State of the ‘Zine at National Football Museum

Susie Stubbs

Get your zine on at National Football Museum, as it hosts a one-off Football ‘Zine Fair and “Make your Own ‘Zine” event.

Irreverent, insightful, crass and crude: during the 70’s and 80’s the football fanzine emerged as a key part of grassroots football culture and became a match day staple. To celebrate this important part of footballing culture, the National Football Museum opens up its collections (which include Maradona’s “hand of god” shirt and the actual 1966 World Cup ball) to lo-fi fan-publishers – and their distinct brand of analysis and polemic – for a one-off ‘zine fair. Leading the charge are Spiel (publishers of Field – The Match Day Paper) and design collective OWT Creative, who will work together to devise a series of creative responses to NFM’s collections, creating specially-commissioned illustrations and written input from those match day ‘zines still in print. That’s not all, as, inspired both by NFM’s collections and the work of Spiel and OWT, there’s also the chance to make your own football fanzine. Such ‘zines have always been DIY, and the tools of the ‘zine-maker – typewriters, photocopiers & cut-out text – will be at your disposal to enable you to make your own ‘zine. A selection of contributions produced on the day will later be assembled into a limited-edition print, for sale in the museum’s shop. National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester, M4 3BG, 11am-3pm, Sunday 13October, free.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
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