Chelsea v Portsmouth, Christmas Day 1948

Perhaps one of my favourite football programmes to be issued on Xmas Day has to be the Chelsea v Portsmouth Division 1 match which kicked off at 11am in 1948. 

It has tremendous historical significance. Firstly because the 1948/49 season marked the first of Pompey's two successive top flight titles - the only times that the Hampshire club have ever won the nation's Premier division. But also because this programme was the very first issue of Chelsea's new style programme. In his match day notes, Club Manager William Birrell, announces that this Christmas morning publication is "the best of its kind in Great Britain". 

It was also quite a transformation from the previous programmes in the club's 1948/49 season. Up to this Xmas Day match, supporters had been getting a rudimentary programme made up of one sheet of paper folded into eight pages for just 3d. Now for double the price at 6d, here were sixteen pages complete with numerous black and white photographs, illustrations and specially commissioned articles. Tommy Walker is the illustrated cover star, set within a frame printed in blue ink. 

Number One of Chelsea's pioneering post-war programme

This key issue would inspire a host of imitators, particularly the official match day programme of Chelsea's London rivals Arsenal who chose the following season to launch their new style programme that's a dead ringer in format to this pioneering issue. These programmes are almost certainly the predecessors of the new magazine style issues of the late 1960s, which would eventually morph into the kind of football programmes that are bought at matches across the nation today.

A superb full-page Xmas-themed illustration by Roy Ullyett on the inside front cover 

William Birrell's 'Between Ourselves' page that proudly announces the publication of the club's new programme 

Photos of what would be Portsmouth's Title Winning Team!

The Line-Ups, Portsmouth No7 Peter Harris scored both goals in a 2-1 win

Over 43,000 turned up on this Xmas Day in 1948 to see the home team beaten 2-1 by Portsmouth. Pompey then triumphed 5-2 at home two days later on 27th December 1948. These double headers were the norm back then, when the home and away fixtures were often played either on both Xmas Day then Boxing Day, or a day or two after the first Xmas Day match. 

Portsmouth won the 1948/49 Division 1 title by 5 points over second-placed Manchester United, with Chelsea ending up mid-table in 13th position. 

Season's Greetings!