View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Archive content
August 19, 2004updated 22 Nov 2022 11:57am

Football First puts on pages to boost sales

By Press Gazette

Weekly newspaper Football First has increased from 48 pages to 64 and been re-designed in bid to halt falling sales.The paper, which was called Sport First until March, has seen circulation decline from a peak of 97,000 in 2001 to 21,896.

Editorial director Chris Mann said the redesign was intended to “bring a more upmarket, glossier feel”.

He added: “It means we’ve been able to double the size of coverage we give to the leagues below the Premiership with more stats and pics as well as reaction quotes.

“We feel that to secure our niche, as the only dedicated national football paper, we have to provide more than the mainstream papers in every area of coverage, hence our banner: every goal, every game, every league.”

Mann pointed out that in France, Italy, Germany and Spain footballonly newspapers have considerable shares of the total market and doing so in the UK and Ireland for Football First was now his aim.

He said: “The national Sundays have nicked idea after idea from us, but the one thing they can’t do is sustain good coverage right down through the leagues because they don’t have the pagination for it.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

By Dominic Ponsford

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network