1900/01 – 1918/19

The years from 1900/01 to 1918/19 sit in a fascinating sweet spot for football programme collectors. The game is no longer a niche pastime, but it hasn’t yet become the slick, mass-produced matchday industry we recognise from later decades. In this period, clubs are sharpening their identities, crowds are growing, and programmes begin to feel less like simple notices and more like keepsakes — with stronger design choices, richer advertising, and far more personality on the page.

What makes programmes from this era so compelling is how much they reveal beyond the scoreline. A single issue can capture the tone of a town on matchday: local businesses competing for attention, committee names and ground details, prices and travel hints, plus the little quirks of language and layout that date a programme instantly. You also start to see the early fingerprints of modern football culture — star names becoming selling points, bigger fixtures getting more elaborate print, and clubs using the programme to speak directly to their supporters.

This page brings together examples across the period, ranging from major league clubs and cup ties to reserves and local matches, as well as internationals that underline just how important representative football already was to fans and collectors. You’ll notice how varied the formats can be: some are sturdy and information-heavy, others are sparse and fleeting, which is exactly why survivors are so sought after.

And then, of course, there’s the shadow and disruption of the First World War. Football didn’t simply “stop”; it adapted — with unusual fixtures, regional competitions, service connections and poignant reminders of how the sport and its people were caught up in wider events. The inclusion of wartime-related items alongside conventional match programmes helps place this collection in the real world these papers came from, not just a results list.

Use this section as a bridge between the very earliest programme-era material and the more familiar inter-war years. Browse, compare, and enjoy the details — because with programmes like these, the small print is often the best part.

Sheffield Wednesday v Preston 06.10.1900
Walsall v Burnley 10.11.1900
Sheff Utd v Newcastle Utd 08.12.1900
Newcastle v Seghill 02.03.1901
Newcastle v Seghill 02.03.1901 Colin Veitch in the A team
Newcastle v Seghill 02.03.1901
Newcastle A v Willington 20.04.1901
Sheffield United Reserves v Heely Friends 30.11.1901
Aston Villa v Portsmouth 01.03.1902
Scotland v England 05.04.1902 (Ibrox Disaster)
Sheffield Wednesday Reserves v Roundell 14.02.1903
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa 07.03.1903
England v Scotland 04.04.1903
Association Football JL Jones (Tottenham) 1904
England v Ireland 25.02.1905
England v Wales 27.03.1905
Everton Reserves v Liverpool 04.09.1905
Everton v Newcastle 21.04.1906 - FA Cup Final Tour
Everton v Liverpool 29.09.1906 | Everton Reserves v Stalybridge 29.09.1906
Aston Villa v Newcastle 10.11.1906
Sheff Utd v Sunderland 09.02.1907
England v Ireland 16.02.1907
Sheff Utd v Sunderland 26.10.1907
Oldham v Leeds City 30.10.1907 [reprint]
Aston Villa v Bury 23.11.1907
Bradford City v Burnley 20.04.1908
Wolves Cup Winners 25.4.1908
Sheffield v Glasgow 19.10.1908
Middlesbrough v Nottingham Forest 19.12.1908 Middlesbrough v Manchester City 20.03.1909
Bradford City v Spurs 18.09.1909 (Walter Tull scores Spurs only goal in a 5-1 defeat)
West Ham Reserves v Coventry Reserves 18.09.1909
Newcastle v Bradford City 09.10.1909
Spurs v Bury 09.10.1909 (Tull at 8)
Kidderminster v Dudley 30.10.1909
Preston North End Fixture Card 1909/1910
Stoke v Birmingham 27.11.1909
Bradford City v Middlesbrough 27.12.1909 Steve Bloomer and Alf Common in the same forward line
Whites v Stripes 24.01.1910 (Postponed England Trial)
Whites v Stripes 31.01.1910 England Trial Match
Whites v Stripes 31.01.1910 England Trial Match
Fulham v Wolves 19.03.1910
London Schools v Glasgow Schools 07.05.1910
Newcastle Postcard 1910/1911 Season
Oxford City v Borough Road 29.09.1910
Southern League v Scottish League 24.10.1910
Chelsea v Hull 26.11.1910 QPR v Swindon 28.11.1910
Chelsea v Hull 26.11.1910 QPR v Swindon 28.11.1910
Tottenham Hotspur Reserves v Clapton 26.11.1910
Tottenham Hotspur Reserves v Clapton 26.11.1910 with Walter Tull Photograph
Walter Tull circa 1911 - Barnados boy a genuine pioneer and war hero
Spurs squad photo card 1911/1912
Luton v Portsmouth 04.03.1911
Pando Thunder FC Uruguay (Batalla Las Piedras) 18.05.1911
Coronation Souvenir June 1911
Newcastle v Bradford City 09.09.1911
Dominion Visit Souvenir July 1911
Woolwich Arsenal v Bradford City 14.10.1911
Oldham v Newcastle 25.12.1911
Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday 20.01.1912
English League v Scottish League 17.02.1912
English League v Scottish League 17.02.1912
Scotland v England 23.03.1912
University of London v SK Slavia 24.03.1912
University of London v SK Slavia 25.03.1912
Aston Villa v Man Utd 30.03.1912 | Aston Villa ound Volume 1911/1912
Athletic Sports at Grantham FC 27.05.1912
England win Olympic Title 04.07.1912
Daily News Annual 1912/13
England win Olympic Title 04.07.1912
England win Olympic Title 04.07.1912
Chelsea v Sheff Utd 14.09.1912 (pirate)
Newcastle v Sheffield Wednesday 02.11.1912
England v The South 25.11.1912 Pirate programmes on sale even then
Clapton v Northampton Reserves 08.02.1913
Chelsea v Man Utd 20.09.1913
Chester v Northwich 18.10.1913
Woolwich Arsenal v Lincoln 18.10.1913
Aston Villa v Man Utd 08.11.1913
Fulham v Grimsby 22.11.1913 & England v The South 24.11.1913
Fulham v Grimsby 22.11.1913 & England v The South 24.11.1913
Darlington v Burslem (Port Vale) 22.12.1913
Clapton v Fulham 27.12.1913
Oldham v Bolton 27.12.1913
Sunderland v Chatham 10.01.1914 - FA Cup 1st Round
England v Ireland 14.02.1914
England v Ireland 14.02.1914
Keble v St Johns 25.02.1914
Ordnance v Birmingham 07.03.1914
Burnley v Liverpool 14.03.1914
Man City v Sheff Utd 16.03.1914 (FA Cup 4th Round 2nd Replay)
Sheff Utd v Oldham 21.03.1914
Aston Vila v Liverpool 28.03.1914 (English Cup Semi Final)
Tranmere v Chester 28.03.1914
Ilford FC tour of Germany - Easter 1914 (Good job they cancelled it)
Army Cup Final - Hampshire v Woolwich 13.04.1914
North v South (Ben Warren Testimonial) 27.04.1914
Ben Warren Cigarette Cards 27.04.1914
Scotland v England - Schools International 16.05.1914
Hippodrome Theatre Newcastle 21.09.1914 (Football Sing Song)
Hippodrome Theatre Newcastle 21.09.1914 (Football Sing Song)
Madrid v Espana 27.09.1914
Sheffield United v Bradford City 03.10.1914
Benfica v Anglos 24.10.1914 (newspaper)
Spurs v Sunderland 19.12.1914
Everton v Bradford City 25.12.1914 | Liverpool Reserves v Bolton Reserves 25.12.1914
Rotherham County v Halifax 02.01.1915
Chelsea v Newcastle 06.03.1915
Middlesbrough v Liverpool 20.03.1915
Liverpool v Bradford 17.04.1915 | Everton Reserves v Burnley Reserves 17.04.1915
Leeds City v Lincoln 25.09.1915 (Teamsheet)
England v Scotland 13.05.1916 - Military International
England v Scotland 13.05.1916 - Military International
Sheffield United v Leicester Fosse 16.12.1916
London Boys v Birmingham 28.12.1916
Knockaloe Internment Camp - March - December 1917
Knockaloe WW1 Camp Programmes - interned germans
Stockholm v Copenhagen 04.05.1917
Sheffield United v Rotherham 21.04.1917
History of the Queens Park Football Club 1867-1917
Man City v Rochdale 05.01.1918
Sheffield United v Bradford City 07.12.1918 [thanks Bob]
Ruhleben Internment Camp Germany 20.03.1918
Ruhleben Camp Documents
1918 Football Palls Battalion Medals
England & Wales v Scotland & Ireland 26.12.1918
England v Scotland, Ireland and Wales 01.02.1919 (in Calais)
Sports at Notts Forest 26.07.1919