FANZINE

A love letter to an era that needed its story told Josh Widdicombe This is an absolutely fabulous book Duncan Hamilton The vivid story of the fanzine movement that gave supporters a voice and changed football forever Demonised and left to watch games in decrepit stadiums life as a football supporter in the 1980s was a demoralising experience While some fans turned to violence many more turned to typewriters Tippex and staple guns to create a mass movement that transformed a bleak time into a hopeful one Adopting a DIY punk ethos fanzine founders spread their pages across the land Their funny articulate and occasionally scandalous creations were sold outside grounds from Inverness to Torquay with most British clubs covered sometimes by multiple titles These inky mouthpieces questioned the old order frightening those who ran the game and provoking many a banning Through extensive archival research and interviews Fanzine tells the story of the phenomenon during its boom years It offers an alternative history of football in a monumental period from Heysel to the Premier League via Hillsborough and Italia 90 as witnessed from the stands Deploying fans colourful and often sardonic words Fanzine transports readers back to the terraces of old