Ignition were privileged to help mark the oldest rivalry in world football with the commemorative 150th anniversary programme of Scotland v England in September.
The two nations first locked horns in 1872 in west Glasgow in what is officially recognised by FIFA as football’s first international fixture. This year was the 150th anniversary of the first clash against the ‘Auld Enemy and our team of creatives stepped up to the task of producing a keepsake edition worthy of the landmark occasion.
In the end the publication was an A4 sized 150-page volume with a special gold foiling on a velvet soft-touch lamination cover. The edition was packed full of historic reflections on previous meetings between the two countries, as well as updates and analysis from Steve Clarke’s side’s latest European Qualifying result against Cyprus. No easy task in itself considering Scotland were away in Larnaca on Friday evening and back at Hampden on Tuesday.
Despite the tight turnaround the end result was something to be proud of and has received rave reviews from within the footballing fraternity, being the fourth of five in the 150th Anniversary Year Collection – following on from special cover gatefold editions against Cyprus, Spain and Georgia.
Head of Operations at the Scottish FA, Ross MacDonald-Allan, was certainly impressed by the outcome and said: “The programme for the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match against England was a significant undertaking: 150 pages – more than double the amount of content of a normal match programme – as well as exclusive interviews with players and coaching staff from both nations, including both Steve Clarke and Gareth Southgate.
“The hard work was obviously worth it: sales on the night were nearly three times that of a normal Scotland match. As well, we created a limited run of 150 casebound editions with a certificate of authenticity which have proven popular with the hardcore programme collectors.
“Credit to the wonderful team at Ignition Sports Media, our editor Ronnie Esplin and Jack Evans for the wonderful cover and back page designs.”
Editions of the historic collector’s item are still available, plus the remaining few of the casebound tome, and can be ordered from the dedicated Scotland area of the website from HERE
