I've
read both of the first two issues of The Popular Side and despite not being a
Newcastle fan I've got to say that it's got some superb content. Issue 2 in
particular is top quality. How hard was it to get it all started?
Surprisingly,
it wasn’t that difficult at all to make the idea a reality. I’ve been involved
with Newcastle United fanzines since 1989 when I first wrote for The
Mag, as well as many other long-defunct publications, such as Dave
Jameson’s marvellous Half Mag, Half Biscuit. In 2004, I moved
on to write for Steve Wraith’s players inc, which became Toon
Talk and latterly Number 9. For the 2013/2014 season, I was involved with
a few other writers from The Popular Side in the final 3
on-line; free to download editions of that latter publication, which didn’t
work out how we hoped, sadly. That experience, which taught us we were writers
and not designers, plus The Mag ceasing publication after
288 issues and 26 years, left NUFC fans without a fanzine. A conversation in
the pub one Friday night during the World Cup with the co-founders Steve Hastie
and Bill Corcoran, led us to the decision Newcastle could probably do with an
A5 old school, no frills inky fanzine and the belief that between us we had
enough mates and contacts to get a launch issue together. A dozen texts later
and we’d a name for this venture, a cover design and an enthusiastic squad of
writers, many of whom have written for a whole range of fan publications, both NUFC
related and more general, such as Kriss Kngihts (aka Billy Furious), Neil
Mitchell, Paul McIntosh and Chris Tait, former deputy editor of The
Mag, who made the salient point that if you’re an electrician and the
company you work for goes out of business, you don’t stop being an electrician;
you look for another job.
Hence,
we were able to find some of the very best Newcastle United supporting writers
and give them a platform for their thoughts. Additionally, the magic of Twitter
(we’re @PopularSisdeZine) has enabled us to subsequently form links
with many other NUFC fans, who fight shy of the media stereotype of the thick
Geordie by being erudite, articulate and perceptive, seeking in nuanced terms
to tell the complicated truth about our club instead of mouthing simple lies.
Some of these new writers, like Matt Charlton or Michael Atkinson, are
geniuses, plain and simple. Thus, in
that sense the first issue wrote itself, once we’d decided on a publication
date on August 17th at the Man City home game. We had 28 pages and
17 writers.
For issue 2, we encouraged a few others to put their thoughts on
paper and were contacted by others keen to express opinions, meaning that in
the end we had 40 pages and 21 writers, including 6 newly published ones.
That’s pretty good value for a quid we feel. The problem, of course, is keeping
the momentum going; the “difficult third album” scenario is upon us and it is
up to us to source quality writers who can provide sensitive insights into the
club. We’re frankly not interested in
rambling, badly-spelled tirades about the merits of Paul Dummett; stuff like
that can stay on-line.
You're
a long time Newcastle fan but 'gave up' watching them regularly a few years
back; why start a fanzine about them if your heart lies elsewhere these days?
While
saying that my heart will always be with Newcastle United, I think I’ve partly
answered that above; to me and many others it seems, the absence of a print fanzine
devoted to NUFC was not just a crying shame, but a wrong that needed righting.
To paraphrase Bobby Sands; everyone, active supporter or otherwise, has their
own particular part to play. While I’m
not equating being involved in a fanzine with the struggle for
self-determination in the north of Ireland, the point I’m making is that
because I’ve been involved in writing for independent publications since the
late 1970s and football specifically since the late 1980s, I know how to
construct articles. Also, as I edit the programme at Newcastle Benfield in the
Northern League, I know how to put a magazine together, even if it’s just a word
document saved in PDF format. Consequently, I wanted to use my expertise to
help give NUFC fans a voice. It isn’t an ego trip for me at all, as frankly I’m
happy to take a back seat, proofing and subbing the pieces our writers submit;
26 years as an English lecturer makes you attuned to grammatical errors.
Consequently, in issue 1 all I wrote was the editorial and in issue 2, I only
contributed an article to enable us to get up to the magic total of 40 pages
(PDFs have to be in multiples of 4 pages to print properly you see); otherwise
I’d have had to pull someone’s contribution, which I’m firmly against. Not that
we’d print any old tripe mind! To summarise I think my commitment to The
Popular Side shows that I adhere
to the statement made by Tony Benn when he stood down as an MP, saying he was leaving Westminster to devote
more time to politics.
How
do you see TPS developing in the next few editions? You're a no frills, low
budget production that concentrates on writing quality. Any plans to develop it
in other ways?
We
set ourselves up as an old-school, A5, not for profit fanzine, with no website,
no adverts and no merchandise as we’re not interested in having fellow fans
fund our leisure choices. Issue 1 cost us £180 for 200 copies; we gave 20 away
to contributors and sold out the rest, as well as shifting quite a few PDFs to
turn a slight surplus. For issue 2, the printer kept it at 80p a copy, despite
the extra pages and we had 300 done. It seems that was ambitious as we were
left with 50 copies, as many on-line purchasers via Twitter, our one
concession to the modern era, opted for the PDF. Consequently, our modest
initial profit has offset a loss on issue 2, leaving us at our intended,
ethical break-even point. I think we’ll
split the difference and go for a 250 print run next time.
Basically,
we have no intention of changing our format; if we make any profit in the
future, we may go for a glossy or colour cover, as much to highlight the superb
work of our resident artist Michael Atkinson. The main thing we would like is
to encourage new and different writers to contribute to subsequent editions.
Ideologically, we are a loose collective of writers of equal parity of esteem,
bound by an interest in Newcastle United; there’s no rigid, inflexible,
dogmatic ideology set down by self-elected, supposedly charismatic autodidacts
for “followers” to adhere to. If there were, I wouldn’t be involved. There are
no bosses at this publication and there’s no list of philosophical commandments
to follow, other than our obvious refusal to countenance the publication of
anything discriminatory in any way.
As we
don’t know what the shelf life is for The Popular Side will be; we’re just
enjoying the journey. Having established
our credentials among Newcastle United fans with the first 2 issues, by
demonstrating our honourable intentions and the quality of our magazine, we
would fondly hope to diversify our content to include work from a whole range
of different contributors. We are acutely aware of having not published any
female writers, or those from the Geordie diaspora, or supporters of other
clubs with something to say, though we’re working on it. Frankly, anyone is
welcome to contribute, providing they can write and adhere to deadlines. That
latter point is the perennial moan of fanzine editors the world over; that and
a lack of willing bodies to flog the thing on a match day. We’re no different
in that respect, but the only thing that would get us to pack in would be a
lack of volunteers prepared to do more than just submit their 1,000 words and
wait for the contributor copy to hit the doormat, which takes us back to the
Bobby Sands quotation I guess…
What
are your thoughts on the current turmoil on and off the pitch at St. James'
Park?
As
stated above, The Popular Side has no party line, so this is a personal take.
If I wanted it to, I could allow this answer to take up my every waking moment
until the team next plays which would then probably require something of a
rewrite in the light of subsequent events, so I’ll try to be concise.
Basically, I’m not surprised. In my opinion, Pardew used all his privileges up
at the end of the January 2013 transfer window when he was presented with a
batch of potentially excellent signings that he has conspicuously failed to
utilise in any meaningful way. As a result Debuchy came and went; Yanga Mbiwa
is in the departure lounge; Haidara is scandalously out of the team, while
Sissoko and Gouffran labour and toil, being played out of position. Similarly, summer
2014 saw the highly encouraging signings of Janmaat, Colback, Cabella, Riviere
and the injured De Jong. These are good players who are woefully underachieving
and the reason for that is simply because, being blunt, Pardew is an absolute
clown; a vain, narcissistic, gauche, populist clown. However, he is only the
symptom; Ashley’s toxic reign is the actual disease. Replacing Pardew with
another malleable, useful idiot is as pointless an exercise as I could imagine.
He may lose his job, or he may not; second guessing Ashley’s motives and
strategy is a fruitless activity.
What
would you like to see happen at the club (realistically)?
My
personal mantra is this; whoever manages or plays for Newcastle United and
wherever they finish in the table remains an utter irrelevance while Mike
Ashley has possession of the club. We don’t need some mythical, benevolent
Geordie billionaire to turn up and shower his largesse on the club, what we
need is Ashley OUT and 100% Fan Ownership IN, though I’m prepared to accept 51%
Fan Ownership as a transitional demand. Is this a dream? Yes. Is this
attainable? Possibly. Is this realistic? I would like to think so. Politically,
I am a supporter of the Socialist Party of Great Britain (and other companion
parties of the World Socialist Movement). It has been the SPGB’s position since
1904 that the Labour Party are no different to all other capitalist parties and
eventually people are coming round to our way of thinking, which is instructive
when considering events up Barrack Road. It means, NUFC fans need to think long
term; the club was formed in 1892, but Ashley has only been around since 2007.
Before his disastrous ownership, there was Shepherd, Hall, McKeag, Westwood et
al; none of that lot displayed loyalty to anything other than their own love of
profits and dividends. As supporters, we cannot trust capitalists with the
stewardship of our club. In an ideal world, through guilt or fan pressure,
Ashley would give the club away, to the fans and the city, to be run as a
non-profit institution for the whole region, with democratically elected
structures and accountable executives subject to immediate recall. This may not
happen in my lifetime, same as Socialism, but I believe it will one day, for the
greater good of all humanity. The actual details of how it will occur show that
the future is, as yet, unwritten. That realistic enough for you? I was going to
say I’d like us to win a cup in my lifetime, but that’s a total impossibility.
Any
plans to be an SJP regular again? What would it take?
Define
regular… After packing in my season tickets a few years ago after my dad’s
death, my son’s decision to play rugby (league not union!) on a Saturday and my
own involvement with Percy Main Amateurs in the Northern Alliance and then
Newcastle Benfield in the Northern League, not to mention still playing for
Wallsend Winstons in the North East Over 40s League, I’ve got more than enough
to do on a Saturday as it is without trooping up to SJP.
Frankly,
I simply cannot conceive of a series of events that would stop me watching
non-league football every weekend between now and the end of my days. So, the
answer is probably no and nothing. That said, I’ve been to plenty of games
since I packed in my season ticket; probably about half a dozen a season,
generally when they’re on a Sunday. I’ve enjoyed most of them as well, other
than the tedious whining of those around me who don’t appreciate the finer
points of the game; if you’re used to watching the Northern League, then the
Premier League at close quarters is a massive leap in standard, which means
sometimes you’re obliged to just appreciate the quality of opposition play,
rather than seeking to blame Williamson, Tiote or whoever for every opposition
goal. When I know I can make a particular game, what I try to do is to buy
tickets from fellow fans who are unable to go for whatever reason, as I’d
rather they weren’t out of pocket, rather than give my money to the club.
This
season, I’ve not seen the team at all, even on the telly as I don’t have Sky. I
was disappointed when Hull got knocked out the Europa League because I would
have gone to that one if it had been put back 24 hours. I’m planning on Everton
on December 28th and Burnley on 1st January as my next
two visits to SJP. Although, as I’m now
50, I have to admit that the older I get the more intimate I like my pubs, gigs
and football matches. Also, if pushed, I would have to admit that I find the
politics of Newcastle United much more fascinating than actually watching the
team play, whereas with the non-league game it is the exact opposite.
Do you think the fanzine scene, like vinyl,
is making a comeback and is now viewed as 'cool'?
I’m
not sure if “cool” is the correct word, but there certainly appears to have
been a significant renaissance in what will always be a niche area. As someone
who loves obscure indie, post punk, folk and folk rock, I’m used to spending a
lot of time in second hand shops and at markets leafing through stock, spending
the last decade replacing vinyl I’d got rid over during the two decades
previous. There is something ineffably magnificent and tactile about a record,
a book or a fanzine that the digital equivalent can never hope to emulate. Of
course, the quality has to be there; superb publications such as A
Fine Lung (FC United of Manchester), Duck (Stoke City), Mudhutter
(Wigan), West Stand Bogs (Barnsley), Stand (general) and your
own magazine, have done their bit to ensure, often via social media, that there
is a sustainable and loyal market, with the potential for growth, for well
written publications. I’m not just saying that as all the fanzines mentioned
have used my work either. In addition, it should be noted that fanzines aren’t
just about football; my mate Joe England, the West Ham fan who was in issue 2,
edits PUSH, a sold on the street literary fanzine, full of poems and
short stories. He sells PUSH outside the Boleyn Ground to
home and away fans; I think that’s an amazing development and something I
personally would be very keen to develop, perhaps outside of the confines of The
Popular Side.
As well
as having sold out your first issue, what other feedback have you had on the
fanzine?
Obviously
we’re tiny; 200 copies of issue 1, then 250 copies of issue 2, including PDFs,
made it into the public domain, so any feedback has tended, by definition, to
be personally tailored. We’ve only had 1 negative comment; this fella Shaun,
who’s a Whitley Bay fan from Jarrow with a residual support for Sunderland said
of issue 1; “it’s crap; all about Newcastle.” Personally I think that says more
about him than us, but no matter.
Seriously, the only constructively critical
comment we had was that, despite saying we would have no adverts in issue 1;
the article by Billy Furious was a glorified press release for his new book.
That’s something I agree with in retrospect. Everyone else has been highly
complementary, though we don’t exactly have a high profile among the on-line
community as yet.
What
was the first fanzine you ever read?
As
I’ve mentioned previously, I’m as much as music obsessive as I am football fan,
which meant I was a voracious reader of late 70s publications such as Sniffin’
Glue and Temporary Hoarding that chronicled a post punk scene of gigs,
squats and Peel sessions somewhat removed from my own teenage experiences
growing up in Felling. As far as football fanzines are concerned, I was too
young to be aware of Foul, which first came out when I
was 8 in 1972, but I did find myself in the right place at the right time while
living in North West London in 1986/1987, getting a very early copy of When
Saturday Comes from Rough Trade in Notting Hill and
falling in love with the concept. Back then I worked with two fellas Ed (a
Wealdstone fan) and Steve (a QPR supporter); we’d take turns to watch their
teams at home, or Newcastle if they were in the capital and I remember buying
early editions of The Elmslie Ender and In the Loft. Before moving back to
Newcastle, I had a year in Leeds, though I watched Bradford when I couldn’t see
Newcastle and developed my enduring passion for City Gent. Consequently,
moving back to Newcastle, I realized what The Mag would be about and so
started my football writing career; 25 years later I still find the urge to
write almost every day.
If
Newcastle fans (or any other club's supporters) wish to get hold of a copy, how
do they go about it (we thoroughly recommend it - Ed)?
Basically,
through PayPal to iancusack@blueyonder.co.uk PDFs of issue 1 and 2 are
available for £1 each, while paper copies of issue 2 cost £2 for UK to include
P&P. We’d rather not send physical copies abroad because of the prohibitive
cost of postage. If you include an extra £1 with an order for a paper copy, I’ll
send you my book Village Voice about Percy Main Amateurs as well. If you want to
buy a copy at a Newcastle home game, the Number 9 on Stowell Street, Tyneside Irish
Centre on Gallowgate, before and after, or The Bodega on Westgate Road, after
the game, are your best bets. You can keep in touch with us on Twitter
via @PopularSideZine
where we’ll announce whether issue 3 comes out for Leicester City on 18th
October.
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