Match of the Day: The Official 2008 Annual

With astonishing year-on-year sales growth of 250%, newcomer Match of the Day Annual is sweeping aside tired old brands Match and Shoot to become the next market leader. An incredible 250% year-on-year sales growth in 2006. MOTD Annual editor Chris Hunt was managing editor of Match magazine in its 240,000-selling heyday. The definitive MOTD Hot 100 has been developed exclusively for the Annual by Warner Leach, managers of the UK's biggest fantasy league. Premiership round-up of breath-taking detail with a page devoted to every top club. Where does Rooney stand in the order of World Strikers? Is Cech better than Casillas? Where does Gerrard rate against Vieira? Using its unique form guide, the MOTD Annual answers these crucial questions and many more, running down the top 50 deadliest strikers, the 50 meanest defenders, the 50 classiest midfielders and the top 25 keepers in the world. Also including the most detailed guide around to the Premiership clubs, plus interviews with top players, footballing insights from the MOTD presenters, and a guide to Euro 2008, it offers incredible value and genuinely new and exclusive information for discerning football fans. Everything that you would expect from a sporting brand as mighty as Match of the Day. The MOTD Annual was conceived two years ago by one-man band Terry Pratt, a former publisher of current football annual market-leader Match. With the Match Annual starting to look tired, but still hitting sales of 250,000, Terry spotted an open goal. He drafted in old colleague and former Match managing editor Chris Hunt, and together they created a far superior product and launched it under a much stronger brand. Terry was rewarded with 250% sales growth from year one to two, and third place in the Football Annual bestsellers chart, behind only Match and Shoot. After this excellent launch, and with the same team now packaging the Annual for BBC Books, we are perfectly placed to take it all the way to the top.

Terry Pratt is the one-man band behind sports imprint Interact Publishing, whose other titles include The MOTD Football Yearbook; World Cup Stories: A History of the FIFA World Cup; The MOTD Guide to the 2006 World Cup and The Official MOTD Annuals 2006 and 2007. Interact will now package the MOTD Annual for BBC Books. MOTD Annual editor Chris Hunt also has an impressive track record in this market. He became managing editor of Match in 1993, and over the next eight years transformed the title into the UK’s biggest-selling football magazine, with weekly sales peaking at 242,000 copies. During his editorship he also launched fortnightly sister title Sported and was voted Emap’s Editor Of The Year.