Fanzines Vs Programmes

[Neil]

As part of a project at Uni I am examining the role that fanzines play in football fan culture today. In the past, they have been popular with just about every team having a club-specific fanzine and basically I'm looking at exactly where they are now, so if you could do the poll and then add any other comments into a thread, including what you voted for, then it'd be much appreciated.

 

Cheers

[Andy_P]

I don't see it as fanzine v programme question as the heading says its more a case of fanzine & programme for me as 'Well fan though I'm not sure if you could say the same for all clubs.

 

I've always loved reading fanzines, and not just Motherwell fanzines either. From general ones like The Absolute Game which was a must read to the hundreds of different club fanzines, I used to spend a fortune buying them.

 

We are fortunate that we've still two really good fanzines on the go as loads of them have gone by the wayside over the years. I've no doubt the internet has been the final nail in the coffin for many. Takes a fine effort to pull an issue together. Takes a team of contributors, sellers, good relationship with printers not to mention requiring loads of time so to do at that at a time where fan bases are dropping for most teams on a regular basis is a big ask especially when you can log on and be involved in debate on a forum in a matter of seconds.

 

Fanzine editors willing I think there will always be a place for them and long may OSB and GLF continue to serve us well.

[B.K.]

Neil, your poll is distorted, can you stick another option in Q2.

 

i.e. If you do not buy a fanzine then you cannot vote on the middle question, if you dont vote then the poll is then returned to you saying you must pick one, the results then becomes irrelevant !

[Frazzie]

I was just about to say that. If you select 'Programme Only' then you can't vote.

 

Frazzle

[Cakes]

I voted for "Both Fanzines" though to be honest I could pass on GLF, I still buy it but I prefer OSB. I haven't bought a programme for years but I rarely miss a fanzine. They're cheaper (though I didn't vote for this in the poll because it's not a deciding factor for me, I wouldn't buy a programme if it was £1 like the 'zines) but more importantly they are "Fan driven content" and "Not a mouthpiece of the club" (both of which I did vote for). Largely free from censorship, they can voice support or disapproval for goings-on at the club whilst representing the views of the fans and as both fanzines openly invite contributions, differing viewpoints can be represented. Perhaps it's personal taste but I'd much rather read this than the sanitised stuff in the programme which is simply news you could have read on the official site or interviews with players (I could live without knowing what Mark Reynolds likes on his pieces). Not slating the new award-winning programme, it's horses for courses but my preference is the 'zines.

 

As for the future of the fanzine, I'd be happy with them to "Continue in their current format". While "Internet forums are taking the place of fanzines" giving fans more of a voice on a wider range of subjects, I think fanzines still have a place. Editors and contributors seem to hold back on certain subjects on forums because they intend to publish their slant in the fanzine, so there are still fresh views to be read in them. I'd even suggest that forums might help fanzines to an extent, in that an editor can quckly see which subjects are creating the most discussion/division in the support and respond to them. They may also inspire them to cover topics which had not occurred to them or ones they thought the reader might not be interested in, whether brought up by a poster on a forum or a post sparking an idea in a contributors head. As much as I enjoy reading the forums (which I do daily), I still buy the fanzines and read them from cover to cover. Besides, it's easier to read a fanzine on the bog than it is to read the forums.

[Special aka]

Fanzine for me, it's got fewer spelling mistakes

[Rammer]

Haven't bought a programme since I was about 15. Fanzine only for me.

[Well Up For It!]

Fanzine for me, it's got fewer spelling mistakes

 

 

[mon_da_well]

Don't buy any of them.

[Ya Bezzer!]

The Motherwell programme has certainly improved a lot but it is far too expensive at £2.50 (if I remember correctly) to actually buy!

 

I usually do buy the fanzines, if only as an act of 'fan solidarity'.

 

They suffer from the same problem the newspapers do, i.e, in the age of the internet how do you make something interesting that's already been discussed to death long before your print deadline.

 

Also, a negativity has seeped into the fanzines which I don't think was there in yesteryear.

 

It used to be these fanzines were always a pamphlet of defiance, sort of "we support a crappy team and we take all the highs and lows and still support the team and love the game, no matter what". Now they just seem to be a list of gripes.

 

And don't get me wrong, I'm not one of the happy clappers. People are entitled to criticise the club or the players or the performances, I know I do, but I think the love of the game and club has been pushed aside somewhat. After all no one goes to Fir Park with a gun in their back, we go because for some strange reason beyond logic, we love the whole thing and I think that's been forgotten lately.