Programmes

Red Passion flicks through the best and worst of programmes away from the Racecourse

Weymouth (29 July)

Cost: Unclear

Pages: 8 (eg. thin) - black & white

Good things: Homely non-league tone

Bad things: Nothing on Wrexham; thin - but it was a meaningless July friendly.

Bizarre things: The Terras Team Fantasy Challenge - gamble money on Grantham Town, Dorchester and Fisher Athletic (super)

Great one-liner: "There is certainly a lot of miles to cover this season, we only have four teams to play here in the south of the country. They are Dorchester, Hastings, Salisbury and Bath City. With trips as far as Boston in Lincolnshire and Burton Albion up the M6 it's going to be a very eventful few months" (From the Editor, p.4)

Verdict: Thin

Connah's Quay Nomads (4 August)

Cost: 50p

Pages: 16 (black & white)

Good things: Big effort made to play on the many CQN-Wrexham links; decent intros to all players (CQN and Wrexham)

Bad things: No pictures of anything or anybody (except the reporter from the local paper)

Bizarre things: Great picture of a crane on the inside back-cover; write-ups for the home players (they sound like Brazilians)

Great one-liner: "A crowd of 750 witnessed the recent 2-2 draw with Chester City and another of just over 400 came along to see a splendid match against Tranmere Rovers which ended 4-4. Let us hope that level of attendance continues..." (Welcome to the Deeside Stadium, p.3)

Verdict: Adequate

Halifax (18 August)

Cost: £2 (rip-off city)

Pages: 32 (2 in colour)

Good things: Some great names for their regular features: Boardroom Banter, The Taylor Report, Folding Back the Years, Courier Clippings, Donlan's Diary, Away from the Shay etc etc. Somehow a typically hearty bottom-division programme

Bad things: The price - and the relationship between the price and the content; old fashioned design and style-less general tone

Bizarre things: A squad photo of only 17 players (hope they don't get many injuries); match videos at £13.99 (just a bit dearer than the programme); and sponsorship of players' tie-ups at £2 a throw

Great one-liner: "I picked the ball up in our own half and thought about chipping the keeper but it was a long way out so I decided to take it forward as close as I could and then I managed to slide it past the keeper as he is still stood up trying to make himself big so I was very pleased with the goal at Wrexham" (Dave Hanson on the first leg, p.28)

Verdict: Lots of info - but not very sexy

Paul Lindsay: "When asked to pay as much as two quid for your matchday magazine, you would expect to get a pretty decent effort. Unfortunately Halifax's programme did not come close to delivering the goods for me. In A5 format the only colour in the programme apart from adverts is the cover, which depicts a deliberately blurred 'action shot' of a Town player. Coverage of Wrexham is restricted to standard pen pics and a page of Halifax/Wrexham connections, while adverts consumed 10 pages out of 32. The actual content was reasonably interesting and contained a fair mix of news and views. Clearly Halifax's resources are limited, although that should never be accepted for an excuse, as our own programme over the last decade or so clearly demonstrates. Overall poor value for money."

Man City (22 August)

Cost: £1.80

Pages: 48 (all in full colour)

Good things: Stylish, colourful, modern, lots of pics - just generally very praiseworthy. Also, a refreshingly different four-page survey of Wrexham - not just the usual dross and a lot of emphasis on fans. Reads in fact like a quality footie magazine - but all about Man City

Bad things: A lot of corporate, brother-dominated stuff, plus a rather 'superior' underlying message which seems to say: We are still a big club - Yes we are

Bizarre things: Maine Road weddings (lovely Julie and Mike); a picture of Rush looking about 85; the first 'rumour' of a 12 noon Boxing Day kick-off at the Racecourse; and a scary black-and-white photo of Billy Meredith

Great one-liner: "My message to our supporters after the setback at Fulham was 'Don't lose the faith in us after one defeat'" (Joe Royle, p.5)

Verdict: Professional and swish - unlike Man City

Paul Lindsay: "A shining example of what can be achieved, this issue weighed in at 48 pages and used full colour throughout to good effect. Four pages dedicated to the visitors and only nine to adverts, of which three were for City merchandise, Clubcall and the official Website. Plenty of interesting articles covered all aspects of the club and its activities, with five pages of action photos, plus player interviews, supporters club information, news, views and interviews, historical pieces etc etc. And last but not least the all important half-time quiz"

Barry Town (25 Aug)

Cost: £1.50

Pages: 16

Good things: Decent review of previous Barry-Wrexham meetings

Bad things: A constant, underlying message that Barry are a BIG club; general thinness

Bizarre things: Since when has "UEFA Cup preliminary round winners" been a 'club honour'? Richard Shepherd as editor. Odd, ugly and yellow dragon-like creature that keeps appearing on every page

Great one-liner: "The club is now in its fourth season as a full-time professional set-up and, as League Champions for three successive seasons, and holders of the Gilbert League Cup, has set the standards which several other clubs are determined to follow" (Paula O'Halloran, Chairman of BTFC)

Verdict: Poorish effort for such a "BIG" club (allegedly)

Paul Lindsay: "Quite a decent effort from the League of Wales champions, although the price was a little steep for only 16 pages. Nonetheless the programme was full of interesting articles including coverage of Barry's recent European exploits against Dynamo Kiev, their views on European qualification and archive material on our previous meetings with the Jenner Park side. The small typeface made good use of the limited space available and adverts were kept to four pages."

Gillingham (1 September)

Cost: £2

Pages: 56

Good things: Size, colour, graphics and pics - all impressive (page 14 graphics are AMAZING)

Bad things: Analysis of two teams' bookings: "ROBINS' ROGUES v GILLS CRIMINALS". A bit silly

Bizarre things: Picture of chairman Paul Scally -looks like Ben Elton

Great one-liner: "'21-man brawl'. That was a phrase used, initially on ClubCall as well as throughout the rest of the media, but on reflection I wonder if that was an appropriate description of events" (Andy Church on the most exciting episode of the Bristol Rovers-Gillingham encounter)

Verdict: Excellent

York City (12 September)

Cost: £1.80

Pages: 36

Good things: Colourful, varied, reader-friendly format, up-to-date news, good Div 2 survey, and intriguing back-page trivia

Bad things: Not obvious

Bizarre things: In chocolate city chocolate adverts dominate - smarties, kit kat - and picture of astonishingly ugly club mascot. And by the way Barry Jones is sponsored by the Royal York Hotel

Great one-liner: "Dear Sir, I felt I had to write and congratulate you on producing without doubt the best matchday programme ever...Thank You, Mike Tiplady (Haxby, York)"

Verdict: Very good (but not the "best matchday programme ever")