I first wrote for Stand in issue 2, so
having contributed to every edition bar 6 since then, I feel a strong bond of
loyalty to this publication. Obviously I broadly agree with the overarching
ethos that the magazine was established on and the subsequent refinements in
current editorial policy, otherwise I wouldn’t still be here. To paraphrase
Bobby Robson’s hackneyed homily; what is a fanzine anyway? Well, at the NUFC
fanzine I co-founded, The Popular Side, we agreed we’d be
an A5, old school, not for profit venture, without advertising, website or
merchandising. We intend to stay that way; indeed, if we compromise on any of
those principles, I’m out of there. If you want a musical analogy, The
Popular Side are the mandolin-playing, finger-in-the-ear singers and clog
dancing troupe supping Real Ale at a folk club, while bells and whistles
on-line operators like Stand
are DJing with their iPads in their Norman Walsh trainers
in a wooden floored and exposed brick Craft Ale emporium. Which approach is
more in keeping with the spirit of fanzines? The answer, of course, is both,
though I reckon our version of A Sailor’s Life sounds more like
Sandy Denny’s than theirs does.
Each month when I do the mail-outs of The
Popular Side, I also send fanzine PDFs (because this is a far cheaper
method than posting out copies, as the costs incurred would mean we’d struggle
to achieve our goal of breaking even on our small modest print run) to friends
and allies in a growing band of other, inspirational publications with whom we
feel a special bond as they’ve shown us that in this digital age, there is
still a market for published fanzines: West Stand Bogs (Barnsley), Mudhutter
(Wigan Athletic), All At Sea (Southend United), The
Football Pink (general), Popular Stand (Doncaster Rovers) and
Duck
(Stoke City). These latter two publications, along with
well-established titles such as United We Stand (Man United), The
Square Ball (Leeds), A Love Supreme (sunderland) and,
which is the point I’ve been leading up to, Stand have been
shortlisted for the 2014 Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) Fanzine of the
Year Award. The FSF awards also include categories such as
Player, Commentator, Writer and Pundit of the Year, so there’s a chance to
further garland the likes of Sergio Aguero, John Champion, Henry Winter and Lee
Dixon, reinforcing their roles as our lords and masters in the football arena.
Results will be decided by an on-line poll, which will have been announced
before Stand 11 appears.
Last year Stand won the title of Fanzine of
the Year, but I have to say I was distinctly underwhelmed by this for two main
reasons. Firstly, and coming from the era of late 70s music fanzines and loony
left politics, I realise I may sound ludicrously anachronistic here, I’m more
than a little uneasy with the concept of direct competition among fanzines; we
should be celebrating our unity and common, shared goals and aspirations. As
fans, rather than professional writers, we have enough to deal watching our
teams compete with each other on the pitch, without trying to create an
unnecessary, pretend meritocracy involving soi-disant supporter-led organisations
that are funded, trained and emasculated by the game’s rulers. In my eyes,
every supporter of every club, from Manchester City and Chelsea to the very
base of the non-league pyramid, is of equal worth, as we are all in this
together. Therefore, to attempt to try and impose a competitive edge to any
independent, printed expressions of opinion seems to be contradictory to the
founding principles of our own and every other fanzine. If you ask my opinion, Duck
is a magnificent read, but I’m more than elated to note the existence of so
many print fanzines, old and new.
Secondly, without even going into the question of
the value and worth of the FSF, and this really sticks in my craw, the fanzine awards
are sponsored by William Hill. Again, I realise I’m in a tiny minority here,
but I don’t gamble. My personal choice is by the by in relation to these
awards, but I have to say that I simply fail to understand how anyone can be up
in arms about football clubs taking sponsorship money from pay day lenders like
Wonga,
without going into the question of gradated morality in relation to capitalism,
when at the same time expressing no moral indignation at the involvement of
bookmakers or, even worse, making plain their ruthlessly ambitious desire to
win an award that has the name of a large chain of bookmakers plastered all
over it.
Gambling addiction, whether it be on-line poker,
roulette machines or the local dog track, is as much of a destructive influence
on individuals and families, often in the poorest sections of our society
across Britain as a whole, as alcohol or drugs. I’ve no statistics to back this
up, only intuition, but I’d imagine that payday lenders (aka legalised loan
sharks) are often the only source of credit for those who find themselves up to
their eyes in debt because of failed punts on dogs, horses or cards. Surely, as
independent publications providing a voice for disenfranchised and marginalised
supporters, we should not be having any truck with multinational corporations
that prey on human weakness and desperation? This is precisely why The Clash
didn’t do Top of the Pops; once you become part of the mainstream, you can’t
help but be tamed and controlled by the supporters and functionaries of The
Man. I’d like to think that if The Popular Side had been offered a
place on the list of nominees, we would have turned it down flat.
In all honesty, if you want to show support and
give recognition to fanzines, go out and buy one. Most magazines have got a Twitter
profile and accept PayPal;
far better to pay a couple of quid and have an hour’s enjoyment out of it than
pour more money into the pockets of super-rich corporations who’ve reached that
spot out of exploiting all of us and are using these awards as a Trojan horse
for increasing their profile among the very sorts of fans I would have hoped
could see through the avaricious madness that has debased our sport.
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