The 2014 Chatham Cup final programme is a triumph of style over substance.
It is a 20-page, full colour, A5 size publication on semi-gloss paper with excellent graphic presentation and high production values. (Cover price $2).
But as far as being a vital document of record, or a good read, it is a desperately limp, bell-tolling effort.
The overarching impression is of a programme dominated by full-page house ads (six of them plus a contents page) from publishers New Zealand Football.
There is a 170-word blurb from sponsors ASB, 600-odd equally platitudinous words from NZ Football CEO Andy Martin, a 150-word history of the Women's Knockout Cup, and a 180-word history - if that is not too strong a word for it - of the Chatham Cup (To put that in some sort of historical context, that works out at about two words for every year the cup has been contested).
And that's it!
It's one of the blandest, emptiest, most insipid Chatham Cup final programmes of all time.
It tells us almost nothing about the competing clubs, and absolutely nothing about the players or officials. Even the team photos do not have captions.
There are photos of four players on the centre page. Presumably they are the team captains (men's and women's) but there are no captions.
Here are some features that are missing from the 2014 edition that you might reasonably expect in a cup final programme, based on New Zealand's heritage of previous publications:
# Nationwide results of the earlier rounds of the Cup. (The match results of previous cup finals - not just winners names, but the match scoreline, including opponents.)
# Biographical data about the players. (Age, height, occupation etc as a minimum, though back in the day it was possible to give a succinct pen pic of all squad members, often with mug shots)
# Referee pen pics, particularly where they come from).
# Captioned team photos.
# A brief history of the competing clubs or maybe even a solicited column from them.
Over the years cup final programmes have become blander and blander. If you go back 30-odd years to the likes of Gisborne City v Mt Wellington in 1984, you'll find feisty editorials discussing the merits of the Chatham Cup final hosting arrangements (both for and against it being hosted in Gisborne), the previous cup runs and ambitions of the finalists, and lively columns from both coaches.
That might be asking a bit much in these dull times, but it's hard to believe we can't arrange something a bit more compelling for minimal effort in our next Cup Final programme.
But that's just me. Comments welcomed.
It is a 20-page, full colour, A5 size publication on semi-gloss paper with excellent graphic presentation and high production values. (Cover price $2).
But as far as being a vital document of record, or a good read, it is a desperately limp, bell-tolling effort.
The overarching impression is of a programme dominated by full-page house ads (six of them plus a contents page) from publishers New Zealand Football.
There is a 170-word blurb from sponsors ASB, 600-odd equally platitudinous words from NZ Football CEO Andy Martin, a 150-word history of the Women's Knockout Cup, and a 180-word history - if that is not too strong a word for it - of the Chatham Cup (To put that in some sort of historical context, that works out at about two words for every year the cup has been contested).
And that's it!
It's one of the blandest, emptiest, most insipid Chatham Cup final programmes of all time.
It tells us almost nothing about the competing clubs, and absolutely nothing about the players or officials. Even the team photos do not have captions.
There are photos of four players on the centre page. Presumably they are the team captains (men's and women's) but there are no captions.
Here are some features that are missing from the 2014 edition that you might reasonably expect in a cup final programme, based on New Zealand's heritage of previous publications:
# Nationwide results of the earlier rounds of the Cup. (The match results of previous cup finals - not just winners names, but the match scoreline, including opponents.)
# Biographical data about the players. (Age, height, occupation etc as a minimum, though back in the day it was possible to give a succinct pen pic of all squad members, often with mug shots)
# Referee pen pics, particularly where they come from).
# Captioned team photos.
# A brief history of the competing clubs or maybe even a solicited column from them.
Over the years cup final programmes have become blander and blander. If you go back 30-odd years to the likes of Gisborne City v Mt Wellington in 1984, you'll find feisty editorials discussing the merits of the Chatham Cup final hosting arrangements (both for and against it being hosted in Gisborne), the previous cup runs and ambitions of the finalists, and lively columns from both coaches.
That might be asking a bit much in these dull times, but it's hard to believe we can't arrange something a bit more compelling for minimal effort in our next Cup Final programme.
But that's just me. Comments welcomed.