Keeping Exeter City Programme at Top of the Game
Date: 2nd Jul 2009
Kingfisher Print & Design are celebrating with Exeter City Football Club after scooping another award for the Club’s programme, The Grecian – acknowledged as the best produced in Coca Cola League Two.
The accolade comes from Programme Monthly magazine and is the latest in a string of plaudits for the publication, which is published by Kingfisher Print & Design of Totnes.
“We are thrilled with this award which helps to underline the excellent partnership we have with the football club to produce a magazine of high quality,” said Ross Bellotti, Managing Director of Kingfisher Print & Design.
“A lot of credit must go to the programme’s editor, Mike Blackstone, who puts together an excellent product and with whom we have such a good working relationship.”
Mr Bellotti, himself an Exeter City goal keeper until injury prompted him to leave the football pitch and move into the family business, says that the combination of his firm’s imaginative create design input and Mr Blackstone’s informative and interesting content helps to keep The Grecian at the top of its game.
Operations Director at Exeter City Andy Gillard agrees: “We’ve built up a fantastic relationship with Kingfisher over several years now and we feel it’s a proper partnership, like many we’ve developed at the club. Working together is how Exeter City has survived and progressed on and off the pitch and we have done that in abundance with Kingfisher. They bring our words and ideas to life brilliantly and professionally, which is why it’s an award-winning publication.”
Mr Blackstone took over the editing of the magazine in 1993 but moved to live in Morecambe six years ago and only gets home to watch the team play about once a year. The advent of the Internet means that he is able to keep in close touch with everyone at St James Park and the team at Kingfisher and working from such a distance obviously hasn’t compromised the success of the publication which at 80 pages was the largest in Division Two.
“Deadlines are crucial when producing football programmes and we know that we can depend on Kingfisher,” he said. “They are always keen and helpful, willing to allow me to make changes at the last minute and they come up with some great design ideas as well as consistent print quality.”
Among recent awards for The Grecian are Best Non League Programme in the Country in the 2003-4, 2004-5 and 2005-6 seasons and Best in Division Two in 2003-4.
Along with this award, Kingfisher Print are also celebrating being awarded the match day programme for the next 2 years. The new design is to be launched for the first home league match against Norwich on Saturday 15th August.
