Forest Matchday programme - your feedback wanted

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

This was especially the case for the FA Cup match against Luton. Less content and more adverts for the same price as any other matchday wasn’t great to be honest and not worth the purchase.

I quite enjoyed Marples Musings from a few season’s back, always an original take and I would like more in depth featured player interviews but it seems like the club is priortisinf social media content which reaches a wider audience and is much improved recently to be honest.

Thank you for this.

I don’t like seeing the smaller issues for cup ties being sold at the same price (in years gone by the price was smaller as well as the programme), but in mitigation the cover price has only gone up by 50p (this season) in about a dozen years.

I was sorry to lose David M’s column this season too. I think a fan’s perspective is valuable and offers something different from the more corporate club content.

From the feedback I’ve had people do enjoy the more in-depth features on players and that’s something the club can easily do more of.

I also feel social media, ForestTV and web content has been prioritised. I don’t look at other clubs’ equivalents but I think we do these really well. Part of my wanting feedback on the programme is wanting it to be of as high a standard as the other media output. As mentioned, a new staff member is being taken on this month with specific responsibility for the programme, so I hope a combination of his/her arrival and the collated feedback from me will see an improvement, if not this season then next.

 

[Steve B]

How about a series called My Favourite Forest Player, where a different writer gets to eulogise about the player they liked the most, describe their style and recall their memories of watching them. Preferably spanning the ages so there’s a mix of different eras. People do it on this forum all the time and there are some decent enough writers around who could do it justice I reckon.
You’d have to start it next season though cos there’d easily be enough players to cover 25 games or more. Then you could have Favourite Forest Match.
Probably been done before in some form or another, but would still be a good read if done well and captures the spirit of what people love about football.

 

[Steve B]

…oh and get the previous match reports written by whoever does them on the Stress & Pie website and add a few cartoons in there.

 

[kenred64]

I enjoy receiving the digital format although, like on or two others have mentioned, I do not read it from cover to cover as I would have done in the olden days. Mind you, I haven't got the time that I had in the olden days

One small suggestion on the Fixtures and Results page would be to include the goal scorers with a football or three (have I missed this?, I can't see it), although I appreciate this would been challenging with the last fixture - WoodOGWilliamsGibbs-WhiteJota. I appreciate that now we can name 9/10? subs this makes it more difficult from the days when we only named one sub i.e. 12. the legend Ian Bowyer. I wouldn't use a column for the TV channel and I am really not bothered about showing the referee's name. I try to wipe the names Taylor and Atwell etc from my memory and the more anonymous that you can make them, the better, as far as I'm concerned. To further erase the record of their involvement in the match I wouldn't include details of yellow or red cards, either. I guess even us oldies can get involved with 'cancelling' when we want

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Thanks, Steve B and Ken, for your feedback.

I like the favourite player/match idea and as you say, Steve, even if that sort of thing has been done before it will have been a while ago and it can easily be done again. I always try to make my own articles span as many years as possible (eg the memorabilia this season) and agree it’d be as good to read someone’s thoughts on Bob McKinkay as Andy Reid, to pluck two names out of the air. In a similar vein, I will be asking for a Forest All Over The World feature, in which our further-flung fans will talk about how they got into Forest, what their matchday routine is, and so on.

And like you, Ken, I’d like to refresh the results page. I too want to see the scorers highlighted. I particularly want to see the results all given from the Forest point of view like it almost always has been. It’s nonsensical putting the home team score first and makes it much easier to follow (eg when looking at unbeaten runs) with our score first. I’d also like the season’s cumulative stats first appearances and goals in there. And, given we devote multiple pages to the women’s team, I’d like one of those pages to be a list of results, scorers, appearances and attendances (as it’s good to know their games are attracting more people these days).

I have plenty more ideas that I won’t bore you all with here, but after an arbitrary cut-off point, which I have just decided will be Tuesday’s Cup tie, I will collate the LTLF views, send them to the editor and summarise them here. But if anyone comes to this thread after that I will always be interested in your thoughts and willing to pass them on for as long as I remain a contributor myself.

 

[virgo]

Apologies, I’ve only just seen this thread , so I hope I’m not posting something someone has already posted.

Back in the day, when the programme was only 1 of the Queens shillings , my favourite part of the programme was the musings of Mr Ken Smales, who would just post ramblings that had a peripheral relationship to who we were playing , and he was just as likely to post about cricket as he would about football , but it was always interesting amusing and informative in equal measure.

Now , I know Ken is long gone , but do any of his ramblings still exist in an archive anywhere, as I’m sure many of our older fans would love to reminisce about the old days.

 

[kenred64]

Thanks IMGL, the result shown in green, amber, red for a win, draw, loss would work, although I might mean some of the other red text on the page needing to change to make this stand out. Just a suggestion.

Thanks for your contributions to the matchday programme

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Apologies, I’ve only just seen this thread , so I hope I’m not posting something someone has already posted.

Back in the day, when the programme was only 1 of the Queens shillings , my favourite part of the programme was the musings of Mr Ken Smales, who would just post ramblings that had a peripheral relationship to who we were playing , and he was just as likely to post about cricket as he would about football , but it was always interesting amusing and informative in equal measure.

Now , I know Ken is long gone , but do any of his ramblings still exist in an archive anywhere, as I’m sure many of our older fans would love to reminisce about the old days.

Yes, many of us fans of longer standing enjoyed Ken’s columns. A few seasons ago, to my surprise and delight, I was asked if my contribution could be to look back at Ken’s articles and I got a season’s worth of articles from various years across his long time as club secretary. I don’t know if an archive (other than of the programmes themselves). He used to have a web page with some of his photos and a few associated memories, but that deteriorated (the format and readability) even while he was alive so I doubt it’s still out there.

 

[I'm Red Till Dead]

How about a series called My Favourite Forest Player, where a different writer gets to eulogise about the player they liked the most, describe their style and recall their memories of watching them. Preferably spanning the ages so there’s a mix of different eras. People do it on this forum all the time and there are some decent enough writers around who could do it justice I reckon.
You’d have to start it next season though cos there’d easily be enough players to cover 25 games or more. Then you could have Favourite Forest Match.
Probably been done before in some form or another, but would still be a good read if done well and captures the spirit of what people love about football.

You could get Strummer to write a piece on Sam Weller Widdowson.

 

[I'm Red Till Dead]

Yes, many of us fans of longer standing enjoyed Ken’s columns. A few seasons ago, to my surprise and delight, I was asked if my contribution could be to look back at Ken’s articles and I got a season’s worth of articles from various years across his long time as club secretary. I don’t know if an archive (other than of the programmes themselves). He used to have a web page with some of his photos and a few associated memories, but that deteriorated (the format and readability) even while he was alive so I doubt it’s still out there.

The site seems to be there but not the information and it's not in the Wayback machine

His son Joe supplied some pictures etc for I Believe in Miracles so Kens recollections etc probably rest with him if you can track him down.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I have my uncles old collection besides my own, all pre 1988.
They’ve been boxed up for years and I should go through them at some point because I know some have players autographs on them since my uncle sat at the front of the main stand.

Getting a football programme was a priority for me in my teens, it gave you something to read about your beloved club during the week before the saturation of online content and Sky sports.
Some of us tried to collect one of every club and I remember Sutton Town AFC had a small programme hut open on match days that sold all sorts from non league to Scottish teams. A cup of bovril and a few Heart of Midlothian FC football programmes in the pocket whilst watching a non league match was a good haul at 13 years old.

Apologies I can’t add anything of much use as I haven’t read a football programme in years but it’s an interesting thread I will follow

Just noticed this again and it reminded me that I too tried to get a programme from each Football League and Scottish League team. Bargain bundles from programme fairs were good for this (and for getting something like 13 copies of the programme for John Winfield’s testimonial match, which seemed to be in just about every bundle I bought at the City Ground programme fairs). There was also a good programme hut at West Brom. One of my memories of the 6th Round FA Cup defeat in 1978 (fluke mishit from Mick Martin, typical strong run and finish from Cyrille Regis) was ticking off quite a few Scottish clubs from the offerings there. Other memories include some Forest fans getting off the chartered train at New Street thinking we had arrived and after the game some Forest fans setting fire to some rubbish behind the stand (not a wise move given what was to happen at Bradford a few years later), but I digress.

 

[Colin Addison]

Just noticed this again and it reminded me that I too tried to get a programme from each Football League and Scottish League team. Bargain bundles from programme fairs were good for this (and for getting something like 13 copies of the programme for John Winfield’s testimonial match, which seemed to be in just about every bundle I bought at the City Ground programme fairs). There was also a good programme hut at West Brom. One of my memories of the 6th Round FA Cup defeat in 1978 (fluke mishit from Mick Martin, typical strong run and finish from Cyrille Regis) was ticking off quite a few Scottish clubs from the offerings there. Other memories include some Forest fans getting off the chartered train at New Street thinking we had arrived and after the game some Forest fans setting fire to some rubbish behind the stand (not a wise move given what was to happen at Bradford a few years later), but I digress.

The fire was in a groundmans shed containing mowers and such like. Seemed funny at the time but as you say not particularly clever

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Thanks to everyone here and elsewhere who offered their thoughts on this. Today I have sent the collated feedback (including my own) to the editor and the new staff member who will have responsibility for the programme. I said I would share what I sent them here, so here goes. I expanded on some of the points below in my email but for brevity’s sake I will keep the bullet points here brief.

People liked:
- the layout
- the price
- the programme being matchday tradition/routine
- the items on Forest history
- in-depth features such as those this year on Clough, Sosa and Sangare
- the coverage of the women’s team
- statistics
- fan-written columns (such as Marples Musings in previous years)
- Community / mental health / outreach stuff

People disliked:
- the lack or content and “something to actually read”
- reduced-sized issues for cup ties (at full price)
- too many adverts (club’s own and external), especially if repeated in the same issue
- space-filling, ie taking 2 pages where an item would better fit 1
- lack of proofreading
- lack of WiFi at the ground to download and read the digital programme

People suggested the programme might also include:
- updates on club developments (eg the ground) and other stuff of interest to fans
- content to make the reader think rather than just be a customer
- stats - various things, eg Forest score first not home team’s, show scorers/appearance totals etc, overview of our record v the opponents, results and stats for the women’s team
- player Q&As
- features about the programme itself (people’s first/favourite, etc)
- Forest All Over The World (why they’re Forest fans, matchday routine, etc)
- behind the scenes with various Forest employees’ jobs
- “something like Ken Smales’s notes”
- On This Day - matches, events, birthdays, etc from the same date
- content for younger readers
- put a taster page or two out on social media to steer people towards the forthcoming issue

I included some of the comments about people not reading the (digital) programme and SC holders or members not knowing they could have a digital copy or how to get it. I also drafted some suggested survey questions, which I hope will be used in the programme itself and the club’s other media platforms.

As previously mentioned, I can offer no guarantees as to how much of the above will be acted on, but I am very hopeful as the editor welcomed my offer to provide feedback and seems keen to make the programme the best it can be now he has an additional staff member to work with on the programme.

If I get any significant news about what’s happening with the programme I will post it here.

 

[Gyros Peter]

Thanks to everyone here and elsewhere who offered their thoughts on this. Today I have sent the collated feedback (including my own) to the editor and the new staff member who will have responsibility for the programme. I said I would share what I sent them here, so here goes. I expanded on some of the points below in my email but for brevity’s sake I will keep the bullet points here brief.

People liked:
- the layout
- the price
- the programme being matchday tradition/routine
- the items on Forest history
- in-depth features such as those this year on Clough, Sosa and Sangare
- the coverage of the women’s team
- statistics
- fan-written columns (such as Marples Musings in previous years)
- Community / mental health / outreach stuff

People disliked:
- the lack or content and “something to actually read”
- reduced-sized issues for cup ties (at full price)
- too many adverts (club’s own and external), especially if repeated in the same issue
- space-filling, ie taking 2 pages where an item would better fit 1
- lack of proofreading
- lack of WiFi at the ground to download and read the digital programme

People suggested the programme might also include:
- updates on club developments (eg the ground) and other stuff of interest to fans
- content to make the reader think rather than just be a customer
- stats - various things, eg Forest score first not home team’s, show scorers/appearance totals etc, overview of our record v the opponents, results and stats for the women’s team
- player Q&As
- features about the programme itself (people’s first/favourite, etc)
- Forest All Over The World (why they’re Forest fans, matchday routine, etc)
- behind the scenes with various Forest employees’ jobs
- “something like Ken Smales’s notes”
- On This Day - matches, events, birthdays, etc from the same date
- content for younger readers
- put a taster page or two out on social media to steer people towards the forthcoming issue

I included some of the comments about people not reading the (digital) programme and SC holders or members not knowing they could have a digital copy or how to get it. I also drafted some suggested survey questions, which I hope will be used in the programme itself and the club’s other media platforms.

As previously mentioned, I can offer no guarantees as to how much of the above will be acted on, but I am very hopeful as the editor welcomed my offer to provide feedback and seems keen to make the programme the best it can be now he has an additional staff member to work with on the programme.

If I get any significant news about what’s happening with the programme I will post it here.

Nicely done - I hope you're feedback is well received and acted upon.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Nicely done - I hope you're feedback is well received and acted upon.

Thank you. I’m sure it will be as I know the editor is grateful for my regular contributions to the programme and he was receptive to my suggestion of getting feedback.

 

[Bing Crosby's Head]

I have to say, the in depth Sangare article about his life in Wednesday's programme was very good.

 

[I'm Red Till Dead]

It might bore people silly, but have you thought of comparing the current team against the 1898 cup final team. Probably most relevent for a cup game though. There are mini bios for the 1898 team in the papers of the time (above this in my scrapbooks). If might surprise some how much taller the players are now to then.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

A quick update: George has thanked me for the collated feedback and said it will really help them going forward. He said they will go through it during the international break, ie after the Arsenal-Ipswich-Man City run of home games that’s been keeping them busy. He was appreciative of the time I (and therefore by extension all of you who offered your views) have taken over this.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I’ve just had a video call with George and Ryan, the editors, and can offer an update on how the programme is shaping up for the new season and on my suggested survey.

- There will be a small increase in the page count and the cost will go up to £4. By way of comparison, we were one of only three Premier League clubs charging £3.50 last season and all the others were already £4 or more.

- The general layout and style will be the same, though the cover will be different from the illustrations used last season and the company that produces the programme have a new designer and are looking to make the contents more visually appealing (fonts, backgrounds, etc).

- They are planning to do more “player stuff” (the more in-depth player profiles went down well last season) and not just with the first team players.

- There will be one programme covering both the home pre-season games.

- They are keen to mark our return to European football and hope to have a larger-than-usual programme for the first European game.

- They reiterated their appreciation of the feedback I/we provided and had the survey all but ready to send out before things started getting rather busy at the club in the last week or so. They still hope to send it out to all SC card holders and members, so I hope a lot of you will be seeing something in your inboxes before we’re too much older.

I think those are all the main things I thought you might be interested to know. We also agreed on a few things I will be contributing, which will again be from a more historical perspective.

 

[Lady Penelope]

I’ve just had a video call with George and Ryan, the editors, and can offer an update on how the programme is shaping up for the new season and on my suggested survey.

- There will be a small increase in the page count and the cost will go up to £4. By way of comparison, we were one of only three Premier League clubs charging £3.50 last season and all the others were already £4 or more.

- The general layout and style will be the same, though the cover will be different from the illustrations used last season and the company that produces the programme have a new designer and are looking to make the contents more visually appealing (fonts, backgrounds, etc).

- They are planning to do more “player stuff” (the more in-depth player profiles went down well last season) and not just with the first team players.

- There will be one programme covering both the home pre-season games.

- They are keen to mark our return to European football and hope to have a larger-than-usual programme for the first European game.

- They reiterated their appreciation of the feedback I/we provided and had the survey all but ready to send out before things started getting rather busy at the club in the last week or so. They still hope to send it out to all SC card holders and members, so I hope a lot of you will be seeing something in your inboxes before we’re too much older.

I think those are all the main things I thought you might be interested to know. We also agreed on a few things I will be contributing, which will again be from a more historical perspective.

Thanks for your efforts. Keep pushing so we can hopefully look forward to having a match day magazine that is worth having!
Did they say anything about having someone to proof-read it before printing? Last season there were far too many cock-ups, it was embarrassing to be blunt.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

Thanks for your efforts. Keep pushing so we can hopefully look forward to having a match day magazine that is worth having!
Did they say anything about having someone to proof-read it before printing? Last season there were far too many cock-ups, it was embarrassing to be blunt.

We didn’t mention the proofreading in our chat, but it was in the feedback they had and with any luck with two people responsible for the programme the cock-ups will be fewer.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

By way of an update, the editor has told me a survey has been sent to SC card holders and members on “the future shaping of the programme”. I don’t know if this is the same survey I drafted as I haven’t received the survey yet (I’m a core member). They’ve already had nearly 200 responses, so if you are a SC holder or member and would like to have your say but haven’t received the survey yet maybe you could indicate as much in this thread and if necessary I will let the editor know some more people haven’t had it who should have. I wouldn’t name (user)names, merely say that however-many other forum members haven’t had it yet either.

 

[Ian Moore Gone Little]

I had a post-season chat yesterday with Ryan, the editor, so I thought I’d revive this thread as we look ahead to next season.

Those of you who have read the Bournemouth programme will have seen there is another chance to give feedback on the programme. I would urge anyone with an interest in improving the programme to fill in the survey. Of course, more people see the programme digitally these days, so Ryan is hoping to put out an email to, I assume, SC holders and members to give them the chance to fill in the survey.

For what it’s worth, I thought the content was improved this season (I especially enjoyed the longer player features and the Night at the Museum items in the Europa League programmes) but there were numerous examples of content and layout issues that should have been nipped in the bud by proper proofreading. I’d also like to see more supporter-generated content, though that relies on there being supporters willing to generate it!

I shall be sending Ryan my own feedback and suggestions for future content (my own potential contributions and more generally) some time in the next week or so and I will mention again some of the suggestions from this thread, as there are some very good ones that have not yet been taken up.

If anybody wants to suggest something they’d like to see I will be keeping an eye on this thread or you can DM me, but above all I would encourage those who can to reply to the club’s survey.

 

[Lady Penelope]

I had a post-season chat yesterday with Ryan, the editor, so I thought I’d revive this thread as we look ahead to next season.

Those of you who have read the Bournemouth programme will have seen there is another chance to give feedback on the programme. I would urge anyone with an interest in improving the programme to fill in the survey. Of course, more people see the programme digitally these days, so Ryan is hoping to put out an email to, I assume, SC holders and members to give them the chance to fill in the survey.

For what it’s worth, I thought the content was improved this season (I especially enjoyed the longer player features and the Night at the Museum items in the Europa League programmes) but there were numerous examples of content and layout issues that should have been nipped in the bud by proper proofreading. I’d also like to see more supporter-generated content, though that relies on there being supporters willing to generate it!

I shall be sending Ryan my own feedback and suggestions for future content (my own potential contributions and more generally) some time in the next week or so and I will mention again some of the suggestions from this thread, as there are some very good ones that have not yet been taken up.

If anybody wants to suggest something they’d like to see I will be keeping an eye on this thread or you can DM me, but above all I would encourage those who can to reply to the club’s survey.

I have some constructive suggestions although I am so full-on with work it's unlikely to be this week before I can send anything.

For now, over the last season there was an improvement. However .....

it's still not worth the money

the seemingly apparent absence of proof reading is embarrassing

the programme does not represent Forest at all well, but it can do and it will do.

More asap.