Collector nets 40,000 programmes

When football fan Paul Hill tells people he was relieved when his second child was another girl they look at him in surprise.

"People think that I would want a boy to play football with but I was more pleased that my match programmes could stay in my third bedroom," says Paul, aged 38.

"My two girls are in bunkbeds and my programmes have overflowed into the bedroom my wife Leona and I sleep in.

"There are also boxes of programmes in my sitting and dining room, even the shed – but I keep my most valuable items at my mum's house."

Paul who lives in James Greenway, Lichfield grew up in Church Stretton where he was introduced to Shrewsbury Town football club by his grandfather and mum Sue.

"My mum thinks my hobby is quite normal," says Paul.

"She took me to all the games when I was younger because my dad was a long distance lorry driver and away a lot.

"My first away match was against Wolves and I remember the rush of excitement when I saw the size of the Molineux – it was incredible."

Paul's hobby started when he was given a box of football programmes when he was 13-years-old.

"First of all I thought I would get every Shrewsbury programme, then it was one from every cup final and then every England game and it just spiralled from there," says Paul who works from home with his wife who is an interpreter for Eastern Europeans.

"When I moved to Staffordshire in 2000 I started putting an advert in the classifieds section of the Express & Star.

"Because the paper's readership is in the West Midlands my collection has become a homage to local football teams from Wolves and West Bromwich to smaller teams like Lower Gornal Athletic, Hednesford Town and Kidderminster Harriers.

"The response I have had from the paper has been fantastic as just the other day I was sent 2,000 programmes from a reader to add to my collection."

Paul has picked up other football souvenirs including badges, balls, boots, tickets and photos.

Signatures range from rare ones such as Real Madrid's Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas to English stars such as Jimmy Greaves and Billy Wright.

"Now I'm trying to match up programmes with tickets for each match," says Paul who not only has his own Shrewsbury Town season ticket but also has tickets for his two daughters – Anna, aged eight, and Ellie, three.

"I have come across a lot of avid fans along the way from a man who lives in South End and collects Wolves programmes and a Blackburn fan who doesn't miss a match even though he lives in Prague.

"My house is getting so full of items that I have had to start selling some – my rule is if I haven't got it I keep it, if it's a duplicate I sell it." Paul says one of the iconic items he keeps at his mum's home in Church Stretton is a programme worth £1,500 from the 1923 cup final, which was the first one at Wembley.

The oldest programme he has is an 1899 programme of a Sheffield United reserve game which is worth around £40.

"I feel I was born around 30 years too late as I would love to watch some of the players that I only know through the programmes," he says. "Players such as Billy Wright were legendary world beaters that we don't seem to have in our teams today.

"I spend more time looking through the old programmes which are wonderful."

Paul says as he runs out of space his hobby will have to come to an end.

"I'm not a museum so I have started having to say no to people if I don't need the programmes they are selling," he says.