Derby County, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, where it finished 10th in the 2019/20 season, said in a statement on its website this week that sales of its matchday programme “have been steadily dwindling to the point that it's no longer commercially viable”.
This is despite “numerous efforts over the years to increase its appeal”, the football club said, while acknowledging that it is aware the programme is considered by some supporters as being part of the tradition of attending fixtures.
The programme's replacement monthly magazine, The Rampage, will be a bumper 100pp A4 publication produced in-house together with ACA Creative.
It will feature exclusive interviews and club-centric content complemented by a gallery of photographs from the club’s history to present day.
“Club officials are confident that the new monthly format will appeal to a broader fanbase with more timely, quality, and pertinent features – and some obligatory football facts and stats – rather than concentrating on individual fixtures,” the club said.
The Rampage will go on sale on the second Thursday of every month, starting on 10 September ahead of the Championship season opener against Reading two days later.
Meanwhile, Plymouth Argyle has said it will continue to provide a printed programme for 2020/21 and beyond, albeit with a reduced number of copies available for sale at its Home Park stadium on a matchday compared with previous seasons.
The club will play in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, in the 2020/21 season, having been promoted after finishing third in EFL League Two in 2019/20.
The League Two season was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic and did not resume, meaning the final table was determined on an unweighted points-per-game basis and saw the team promoted along with Swindon Town and Crewe Alexandra.
In a statement posted on its website this week, the club said that it will be offering a season-long subscription service for its matchday magazine, The Pilgrim, which will ensure supporters will receive every one of the programmes for 2020/21 whether they are able to get to the games or not.
The club said: “Having taken on supporter feedback after experimenting with a digital subscription last season, the club has taken the decision to continue to provide a printed programme for 20/21 and beyond.”
It added the limited amount of copies available for sale on matchdays is partly due to current supporter restrictions, “however, last season, the volume of sales was inconsistent, leading to the programme running at a sizeable loss”.
The club said that moving to a subscription-first model will enable it to continue to provide a viable matchday programme as it will be able to print an appropriate run of programmes for each fixture.
The subscription model will offer both home delivery and click and collect options, allowing the club's supporters to select the most efficient delivery method for their circumstances.
