Boro Prog 99-00

Within this section are the original designs and final pages from Boro's Official Match Day Programme from season 1999-2000.

Following a joint editorial role with Eric Pickup for the previous season, I took over the entire publication for the first season back in the Conference. And with this role the then Commercial Manager Russ Green asked me what I would like to change. My first words were 'the whole lot!'.

So over the summer of 1999 I went about designing every single page of the programme. From start to finish!

I incorporated the best bits which I had introduced to the programme in the previous season, and used the design skills picked up producing the fanzines to come up with a readable, colourful, informative, statistical, well designed and full of content programme.

It was proved to work well as sales were very good. As a percentage of sales to attendances the number sold became better than the previous four seasons of league football. Around 700 copies were printed for each game dependant on the opposition. For example maybe a couple of hundred more for the game against Doncaster, and less for games against the likes of Forest Green and Welling.

As you can see to the left, with the front cover design and finished article, I started with a base designed and printed from my home PC and that was then transferred to the printers in Barnsley who imitated my designs into there master copies as best they could. This of course meant some differences, but as you will see the majority of pages were pretty much spot on.

From there the printers went about printing massive bulk copies of every colour part of the programme which wasn't to be changed week in week out. They printed a month's worth of pages at once.

Then week-to-week these were overlaid with the text and pictures for each individual programme once it had all been written up and faxed to the printers. Most of the club officials were good at getting their articles in on time, but two or three needed constant reminders! No names mentioned!!

So here for you now is a selection of the pages from the programme with it's original design next to it as a comparison. However, ignore the vast majority of the text as it was just put in for template purposes. I think the printers got it pretty much spot on - although I am always a bit of a perfectionist with these things and I did pick fault at the mistakes!!!

Click the links to view......