I’m a published writer! (kind of)
“Mr Writer, why don’t you tell it like it is?”
“Mr Writer, why don’t you tell it like it is?”
Fanzines, deriving from fanatic (fan) and magazines (zines) were a foundational and literary pun intended staple of my formative years as an adult, match going football fan. Growing into the awkwardly contrarian persona I seem to have perfected at the time of writing, fanzines were a match made in footballing heaven. Written by fans, for fans and after originating in the underground and independent music scenes of the English cities of Liverpool, Manchester and London, they became somewhat of a cultural footballing moment as more and more independently minded writers created their own club’s fanzine. Rooted in the working class, I was a cliched “early adopter” as I collected many hundreds from different football teams throughout the UK, with many teams having two, often three independently run, voiced and produced fanzines which, at the very beginning, were nothing more than stapled together pamphlets. Well written, well crafted, thought provoking, funny, irreverent, sour, scathing stapled together voices from grass roots fanatics.
I recollect fanzines first becoming prominent in the late 1980’s but (a) the independent industry in club fanzines really became huge from the early 1990’s onward and (b) my recollections may well differ from yours. There are accounts of fanzines circulating at a handful of clubs from the mid 1970’s but they became somewhat of a phenomenon at the turn of the 1990's.
Sadly fanzines have come and sadly fanzines have gone. My interest waned to a little over zero around a decade ago but this is reflective upon my life as a whole rather than an antipathy to reading about my beloved football club. According to the official records held at www.thisisanfield.com the Mighty Reds of Liverpool have had five different fanzines and sadly, only one remains. However, being the contrarian reader of pamphlets from days past I can confirm there was indeed a sixth Liverpool fanzine entitled “Another Wasted Corner” and I know this as I collected this albeit short run of publications as I did “The Liverpool Way” (ceased to exist as a publication in 2015) and as I religiously collected the much missed “Through the Wind and Rain” which ceased publication in 2008. The long term editor and producer was another Steve and we shared more than a Christian name! We were both avid fans who spoke each others precious footballing language.
And thus you have a football fanzine.
https://www.thisisanfield.com/clubinfo/fanzines/
Red All Over The Land - A Liverpool Fanzine
Visit the subscription page for more details or email the editor redallovertheland@gmail.com As things move on we'll…redallovertheland.com
The last Liverpool fanzine standing is entitled “Red All Over The Land” or more affectionately, “RAOTL”. As with “Through the Wind and Rain” mentioned above, I collected RAOTL avidly, each new issue eagerly awaited at the match, articles read with a hot brew to kill time before kick-off before the rest would be pored over later in a hot bath with an illegal cigarette or two. Being the collecting, obsessional contrarian, I became a little tired of the dog-eared fanzine ravaged by the wind and rain as well as the perfected crease only a back pocket of a pair of snug jeans can provide, so I became a fully fledged subscriber and a fresh off the press pristine copy arrived through my letterbox, and a day or two ahead of my match going comrades. Bonus!
Why the bluff and bluster about an independent voice of the fanatics now driven further underground by the rapacious greed of social media and the internet? (Apologies, I couldn’t resist. Society Editor)
Well, on Monday 13th February a fella named John, more affectionately known as simply “JJP”, together with his motley crew of sellers, will be dotted around Liverpool’s famed old stadium of Anfield as usual, but with a brand new issue of the Red All Over The Land fanzine, and one of my articles will be featured. JJP didn’t specify the exact one but it’s one of the articles linked at the bottom of this blast from a fanzine past. Monday’s game is the local “Derby” with Everton and JJP has picked one of my Liverpool/Everton articles for inclusion, and I couldn’t be prouder if you paid me. Well I could, but that’s beside the point.
The point being is that a piece of my off the cuff scribblings I no doubt wrote in the dead of morning as a means of purely entertaining myself, will be appearing in my beloved football club’s fanzine, a fanzine I used to collect obsessively to the point of talking about the very concepts of fanzines and of independent voices and independent writing to any and everyone who’d listen. Someone, hopefully many someone's, will be reading my observational writing over a hot brew on Monday night at what one football commentator used to describe as “The Coliseum”. Hopefully many more someone’s will be reading my writing on a “Derby” from decades ago in the wee small hours of a Tuesday morning after the Monday before, and on a victorious Liverpool fans coach heading safely home.
So it’s a rather lovely thing and for what it’s worth I’m rather proud.
“Mr Writer, why don’t you tell it like it really is?
Why don’t you tell it like it always is?
Before you go on home”
Thanks for reading. I’m guessing the editor of Red All Over the Land has chosen the first article linked below whilst I’m rather hoping he’s chosen the last one! We’ll see.
“Skippy” settles the Derby as the Reds close in on top spot
Retro Series Vol 22: Everton 1 Liverpool 3, 27th March 1982medium.com
Merseyside Derby stalemate just desserts for Reds and Blues alike
Everton 0 Liverpool 0, 3rd September 2022medium.com
Liverpool 3 Everton 1
Retro Series Vol.13: Dalglish at the Double!medium.com
Everton 0 Liverpool 5 — November 6th 1982
“Ian Rush is leading Everton a merry dance” and according to song writing legend, through a Red River Valley too. A…medium.com