Football club scraps printed matchday programmes

The club wants to focus on digital offerings for fans

A football club has scrapped its printed matchday programme to focus on digital content due to poor sales.

Watford FC said the number of copies sold peaked at 1,045 during the game against rivals Luton Town but dropped as low as 455 for the fixture against Swansea City.

In a statement on its website, the Vicarage Road-based side said: "The appetite for a matchday programme is sadly no longer there."

It thanked sellers for their work "in all weathers" and added their efforts would be "fully acknowledged and rewarded".

a change to English Football League rules meant clubs were no longer obliged to print a programme for every game.

Watford Gold, a website dedicated to the club's memorabilia, said the oldest known programme was from a 1907 Fulham match at Cassio Road, though it is unclear when the club began issuing them.

The club said: "It is evident as a progressive and forward-thinking club that we need to be agile and keep evolving our output in line with the rapidly changing content consumption habits of our supporters."

Future visitors to Vicarage Road will instead find a "bite-size matchday digital digest", activity book for children and A5 squad list.

Teamsheets branded with sponsors will be offered to those in hospitality.

The club said it could now focus on creating digital content for social media and on stadium screens during matchday.