The Premier League appointed Buckingham-based BCQ Group to produce the books celebrating 20 years of the Premier League.
Twenty iconic players were selected by the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards Panel - Adams, Beckham, Bergkamp, Cantona, Ferguson, Gerrard, Giggs, Henry, Keane, Lampard, Le Tissier, Mourinho, Ronaldo, Rooney, Schmeichel, Scholes, Shearer, Vieira, Wenger and Zola.
Graphic design agency Deep Red Creative, which handled the contract with the league, produced images of the icons before being sent to BCQ Group. Each player personally signed their page. Sold at auction, two books made £30,000 each, while a third book was bought by a Premiership player after the event.
The text pages of the books were produced on 160gsm Acquerello Avorio and printed on an Indigo. This was then case bound in Buckram at Maltby’s Bookbinders with the outer cover blind embossed and gold foil blocked. This was also replicated on the slip case.
BCQ Group sales executive Stuart Coote said: "Producing the books was actually quite simple, but getting the signatures was the difficult bit. To make it easier for the players and bomb-proof for delivery, each page was drilled and riveted to greyboard, the last thing that we wanted was torn or damaged pages.
"However, things did not run as smoothly as we’d hoped and at one point Beckham’s signature was looking doubtful to make it, after some "will he won’t he" pondering it arrived on the morning of the binding with literally seconds to spare. Another player who shall remain nameless took two attempts to spell ‘Premier’ correctly."
Deep Red Creative director Sarah Mammatt added: "Stuart's stock recommendations, understanding of the complexity of the project and desire to help us produce a high end finished piece were outstanding.
"He worked with us at every step of the process and handled every element in a hugely professional way. The ultimate test was at the auction itself, and to have raised such a huge amount for Nordoff Robbins is testament to all the effort that went in to ensuring a true collector's item was produced."
