Here at TwelfthMan, we write, design and print the matchday final programmes for each UEFA club competition – the Champions League, the Women’s Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League. On top of that, in the same month we also put together an issue of our 124-page quarterly magazine Champions Journal which hits shelves ahead of the Champions League final. All told, our editorial and publications design teams get five top-quality publications on the page and printed in just three weeks, totalling 464 pages.
Champions Journal issue 27
The first publication to go to print in early May was this special final-related edition of Champions Journal, the official magazine of the UEFA Champions League. For the first time we featured four cover stars compared to the usual two, with Champions League finalists Martín Zubimendi and Vitinha both granting us an interview. We also spoke to players from past finals about what it’s really like in the hours before the biggest game in club football, and learned about the Magical Magyars in honour of the final’s Hungarian location.
Champions League programme
At 120 total pages, the Champions League final is our biggest programme and it’s packed with beautifully designed and written content. In-depth interviews with Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice and Paris ace Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a detailed look at the action-packed season so far, and even a crossword are all included in a design utilising elements of the Budapest final brand.
Women’s Champions League
The first programme we send to print is for the Women’s Champions League final, which this year sees big hitters FC Barcelona and OL Lyonnes meet again. A new league phase was introduced this season and we look at some of the smaller teams that have benefited from the new format, interview fans who contribute to the community spirit around women’s football, and feature interviews with legends of the game, Ada Hegerberg and Alexia Putellas.
Europa League
The Europa League is the competition with the shortest gap between the semi-finals and final, so our teams worked diligently to turn this programme around in plenty of time for print and delivery to Istanbul. Featuring interviews with Freiburg and Aston Villa players and coaches, the history behind host club Beşiktaş and a recap of when Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup, we always make sure that content in the programme is relevant to the host country and city as well as the competing teams.
Conference League
This is the fifth edition of the Conference League, UEFA’s newest men’s club competition, and the 2026 showpiece features two clubs new to Europe. We commissioned articles on what this journey has meant to both Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano, celebrated the 10 new teams playing in the competition this year, and with the final in Leipzig, looked at the history of East German football.
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