Chris Tuck has a large collection of football programmes and runs the @SaintsProgs twitter and Instagram sites which pay homage to the humble printed programme! Follow for pictures, memories, giveaways and much much more!
1976-2023 - A Brief Introduction to Women’s Programmes in Southampton
1976 was a great year for Southampton.
The temperatures were tropical, and… we won the FA Cup! No, not that one. 1,500 fans packed into the home of Bedford Town FC to see Southampton WFC beat QPR WFC 2-1 and the Mitre Challenge Trophy (Women’s FA Cup) was heading to the south coast. The 8-page programme for this match sits proudly in my collection alongside another historic, but more recent, programme in the history of women’s football in Southampton.
Fast forward to Sunday 20 August 2022 and a different Southampton Ladies team play their first ever match in the second tier of Women’s football. The sport has grown exponentially over the previous few years culminating in the European Championships being played in and won by England. Our very own St Mary’s Stadium hosted 3 matches and now, a few months later, Charlton Athletic are in town to kick off the Barclays Women’s Championship season. A 32-page souvenir programme is produced and is given out for free!
The WFA Cup win in 1976 was one of eight titles won as we dominated the women’s footballing landscape with a team only founded in 1966. These days, the Sirens, nickname to the Southampton Women team, play in the FA Women’s National League Div 1 (South) and have issued printed programmes on occasions such as the one to the right.
The current Southampton FC Women’s team were founded in 2017 and are affiliated with the Saints men’s club. They have worked their way up to Women’s Championship and had a solid first season. Each home match has seen a printed programme issued which features players interviews, latest news and all the fixtures and tables information you need.
It has been great to see the increase in female participation in football in Hampshire and for those who see a printed programme as an intrinsic part of the match day experience it’s good the Women get to see themselves in print just like the men! My daughter now plays and as a proud dad it was fantastic to see AFC Stoneham Ladies have a fantastic 2022/23 season and produce printed programmes for their own wonderful WFA Cup run.
Copies of the 8 WFA Cup Finals which Southampton won are quite rare and I’m slowly trying to collect them all. Am pleased to have secured all 14 of Saints Women’s programmes from their first season in the Championship (including a rare copy of the postponed match v Durham last September!) As women’s football continues to grow in Southampton, I’m hoping my collection will do the same!
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