2021 Tour Guide & Set of Official Lions Tour Programmes
The recent Lions tour to South Africa, whether you enjoyed the tour or not, the big question on collectors lips was about the match programmes (will they be produced?). The programme for the Japan match at Murrayfield were available at the ground for £10 each ‘so no problems there’.
Then onto South Africa and here are the facts:
Information from the Publishers in SA:
At the time of the tour:
Programmes were produced only for the players/officials for the opening two matches:
1st July vs Emirates Lions
7th July vs Sharks game 1
Printing ceased after this and no more programmes were produced for any of the remaining games. Only a digital version of the programmes was made available online:
As a result of this many people started to privately produce the programme (& sold these on ebay etc in various sizes A4 & A5) with some even claiming they were an officially produced product and came from the ground, which was not the case.
Post Tour:
The Official Publishers in South Africa to the SARU decided to print off a very limited run of programmes (350 sets worldwide). This officially endorsed product came with a ‘Official Castle Larger Lions Series Tour Guide’ & the following programmes:
Emirates Lions - 3rd July
Sharks game 1 - 7th July
Sharks game 2 - 10th July
South Africa A - 14th July
Stormers - 17th July
South Africa 1st Test - 24th July
South Africa 2nd Test - 31st July
South Africa 3rd Test - 7th August
Programmes were not sold individually (only as a set with the tour guide)
If the programmes you have are A4 in size they are not an official product.
The format for each programme came in a booklet form (not a paperback spine), and are stapled together.
If you had your programmes before the 16th September they will be fake as they were still in the process of the printing them (and were not distributed to the public until the week starting 27th September).
If you have any questions regarding these programmes (if you think yours are a not official) send me an email, as there are a number of individuals who have been caught out buying an unofficial copy (which are still readily available online).
If you are looking to buy an officially produced set you can email me at peter@microcola.com
References: Rugby Memorabilia Society
Peter Douglas-Davies
18/11/2021