The Leipy Programme Awards 2005/06

By Leipziger
June 4 2006

This ranking is obviously subjective, as I can only go on the programmes from our away matches at each ground, and fortunately ours didn’t change much during the season so there is still a fair comparison I feel. But it isn’t comprehensive, as some may have improved during the season.

12^th – Sale

Price: £2.50 (last year £2.50). Pages: 64 (64). Adverts: 49.2%.

Still £2.50, but still only 64 pages, half of which is advertising.  Predictions of opening weekend results, and a fair amount of community stuff are positives, but it’s overall a poor effort with only one page on the opposition.

Score: 4/10 – too many adverts and no improvement on last year.

 

 

11^th – Worcester

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 64 (64). Adverts: 51.6%.

Worcester offer a unique glossy poster in the middle, but little else to get excited about. Only three pages on the opposition (one page writing, one on OPTA stats, and one on the previous meeting), and a half a page by the fans.  Add to this, an incredible 51% adverts, and no more pages for your extra 50p.

Score: 5/10 – poster sneaks it ahead of Sale.

 

 

10^th – Bristol

Price: £3. Pages: 70. Adverts: 45.7%.

Too many adverts again, though there are interesting feature on the match date in the past, and former captains including Martin Corry.  Only two pages are dedicated to the opposition, half of which was written by Mark Smith, then an OPTA stats comparison.  The match reports are just photos, no words.

Score: 6/10 – rescued by innovative features.

 

 

9^th – London Wasps

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 76 (64). Adverts: 35.5%.

Like many, the glossy cover is the most immediate difference to last year.  Wasps start well with a discussion of our rivalry over Rob Andrew and other players, but the fans page is disorganised, being an advert for events rather than an article.  Feels on the whole quite average, with the opposition pages reflecting this – two page article and two pages of profiles.

Score: 6/10 – not bad, but nothing special and very similar to 2004/05.

 

 

8^th – Newcastle

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 76 (68). Adverts: 34.2%.

Last year’s astronomical revamp would always be a hard act to follow, and so it proved.  A glossy cover has been added, with eight more pages and a new colour scheme for your extra 50p, but the format and features are generally the same (though in claret rather than sky blue).  The Big Issue remains a great read.

Score: 6/10 – too similar to 2004/05.

 

 

7^th – London Irish

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 80 (72). Adverts: 38.75%.

There is no glossy cover, but definitely an Irish feel to this programme, for example the news that Ireland will play at Croke Park for a while, and that the club are looking to attract more Irish players.  The match reports are in depth, and there is a look back to 1975 when Irish pioneered Sunday rugby against Saracens.  However, the four-page opposition section doesn’t include profiles of the squad.

Score: 6/10 – interesting, but opposition section and cover let it down.

 

 

6^th – Bath

Price: £3 (£3). Pages: 80 (72). Adverts: 31.8%.

Bath’s issue feels and is hefty.  The match reports offer a timeline and interview, whilst we discover Miss Bath is sponsored by the club.  The four-page opposition section includes features on Rob and God, however one can’t help but notice the large amount of illustrations.  Good, but last year’s was £3 too and there is little difference except the eight extra pages.

Score: 7/10 – no real difference to last year, too many pictures, but few adverts.

 

 

5^th – Gloucester

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 76 (68). Adverts: 35.5%.

Definitely a good issue, with interesting features on Gloucester and the game in general, detailed match report and previews, as well as a good supporters’ page.  This one could have been up with the very best, but in six nice opposition pages, the team photo is from 2003/04, and I don’t know who it is in the photo claiming to be Mathew Tait!

Score: 8/10 – top stuff, but errors in the opposition pages let it down badly.

 

 

4^th – Leeds

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 76 (64). Adverts: 32.9%.

Leeds’ programmes have always felt rather small and flimsy to me, so I was surprised to discover that this year’s was actually only 12 pages bigger than 2004/05, as well as offering a glossy cover.  Bumper seven-page opposition section with discussion, pictures, profiles, flash-back and focus on Jonny and Flood.  Features are nothing special, but the advert count is low.  By a mile the most improved programme in the Premiership.

Score: 8/10 – great on the opposition, and much better than previous years.

 

 

3^rd – Northampton

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 74 (66). Adverts: 37.8%.

All nicely decked out in black, green and gold, with a scratch-and-win on the unique and innovative rough card cover. Packed with stats and interviews, as well as in-depth previews of the weekend’s games.  However, the fixture list lacks team details.

Score: 9/10 – fixture list stops it getting top marks.

 

 

2^nd – Saracens

Price: £3 (£2.50). Pages: 84 (64). Adverts: 30.9%.

20 pages extra and glossy cover, the second biggest programme in the Premiership and yet the lowest percentage of adverts.  Saracens offer seven pages on the opposition with contests, profiles, past matches and memories, and uniquely a referee’s explanation of the ruck and Sarrie the Camel showing us referee signals (quite weird with that big cheesy smile!). Top notch, however the only tiny criticism is that with all the black it can be difficult to find your page.

Score: 9.7/10 – brilliant effort, almost there but not quite.

 

 

Champion – Leicester

Price: £2.50 (£2.50). Pages: 92 (68). Adverts: 34.8%.

Feels like what it is – the biggest and best in the Premiership. with 92 pages for just £2.50 and only 32 pages of adverts, of which many are for club-related events.  Amongst the columns by numerous figures we see an impression of the new Welford Road, and though there is a lack of comment on match reports, the overall content, size and price make this a worthy winner.

Score: 10/10 – simply the best.

 

 

 

Others from this season:

Llanelli

Price: £2.50. Pages: 62. Adverts: 51.6%.

Big, feature-packed issue with a Welsh page and community news, but way too many adverts.

 

Borders

Price: £2.50. Pages: 40. Adverts: 28.75%.

Though small, much better than Edinburgh’s programme a year earlier, with nice features and a profile of Sofa. Still 40 pages, even at only 29% adverts, doesn’t show well.

 

England

Price: £5. Pages: 86. Adverts: 39.5%.

The RFU’s effort falls down straight away on price, twice that of Leicester but 6 pages smaller. A good enough programme with an interesting look at previous England-Wales matches, and detailed profiles of each player on both sides.