The matchday programme is a staple part of any reasonably-sized sporting event. In years gone by, they were a collector’s item for fans of all ages. These days, a quick look on eBay shows that a decent-sized assortment of these mags will go for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Unfortunately, in Australia we haven’t quite seemed to fully grasp the concept at an A-League level.
Granted, we have magazines like The Full 90, which is the ‘official matchday programme’ for the A-League, and other publications such as Australian Football Weekly to try and complement it - but when you consider that most of the time these magazines spend their time talking about John Aloisi’s preferred treatment for dandruff rather than your own club’s fortunes, it does begin to grate. Especially when you consider what’s on offer as an alternative.
In many instances, you don’t even have to look far for a superior product. Away in Adelaide last year, I and some other Perth supporters had a good laugh at the local rag ‘Because of a Pissant Town’ - nice and informative, with interviews, opinions, and humour abound. As far as I know, it was a one-off issue, but it shows with a bit of organisation fans can come up with writing that could easily please the masses. Back home in Perth we have ‘Planet Purple’, the fanzine with a rocket in its logo. I’m not going to say Haymarket or News Limited are going to start employing us as star writers anytime soon, but fanzine authors are able cut through FFA restrictions and PR spin to produce a product that addresses local issues, without needing to give a generic league-wide summary; and really, this is what matchday magazines are about.
I don’t go to my Glory vs Melbourne game expecting to read about Newcastle’s struggles with Sydney. Well, maybe I could put up with a few column inches of that, but not when 3/4 of the magazine is devoted to things totally irrelevant to my club! If I want a summary of the league in general, I’ll read FourFourTwo. When I turn up on matchday, I want to know about this match. These clubs. Those players. Nobody else. And I’ll take a bit of irreverent humour with it too, dammit!
Your Local
As an idea as to what I’m talking about here, consider this matchday programme obtained from a League Two side here in England. The team in question might have existed for a hundred or so more years than my own, so perhaps the ‘on this day in 1920’ feature may not be so relevant, but let’s see what else is in store in the 64-page product, available for only five Australian dollars.
We have a welcome from the club chairman, and another from the coach, talking about the upcoming match. A club bulletin board follows - talking about recent functions, celebrations, and other local community-related information. There’s a detailed rundown of the club’s previous match, complete with action photos and player interviews. This ties in well with advertisements for next year’s season tickets, and packages for the remaining games of the season.
We then have a feature on the opposition club, what they’ve been up to this season and what to expect from their team today, including the danger men to watch. There’s even a section devoted to today’s referee and his season highlights - it’d be interesting to see the FFA approve something like that! The next section is a combination of interviews with players and backroom staff - even the kit man’s thoughts are recorded. Also interviewed are fans from both home and away teams - and the question ‘Is there anyone you wish had never played for your team?’ draws some absolutely classic answers. There’s even a pull-out poster of one of the club’s star players.
‘This week in history’ visits everything from Hillsborough to an Arsenal victory from only seven years ago. The magazine closes with mentions of the sponsors, an update on the youth teams and reserves, and a detailed statistical view of the season so far. The final page is devoted to a comedic ‘back-chat’ style feature with one of the club’s staffers - questions such as ‘who has the worst musical taste in the squad?’ give a comedic close to the programme. The back page is all ready for the stats gurus among us to mark up the starting XIs, carded players, and goal scorers for today’s game.
I think by now you have the picture. It’s not just the fact that it’s a glossy mag full of stories - it’s that those stories all relate in some way not to the entire league or some team you’ve never felt like supporting in your life, but today’s match and your club. It reinforces that this one match is an event in itself - so often forgotten in a ‘long’ A-League season. We often say how the league and its teams need to embrace the community; how better to start than removing the generic-ness around some of the matchday experience? Even if all I can learn about is what members of the original Perth Glory side are up to now, it’s still better than learning about John Aloisi’s scalp-related dilemmas.
Many A-League fans would never have seen a product such as this - and I reckon they’d lap it up nearly as much as the ‘old football’ fans, both from here and overseas. Now all we need to do is wait for the FFA to loosen the shackles and the club to find the money and writers needed for the task. That said, I’m sure a few wannabe journalists amongst the FourFourTwo forums would be happy to help out.
Committing a Fowl(er)
Finally, let’s turn our attentions to the big news story currently doing the rounds in Perth. While the initial ‘Glory chase Viduka and Fowler’ news headlines simply looked like a bit of off-season name-dropping, it now seems like the Fowler part of the story might have a bit more to it. Either Tony Sage is on a holiday junket which involves talking to players who have resided in both Liverpool and North Queensland (James Robinson is nowhere in sight, however) or he’s actually committed to getting Fowler to put pen to paper for his club.
Now that the FFA have announced the concept of the dual marquee, Mile Sterjovski is presumably relegated to the ‘Australian Marquee’ slot. This now means that the previously limited salary cap space available to finance Fowler’s wages has been replaced by a blank cheque. But in the end, if Robbie Fowler does come to Perth it won’t be for the money.
Perth is probably more like the English concept of paradise than anywhere else in Australia. Fowler’s initial jaunt to Townsville will probably have been a little too hot and sticky for his family to bear. Perth on the other hand has a much milder climate; the part temperate, part mediterranean nature of the Western Australian capital provides sunshine and blue sky on a regular basis - and it is because of this that many English ex-pats have made it their new home. It’s kind of like Brighton. Just not.
A strong British presence in the local football scene is rivalled only by the untapped potential of the ‘couch potatoes’ - those first or second-generation migrants who watch the EPL, Coca Cola Championship, or Scottish Premier League on their Pay TV but pay little attention to the Australian league. Perth saw the unusual sight of these potatoes being baked in some sunshine last season when Fowler came to town with North Queensland - and the crowd figures told the story. From the 9,408 spectators who came to watch fellow newcomers Gold Coast United in the previous home game, the gate increased to a whopping 12,822 for Fowler’s Fury. This was Perth’s biggest crowd of the year, and those new faces (many in sauce-stained Liverpool tops) did not return for the rest of the season.
Therefore, signing Fowler will become a mutually beneficial deal. On one hand, Robbie gets to settle his family in a more hospitable area of the country, and one which boasts a strong English influence already. On the Glory side of things, they get a guaranteed drawcard for every home match, and a fairly handy attacker to boot.
Bigger crowds, more goals, more media attention - what’s not to like about that? Of course, I can't wait for the writeup in the official A-League matchday programme.
