Fanzines Part Two: The Punk Spirit of Football's Alternative Press (with Daniel Gray)

Rob and Jonathan conclude their two-part series on football fanzines with Daniel Gray, editor of Nutmeg, host of the When Saturday Comes podcast and author of Fanzine: The Story of Football's Alternative Press.

This time they turn to the serious side of the movement. They look at how fanzines warned for years that a disaster like Hillsborough was coming, and how they fought back against the blame put on supporters, including The Sun's notorious front page. They talk about the campaigns that brought fanzines together: opposing Margaret Thatcher's ID card scheme, resisting all-seater stadiums, taking on the National Front at Leeds and helping Charlton get back to The Valley.

They also remember the joys of fanzine culture: guides to away grounds, ideas borrowed from other fanzines, and the expensive Club Call phone lines. Then they ask whether Fever Pitch, Fantasy Football, Standing Room Only and the early days of 606 took the fanzine spirit mainstream, or killed it off?

00:58 Foreshadowing Hillsborough

04:03 "It Must Be Our Fault Again"

04:41 The Fight Against ID Cards

09:34 Taking On The Sun

11:30 Standing vs All-Seater Stadiums

13:59 Fanzines Against Racism

16:38 Back to The Valley

19:32 Did Fanzines Reduce Violence?

21:43 Dissent and Contrarians

22:34 What Fanzines Got Wrong

23:42 Away Guides and Borrowed Ideas

25:42 The Club Call Rip-Off

30:04 Fanzines Go Mainstream

31:36 Standing Room Only and Fantasy Football

33:34 The Premier League and Fever Pitch

37:07 606, Then and Now

43:33 The Return of Inflatable Bananas

45:14 From Fanzines to the Hillsborough Law

46:37 Fanzines Today

49:41 Fans vs the European Super League

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