How quickly a year whizzes by! Here is my now regular annual Xmas Football Programme post...
For 2025, I'm showcasing a super seasonal example of one of Derby County's classic tabloid newspaper-style programmes for the visit of Arsenal to the Baseball Ground on this very day 49 years ago...
Inside, readers will discover the Derby players - and a Womble! - meeting the fans, period ads that reflect a deeper economic and cultural story of the time, and even a photo of the Duke of York pub in Burton Road (long since closed down).
The 0-0 draw was watched by a crowd of 24,016, with the teams in the throes of a mediocre season for them both. Derby County's newspaper programmes were issued between 1971/2 and 1982/83. Easily the longest run for this format in the UK. This novel idea which was pioneered by the club meant that supporters could receive their matchday programmes often a day before the game - either delivered like a traditional newspaper or picked up at their local newsagent - as well as buying a copy at the ground itself.
However the flimsy newspaper format meant that very few examples survive unfolded, and The Ram (or re-dubbed several years earlier as just 'RAM') was especially prone to damage when bought at the match. Also a half a century of problematic storage has not been too kind to the health of the cheap paper stock.
I recall that programme enthusiasts at the time were critical of the tabloid format where newsprint was favoured above glossy paper. But I'm definitely a fan of RAM, especially the bold and dramatic cover designs from this time.
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| MERRY CHRISTMAS: RAM, 15th December 1976 |
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| A Womble joins the Deby County players at the junior fans Xmas party |
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| The Costa del Sol is a telephone call away... |
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| So who exactly were the 'London Executive Placement Bureau'? |
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| Four pints must have sounded like a good idea after a dour nighttime 0-0 draw at the Baseball Ground |
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| I wonder how long the carpet and wallpaper lasted for at this local 'Ramdevous'? |
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| Arsenal's No.10 was actually Frank Stapleton, and there's no 'B' in Nottingham Forest... |
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
