The Football Echo R.I.P?

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I hear the Football Echo (it was never called the Pink'un in the old days) is in danger of being scrapped, possibly as early as Xmas.

 

Does anyone on here still buy it? I tried to get a copy yesterday but was unable to find a copy in my normal outlet and wondered if others had problems. The standard of the FE has dipped alarmingly in recent years and it's rumoured demise does not come as a shock.

But is there still a need for it, would fans welcome a newer better more informative local football paper or has it had its day?

[ladysaint]

You can now only get in on a Sunday and then not at all newsagents I know a lot of people who regularly buy it, more of the established senior fans should so I say.

[Dimond Geezer]

I still get it & there are plenty still on sale in the newsagents in Romsey (maybe because no one is buying it)

 

It'll be a real shame if it disappears . I've bought it since I was about 14 years old, I would buy it after my Sunday Morning paper round (along with Roy of the Rovers & a couple of those Commando war story comic books).

 

I like to look at the 'Scare are they now section', I've been in there a few times over the last year or so.

[paris]

Used to be able to buy it outside the Milton Rd after the match ...

[Fitzhugh Fella]

You can now only get in on a Sunday and then not at all newsagents I know a lot of people who regularly buy it, more of the established senior fans should so I say.

 

Not much point it coming out on a Sunday. I suppose in the old pre internet/Sky days it was a good way to get the scores on your way home from the games.

 

We (Hagiology) have every FE since before the War but tbh I no longer see the need to keep the archive up to date.

[saintrich]

I work in a shop and we sell out of pink's most sundays, unless we've been thrashed.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

I still get it & there are plenty still on sale in the newsagents in Romsey (maybe because no one is buying it)

 

It'll be a real shame if it disappears . I've bought it since I was about 14 years old, I would buy it after my Sunday Morning paper round (along with Roy of the Rovers & a couple of those Commando war story comic books).

 

I like to look at the 'Scare are they now section', I've been in there a few times over the last year or so.

 

Yes I will miss some of those old local team pics from way back when. Some of the hair styles over the years were worth the cost of the paper by themselves.

[krissyboy31]

I remember the queues inside Glanvilles' in Woolston, waiting for the Football Echo to arrive, between 5.30 and 6pm on a Saturday. They were longer when we won than when we lost (fans used to be sooo fickle ).

[acersaint]

I subscribe to it have done for years hadit delivered in far away places such as South Africa, Botswana and Papua New Guinea and would avidly read it from front to back several times and yes disappointingly it has diminished in content. For guys like myself who live away from Southampton you need some means of keeping up with the pulse of what's happening. That's why I devour the contents of this forum.

[Winnersaint]

Another bit of my childhood goes west. Remember as a kid living in North Baddesley getting fish and chips on a Saturday night and picking up the Football Echo from a newsagents nearby, and waiting for my dad to finish reading it, before I could get my hands on it. Always has been the 'Footie Echo' in our family even when it morphed into the Sports Echo. Somewhere in my loft I still have, rolled up in a battered cardboard tube the only two bits of Saints memorabilia I own. A signed team photo of the Saints 71-72 squad given to me by a good friend who unfortunately did not see the end of 1972 and the Football Echo from May 1st 1976. Headline IT'S OURS!

[CB Fry]

As someone who was made redundant from the local newspaper game three years ago this comes as absolutely no surprise.

 

Local papers have been dying its arse for the last decade, and the credit crunch has only made a dire situation even worse.

 

The sports papers of any local daily doesn't really make much money - a little bit of cover price revenue and to prop up the circulation numbers of the sister paper, there is no stand alone advertising.

 

Throw in the additional shifts for journos, printers, van drivers, the processing of returns, the tiny selling window (basically two hours Sat night, little bit Sunday am) the fact that one press breakdown Sat night can kill sales by more than half. It's an easy cut.

 

It sounds like the Saints Pink is a Sunday-only product now already, which has already killed its one and only point of difference.

 

At their best they are one of the better examples of a local daily delivering a service to its readers and its community as opposed to a shell of a "supplement" designed to shift some advertising space. But they are a pain and don't deliver much back.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if The Southern Daily Echo, in the next five years, becomes either twice/thrice-weekly, or a free paper doled out to people on the Number 17 bus in the afternoon.

Edited 12 October, 2009 by CB Fry

[View From The Top]

I used to buy the FE at the papershop by the Bitterne Brewery after getting the number 14 hope from the game as a nipper. It they hadn't arrived I used to wait until the van came. There was always people waiting and blokes sticking their heads out of the pub to see if it had arrived.

 

When I lived and worked overseas my mum used to buy it and post it out every week during the season, along with all the Saints clipping out of the DE.

[dellgirl]

It was a source of wonderment for me as a child that the paper was delivered to the house by the time we got back from the Dell ,and if we stopped off at the paper/ sweet shop on the way home a man would stagger in from the Echo van and dump the pile of papers by the counter ,the shopkeeper would whip round and cut the string and they would fly out of the shop in no time, the paper boys waiting to go on their rounds . I now live on the dark side so can't get one over here but my sister keeps them for me, it will be another sad passing of tradition,something we have got used to over the years. It bought back a happy flash of memory of my Dad on this sunny morning , Thank you for raising it on here.

[Colinjb]

Hope this isn't the case. Always used to get a copy of it when I lived dahn sarf. Always had to drive up to Fair Oak from Colden Common though to get it as the local newsies never seemed to have it. dad even kept posting me copies when I went to Uni.

[Scudamore]

I still buy it over here in Bournemouth. It's on sale all over the place.

[John B]

I used to buy the FE at the papershop by the Bitterne Brewery after getting the number 14 hope from the game as a nipper. It they hadn't arrived I used to wait until the van came. There was always people waiting and blokes sticking their heads out of the pub to see if it had arrived.

 

.

 

Funny enough so did I - then walked up West End Road reading it

[sandwichsaint]

Always known as 'the Pink' in my house c1970 - 1976.

 

Remember queueing on a Saturday evening outside the newsagents at Netley for it to come out, it used to arrive in Netley around 6 o'clock; if memory serves for the price of 4p (or '4 new pennies' as we probably said then).

 

Fantastic paper in its time, big match day report, lots of inside stuff about all diff sports around the area, all the main results and tables on the front page, first half reports on local league games, and 'final' scores from local league games printed vertically as an extra in a horizontal column across the bottom of the back page (small prize for anybody who knows the technical name for that bit?).

 

Absolutely excellent piece of journalism/editing/printing to get the whole thing nailed together (presumably on traditional type face), printed and in the shops by 6.00 o'clock-ish.

 

Can't comment so much on the quality of the paper in the later years but my Grandma used to periodically post me a bundle of old copies and it was a great way for any 'exiles' to keep in touch.

 

Guess like lots of things it's been superceeded by the all-conquering t'internet but a shame to see it go.

[70's Mike]

Football Echo

it always beat me back to the newsagents in meggeson ave on a saturday night, was there for 6pm.

[Wilko]

CB Fry is pretty much on the money.

 

My employer ran a similar football paper in a different part of the country. They stopped it and put all the content online instead. I imagine the echo might do this instead.

[Trumush]

I was a regular subscriber ( 50 years worth ) until you could no longer buy it at 6.00pm on a saturday night.

[tonibell]

Foys News (Shirley) allways got the Pink.I allways buy it on a Sunday and Monday post it to Thailand for my friend (cost £1.92 to send via airmail)

[benjii]

If I went back to my mate's house after matches at the Dell we would invariably pop down to St James' Road to pick up "The Pink".

 

Like an earlier poster, I was amazed how quickly they turned it round!

[stevegrant]

One of our sources is wrong, Duncan... mine tells me sales of the Pink are up this season

[red&white56]

The FE is an institution - I can still remember in the 70's, after finishing my Sat. job in M&S coming out to find my dad reading it in the car - invariably we had lost........... that's part of the institution as well.... but Saturday night couldn't be right without the Football Echo to read..

[beatlesaint]

I still buy it over here in Bournemouth. It's on sale all over the place.

 

I can vouch for that......both the garage and the newsagents at the bottom of my road stock it on a Sunday morning.......they dont have many copies each admittedly but they both sell it.

 

Will be a shame, especially for those of us who dont get the Southampton Echo during the week.

[SW11_Saint]

Would hate to see the FE go, but it may be a sign of the times. I remember seeing an article a while ago (on Football Focus maybe?) about the demise of the "pink/blue/green 'uns" around the country.

 

Wonder if we can get definitive comment from the Echo? Sure someone from there checks this site.

[COMEONYOUREDS]

went round about 5 shops in Winchester yesterday, couldn't find it anywhere. Love the saints coverage in there, if scrapped it will be sorely missed

[derry]

It comes out Sat evening about 8pm at several outlets, one I believe Somerfields filling station at the top of Hill Lane.

 

I still get it every Sunday, apart from 'scare are they now' it isn't a patch on the old Football Echo.

[ecuk268]

Not really surprised. It used to be a Saturday night ritual. Get home from The Dell and then round to the local shop at 6.30 to get the Footy Echo.

 

The whole Echo setup has been going downhill rapidly in the last few years. Sensationalist headlines but very little actual news. Just loads of adverts and pictures of people's pets, babies etc that they invite you to buy.

[fish fingers]

Buy it every week in Christchurch. It seems to be on sale in more places these days.

[Nick65]

Blimey this thread has taken me back about 40 years.

 

When Saints were at home, having got the train and bus back home to Everton, I could time it so I could pick it up within 5 minutes of getting off the bus and walking to the newsagents. As someone else said, there was the ritual of the van screeching up, driver chucking out the bundle and then the guy in the shop cutting off the string - I usually got the first one.

 

And it was a great read - every week there were a load of letters from people slagging off Ted Bates and telling him to play Mickey Judd or Bob McCarthy or whoever because the first-team weren't up to it.

And if Saints were at home and had scored (well, in the first half anyway), there'd be a photo of it on the front page, which to my 14-year old mind was like magic.

[krissyboy31]

And if Saints were at home and had scored (well, in the first half anyway), there'd be a photo of it on the front page, which to my 14-year old mind was like magic.

 

Back then it was like magic, even if the resolution was a fuzzy lot of dots throw together which somehow managed to make a decipherable photograph.

[Saint Richard of Woolston]

One of our sources is wrong, Duncan... mine tells me sales of the Pink are up this season

 

Of course, you could both be correct.

 

There is little original Saints content in it these days. I get it only for the local football. It would be a real shame if it went to the wall but all the Saints info is on line these days so its need is disappearing. Sad.

[Ciaran]

Of course, you could both be correct.

 

There is little original Saints content in it these days. I get it only for the local football. It would be a real shame if it went to the wall but all the Saints info is on line these days so its need is disappearing. Sad.

 

Actually, I've just leafed through this weekend's one and there's actually quite a bit of Saints stuff I've not seen anywhere else - especially online.

[RonManager]

So, farewell then, old Pink friend,

The modern internet works at the speed of light,

Yet 40 years ago,

You did,

 

Too.

 

EJ Thribb (17 1/2)

[SFKA South Woodford]

I really hope it doesn't go the way the way of the Dodo as well.

 

As with others on here, I remember getting back to Central after a slow walk back from the game at the Dell to see the guy standing between the ticket barrier and WH Smith's selling copies of the pink, and thinking how amazing it was that they could get it printed and out for sale in such a short time, was always a good read on the train back to London and it allowed me to save reading my programme until I was home.

 

I remember some of my friends looking through it in London and their comments about how great it would be if there was a paper in London that covered the local league football as well as the Football League teams, we all had dreams of seeing our names or photographs in print of a report on our local league Saturday and Sunday morning teams matches, and were envious of the coverage things like the tyro league got in the pink.

 

I still think it's well worth saving even if it's not quite as good as it used to be, perhaps the Echo management could look at publishing it on Saturday evenings again with a few well stocked outlets around the city i'm sure there would be plenty of sales to people on their way home after the game.

[sandwichsaint]

For Keith's mum:

 

So farewell 'the Pink',

Not the Floyd or Lilly or the Panther,

though you were special to us.

A miracle of

old technology.

Done down by new

We'll all miss you.

 

EJ Thribb (age 17 in 1977)

[Blandford saint]

Used to buy it regularly - when Nick Holmes was running our local shop we had no problem getting a copy, but he had to put one by for us as they soon sold out. However, I've wouldn't know where to get one nowadays - they were always pretty scarce in the Salisbury area, even though it is easy to pick up the Daily Echo.

I wouldn't be suprised if it closed - it's hardly the "must read" it used to be. Local papers cannot afford the standard of journalism they used to.

[Gingeletiss]

It used to be a bloody good read, but alas, it went downhill so fast, that it is now a complete waste of money......IMO, it won't be missed.

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Buy it every week in Christchurch. It seems to be on sale in more places these days.

 

I believe it is now printed in Weymouth - hence it's abundance in the bournemouth area?

[saint_stevo]

I used to buy it in my tyro days to see my name in it week after week for scoring plenty of goals, but not since then. Will my scrap books be worth a mint now?

[fish fingers]

I believe it is now printed in Weymouth - hence it's abundance in the bournemouth area?

 

this is true, it moved a couple of years ago i think. Still very little focus is given to Bournemouth though in the paper. not a bad thing imo but may push sales up if they did.

[beatlesaint]

I believe it is now printed in Weymouth - hence it's abundance in the bournemouth area?

 

Not according to the back of this weeks edition it is not.

Clearly states, bottom right hand corner - ...and printed at Newsquest (Southern) Ltd from its offices at Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton.

 

Doesnt mention the echo printing site on The Granby in Weymouth at all.

[spyinthesky]

I can remember walking down to the old Echo Office with my Dad and hanging round to get a first copy (in a queue) Dad had something to do with a Pools syndicate and needed the results asap to work out winners etc.

 

Also there would be later editions of the Echo on sale outside the Dell with latest scores in the margins. People used to buy these oddly

 

Also remember all the Corporation buses parked up outside the Dell, as few people had cars.

 

Those with bikes could park them in neighbouring houses for a 1d

 

Was in the new Echo Offices a couple of years back. Explained to me that the circ\ulation of the Sports Echo (and the Daily Echo to some extent) was directly dependent on the Saints success.

 

Should think circulation is healthier now than in last couple of years!!

[Wade Garrett]

My dad used to get it delivered. I would come home from a game and see if I got a mention in the non-league first-half reports.

 

True story, I promise you.

[Redondo Saint]

Of course, you could both be correct.

 

There is little original Saints content in it these days. I get it only for the local football. It would be a real shame if it went to the wall but all the Saints info is on line these days so its need is disappearing. Sad.

 

Good point.

I always buy it when I am over for the non league news. Would be a shame if it does stop.

 

Mind you, many newspapapers are 'folding'.

[Saint 76er]

Think of all the great games headlined in the Football Echo over the years... Man U 6-3, Wolves 9-3 and the Cup Final of course, to name but a few.

 

Over the years, which sadly have passed so quickly, the Football Echo has been the one constant in bringing all the local football news to Saints supporters far and wide.

 

As a kid I too remember the ritual cutting of the string in our local shop at East Cowes where I would await it's arrival. In those far off days it actually seemed exciting and I can still remember the smell of those freshly printed papers. I can also still vividly recall the smell of the vinegar soaked 6d of chips I'd have on the way home!

 

First thing would be to check the stop press at the bottom of back page for all the Hants League full times to find out how the Vics had got on (if they were away). Then read everything about Saints and all the local reports. This was the only way to get such information in those days and the local press was held in high regard, but times change it seems.

 

Growing up and moving away from the area I subscribed to the Football Echo and all it's subsequent guises for nearly 35 years, until the internet pretty much made it redundant. I guess that's the problem, old technology no longer keeping pace with the modern world.

 

It's obvious reading this thread that many of us will feel a little emotional at the passing of a local icon that has been so much a part of our lives for so long, but sadly is probably no longer relevant.

 

Thank you to all those at the Echo over the years who have contributed in some small way to getting the paper out so quickly on a saturday night. It may only have been newsprint on paper but I suspect it meant a great deal to a lot of people in the pre digital era...

[Fitzhugh Fella]

Funnily enough I have just bought a copy (Waitrose, Chandlers Ford) and it was a good read with quite a lot Saints news I was previously unaware off.

Also an interview with Martin Chivers who claims Saints is the first score he looks for. I always thought he was a naturalised Spur too.

[John B]

Funnily enough I have just bought a copy (Waitrose, Chandlers Ford) and it was a good read with quite a lot Saints news I was previously unaware off.

Also an interview with Martin Chivers who claims Saints is the first score he looks for. I always thought he was a naturalised Spur too.

 

I dont see why he should not be a Saints Fan he was a Southampton lad and very underated on this forum very strong and skilful player probably one of best homegrown players of all time.

[hugh]

I remember queueing up at the newsagent on the estate where we used to live in the 70's. It used to get there between 6.30-7pm.

 

Don't know why I used to buy it TBH. The match reports made about as much sense as the text feeds on the Beeb.

 

Now when I am around in the area on a Sunday I always make a point of getting a copy. IMHO it is a good paper now and always seems to have content which I haven't read anywhere else. I am surprised at people here looking down there noses at it. I for one would miss it if it were to finish, even though I only get the occasional copy.