We take colour football prgrammes for granted these days but there was a time, when colour pictures were as rare as a Tottenham title.The first time we had any colour photographs, or plates as they were then called, was against Chelsea in 1967/68. On Boxing Day to be exact. And to commemorate the event, the Arsenal increased the price of the programme from sixpence to a shilling!
In true Arsenal style, that is the Arsenal style before a certain French manager came in and invented the club, the players featured were defenders!
The exercise was repeated just once more in that season, against Manchester United the day after my mum's birthday!
Colour remained a novelty until the 1974/75 season when it was a colour photo was introduced on the cover for the first time and the middle pages also featured a couple of colour snaps, usually of badly dressed players playing golf or relaxing off the pitch! The club again took the opportunity to double the cost of the programme to 10p!
For some reason the following season saw a return to black and white all through the programme and it wasn't until 1976/77 that it became a regular thing.
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