Special Home Issues


1875 issue!

By The Spider
January 1 2003

Special issues of home programmes (1875 to date) Special Home Issues

Featured below are special home programmes issues issued by the Club. Regular home programmes and unusual away issues are featured on separate pages.

Pictured left is the very first official Queen's Park "programme" which was actually nothing more than a cardboard teamsheet. It was issued for a friendly match against Wanders on 9th October 1875, a week before Queen's kicked off their successful Scottish Cup campaign of that season. Queen's comfortably won the game 5-0.
In the days when amateurism was still exemplified by the Olympic ideal, Great Britain entered a team into the competition every four years, right up to 1968. Queen's players were often to the fore and the 1948 hopefuls met at Hampden on 29th May, 1948 to try to impress the selectors. 27 players took part in the trial: 12 from England, 2 from Wales, 3 from Ireland and 10 from Scotland. Of the 10 Scots, 8 were Queen's players. The programme for the evening is instantly recognisable as the standard format which served the Club so well for over 30 years.
The third and greatest Hampden Park was officially opened on 31st October, 1903 when Queen's defeated Celtic 1-0 in a league match. 50 years later to the day, the Club commemorated the occasion with a magnificent 20 page issue for a league match against Ayr United. It included photos of the 1903 Q.P. team and a very early game at Hampden amongst others. Notable events during the stadium's first fifty years were also well chronicled. Sadly, as so often happens at such events, Ayr were party poopers on the day and left with both points following a 4-2 victory.
Even as late as the early 1960's, Hampden still enjoyed a reputation as one of the world's leading football stadia. The ever-ambitious Queen's Park Committee now sought to provide it with floodlights worthy of its status and these were ready for use by late 1961. However, by then, the Club's own drawing power was hardly suitable for highlighting their completion and instead a glamour match between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt was arranged. A large glossy 8 page issue was produced for the occasion and, although the cover looks familiar, inside it was typical of  cup final programmes of the era.
Six years later and it was time to celebrate Queen's Centenary. Although another glamour game was scheduled for the Saturday, a pre-season friendly between Celtic and Spurs, this time it was inconceivable that Queen's wouldn't mark the occasion with a game of their own. And so, on the Friday night, in an eerie atmosphere, Queen's took on a British Amateur select side at the main Stadium. The programme was very similar internally to the 1961 one but had been extended to 20 pages, although as you would expect half of them concentrated on the glamour game. Apart from a Q.P. potted history and a feature on the 3 Hampdens, the main interest was an article summarising the Club's contribution to Olympic football from 1936 onwards..
It was almost another 30 years before their was reason to issue a special programme but, for some,this was no cause for celebration. The old South Stand had been a magnificent structure during its heyday with the twin turrets and the lofty Press box being two attractions guaranteed to provoke nostalgic memories to those familiar with them. However its predominantly wooden interior was now completely unsuitable for its purpose in these post-Heysel days and a league match against Livingston would be the final opportunity for members to doff their bowlers to the famous landmark before the bulldozers moved in. A truly splendid 40 page programme was produced; the first occasion that a Club issue had colour pages inside. The game ended 0-0.
The most recent addition to the collection was in May of 1999 when the stadium re-opened following completion of the new South Stand. The Committee were keen to fill the place, but they also wanted to maintain a strong Queen's Park theme to the event, emphasising the Club's continued ownership of the ground. It was decided that many of the Club's more prominent former players would be welcomed back to take on a Celebrity All Stars team. Thus the like of Eddie Hunter and Rod Stewart would clash, and clash they did! Rod required stitches in a leg wound. The most ambitious programme to date was produced and, at 60 pages, is unlikely to be bettered. Apart from guest articles by such as Craig Brown & Ally MacLeod, there were 13 photos of the stadium, old and new, with 4 of them in colour.

Quite when there will be the need for the Club to produce another special home issue is anybody's guess although a likely candidate will be for a glamour pre-season friendly in July, 2017 to mark the Club's 150th Anniversary. Make a note in your diary and pre-order your copy now!

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