Expert reveals how matchday programmes could be worth thousands

The upcoming Carabao Cup Final in March will be enormously significant for both teams competing for the first available silverware of 2025. For Liverpool, it might mark the first in what might be many for new Dutch manager Arne Slot in a hugely successful post-Klopp era. For the long-suffering Newcastle fans, can boss Eddie Howe break a staggering 70-year hoodoo and finally bring home domestic silverware to the Geordie nation?

Fans will descend on the capital from the North West and North East respectively, many repeating long-held traditions passed down through visits of the past. For Liverpool fans, they can count on more than 40 visits to Wembley, during both its Twin Towers era pre-2002 and since then. Barring visits to ‘away’ matches while Tottenham Hotspurs temporarily played their home matches there, the Magpies have only once taken the trip down Wembley Way since its new look was unveiled in 2007, and that was just two seasons ago in the same competition.

Emma Thompson from book, leaflet and programme print specialist at WTTB was also an Arsenal player in her youth and played alongside the likes of former Chelsea and current US women’s soccer manager, Emma Hayes. Here, the self-professed Tottenham Hotspur addict takes a look at the enduring and lasting nature of the football programme.

Part of that tradition of any match is the matchday programme. In existence at football matches for more than 140 years, they have incredibly stood the test of time as part of that matchday experience. Along with the unmistakable whiff of cheap burgers, fried onions and roadside horse poo from the mounted police, there’s something about folding a matchday programme under your arm on your way into the stadium, or rolling it into your back pocket, that’s unmistakably nostalgic.

In a digital era, fans can keep up to date with news about the club and their favourite players at any minute of any day. Programme production has stood the test of time incredibly well. Tried to get a printed ticket for a match, or a gig recently. Or faced the expensive wrath of having the temerity to print your Ryanair boarding pass? Not as easy as it sounds.

Stories of old, rare or special programmes resurfacing, sometimes for many thousands of pounds, have undoubtedly maintained interest for some looking to turn a few quid on its future value. That appeal has encouraged fans to go hunt out the dusty boxes in the loft to see if there are collectors items in their hoard.

The record sale of any programme remains the £35,000 demanded for a programme from the 1882 FA Cup Final between Blackburn Rovers and Old Etonians FC. But big matches from the past invariably bring added value to that match programme too.

Take that wonderful summer’s day at Wembley in 1966, for example. The programme from the England v West Germany match was so popular that it had three subsequent reprints because so many wanted a memento of the day England’s men got its hands on what remains their sole tournament victory. Little wonder, then, that original prints pass hands for hundreds of pounds.

However, showpiece finals of yesteryear aren’t necessarily the best sellers, and a range of different factors can affect the value of a matchday programme. Condition of the programme, the year of the match and other significant factors, like whether it turned out to be a particular player or manager’s last match for that club, can affect its value later in life.

For example, a programme produced for Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool Testimonial, which has been signed by the great man himself, is yours for a few pounds short of £1,000.  More recently, despite matchday programmes now being widely available to fans, even if they’re not attending the match itself, additions such as a player autograph can change things considerably. Trent Alexander’s autographed copies of the 2019 Champions League Final v Spurs are passing hands for almost £150.

Back in the day, a pre-season friendly between Liverpool and Rotherham may not have been the highlight in the football calendar for what then was an uncelebrated Liverpool side. But this is widely believed to have been the first time the Merseyside giants produced a matchday programme, way back in 1892. As well as team line ups, the programme that day also offered fans a guide on the newly-introduced offside rules. A copy of this can expect to go for upwards of five figures now.

Generally, programmes surviving in good condition from the pre-war era are seen to be among the most collectible, but there are a number of examples of more recent programmes that can still fetch big numbers at auction.

Some of the rarest programmes are from matches that, well, weren’t even matches. In February 1986, the UK was in the grip of an extended freeze and football fixtures were decimated. In anticipation of games being on, many clubs still produced programmes. When West Ham United’s third round FA Cup tie with Manchester United fell foul to the weather, the club officially said all programmes produced for the original tie would be destroyed. However it seems some were secretly saved from the pulping machine, and one was bought at auction for a few pounds shy of £500 just a few years ago.

So the message is to most definitely protect those copies of the programmes you have. One day, they could well earn you a pretty penny.