour, be a bit radical, invite the fella from Bandy & Shinty to do a double page light-hearted section. Do something unique, because at the moment it’s a bit boring to be honest.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Introduce some humour, be a bit radical, invite the fella from Bandy & Shinty to do a double page light-hearted section. Do something unique, because at the moment it’s a bit boring to be honest.

One thing the editor and I both want is more input from supporters, so I would hope there will be opportunities for people to contribute. In my view that would create a better balance between the corporate side of things and the more personal contributions only supporters can bring. Humour can be tricky as different people find different things amusing and of course the programme is an official mouthpiece of the club, so there will be things that couldn’t be said in the programme that could more easily be said in here, for example. That said, the two things (corporate mouthpiece and humour) are not mutually exclusive.

As for “the fella from Bandy & Shinty” my recollection is that there were four people behind the whole project, aided and abetted by numerous contributors, both professional and amateur. Maybe you’re thinking of David Marples, who did indeed have a thoughtful and entertaining column in the programme for a few years? Actually, I think B&S is a really good reference point as the quality and passion was so consistently high. I would love for Forest to have a programme that stood out from others the way that B&S stood out from other fan-generated publications, but sadly I don’t think Forest have the resources to achieve that - we have one person where, for example, Manchester United have a dozen or more… What we can do, though, is make it as high-quality and distinctive as we can.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. As mentioned, I will include ideas raised here in my discussions with the editor but would encourage anyone who has the Bournemouth programme (hard copy or digital) and/or gets an email from the club to fill in the survey and have their say.