This may be minor news compared to what you’re all waiting for, but this weekend sees the release of a newly designed programme.
Details are sketchy at present, but a tweet from the club today confirmed that the newly designed programme will be on sale against Notts County. I do know one thing; yours truly is still involved in producing an article. Also, the price is remaining at £3 a copy and the new partners involved in producing the programme have a few high-profile customers other than the Imps.
Ignition Sports Media have been given the task of helping us with the programme and they boast current Premier League giants, Manchester City as well as Newcastle United, Watford and Huddersfield Town amongst their clients. The EFL also place their trust in the company as Ignition produce the programmes for the Play Off Finals as well as the Carabao Cup Final.
Now, I appreciate many of you either don’t buy a programme or don’t really care what it looks like, but there are a small band of us collectors who are very excited about the new design. It is highly unusual for a programme to change design midway through a season. The only time I can recall it happening was in 1987/88 when we started the year with our Division Four-style programme before relegation, but after the Barnet game switched to a brighter, more modern design for the rest of the GMVC.
? Look out for the new look Imps Matchday magazine this weekend ‘#UTI‘ https://t.co/Zf6cmpeJqD
— Lincoln City FC (@LincolnCity_FC) January 11, 2018
Yes, that’s how sad I am. I see a match day programme as an invaluable window in time, something to be cherished and, many years later, something that can be opened and immediately offer you a portal back to that very match. It holds more than just teams news, it is a reflection of the club culture at any given moment. I spend hours looking back over old programmes, reading the little snippets in some that became major news in others, reading managers views on players they’re bringing in, looking at how the chairman write-up the situations we were in and, of course, looking at all those old Imps in action.
Personally the new programme hold a great deal of excitement for me, another reason why Saturday is set to be a special experience.
As you say Gary minor news in context of what we want to see but another step in the transition from a non league club to a progressive football league club.
As a former producer of non league programmes in Norfolk I’ve felt The Imp, while containing much information, could do with livening up. I only became a regular attender this season as a season ticket holder, and started buying the programme each match but began to stop getting it after a while as it got a bit “samey” and the appearance could do with a makeover. One request I would make of the new edition is that the colours of typefaces and their backgrounds needs more thought as for example small red fonts on black grounds do not work as in the old programme!