Side 2 of our 4-sided gatefold sleeved LP, this blog documents more links between football fanzines and music from the complete list of fanzines created during research for the Voice of the Fans exhibition on fanzine culture at Leeds Central Library. The 6 hours 30 minutes, 101 track playlist (at the time of writing) is here.

If you thought side 1 was eclectic…

Ob(li)vious

In The City, a York fanzine and Jam tune, No Nay Never was a Burnley fanzine and a folk classic from Friday nights in the pub. Simple enough stuff.

Casbah was a Cliftonville fanzine and with the punk ethos/music link from fanzines, so Rock the Casbah is there.

Perfect Day by Lou Reed appears courtesy of the Ramsgate fanzine of the same name though this could also be noted in the puns section because of a short lived Notts County fanzine called Piefect Day. This zine came out from a fanzine devoted to Subbuteo and Notts County. Subbuteo and fanzines is such a huge topic it will be the subject of THREE blogs in the coming months.

Thank goodness Glenavon fans ran a fanzine called Ace of Spades (one of the club’s nicknames is The Mourneview Aces) so Motörhead are represented. I’ve no idea if the Rangers fans who created World Shut Your Mouth liked Julian Cope but it’s one of my favourite songs so it’s on.

Finally, I’d love to think that someone in Cowdenbeath named their fanzine The Sun Always Shines after the A Ha hit The Sun always Shines on TV but it was sold in the HMV in town there it is. There was also a Cowden’ fanzine called When the Sun Shines named after a cheesy hit Una Paloma Blanca but that is not going on the list for obvious reasons.

Puntastic!

Let’s get back to puns, you know you love them.

West Ham had a fanzine called Never Mind The Boleyn so “God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols makes it on the list (apparently first performed outside on London in Leeds) The Pistols also appear courtesy of the subtitle to the Notts County fanzine No More Pie In The Sky (Never Mind the Forest, Here’s the Magpies) convoluted yes but Anarchy in the UK very much sums up a lot of fanzine content.

A brilliant name, This Charming Fan was a Manchester City fanzine and so the only decent Smiths song, This Charming Man, is on the list. As a counterweight to this City fans were also responsible for the terrible fanzine pun Purple Reign so the Prince dirge, Purple Rain, gets an airing.

Surprising as it might seem we can’t find any evidence of a Manchester City fanzine called Blue Moon. However, Peterborough had one related to that song being sung at London Road, called Blue Moon is a Man City Song for f**k sake so The Marcels appear.

Staying Manchester themed, Hullfanzine Look Back In Amber (1992-1994) and Boston United’s Don’t Look Back In Amber (2020-2022) are great puns giving Oasis a place on the playlist.

 A View to a Kiln had great cover artwork like all the best LPs and was a Stoke City fanzine. Great pun, great song and a fantastic evocation of potteries’ history. It ran for 10 years from 2000 and then transformed into and fanzine called Duck, another Midlands trademark and just about still going, just like Duran Duran who obviously appear with their Bond theme.

Almost There

Fly Me To The Moon. Well obviously, the title of this still in print Middlesborough fanzine is about the ol’ Blue Eyes song? Well no, the name derives from a quote about club legend Tony Mowbray of whom ex manager Bruce Rioch said “If I had to fly to the moon I’d take Tony Mowbray, my captain, with me. He’s a magnificent man” OKAY… (See our Meet The Editor blog with this story here https://footballfanzineculture.blog/2025/05/08/meet-the-editor-fly-me-to-the-moon/ )

Similarly Hanging On The Telephone was a Huddersfield fanzine that ran for 19 years from 1990. It was named after a quote from manager about Eion Hand about waiting for a response from Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and the scene featured on the cover of the very first issue. Let’s face it, he was paraphrasing the massive Blondie hit so it’s on the playlist. Thanks to the excellent site that contains this and more details about Huddersfield fanzines.

‘Hanging On The Telephone’

There was a Brighton fanzine called Pretty in Pink of which we can find little information. It was around before the days of 3^rd and kit specials so we assumed that it was just someone’s favourite song, named after the Psychedelic Furs 1981 hit. Then we found this 1989-1991 migraine inducing away kit, supposed to be red but when matched with the red shorts and socks looked very much pink which seems likely to also be the driver. (Yes I know the Dean Saunders story about that shirt sponsor but this is a family show)  More on this kit here https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1128163/2019/08/18/classic-kit-when-being-pretty-in-pink-and-advertising-flip-charts-almost-saw-brighton-go-up/

Sorry Seems to be the hardest word

I am truly sorry but because clubs like Burnley, Hibs and Amanafordall had fanzines called Who Ate All The Pies, Knees Up Mother Brown by Mrs Mills appears. Let’s move on..oh god.

West Ham had a fanzine called Blowing Bubbles. Of course they did. There is a poptastic version of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles by the 1975 the ‘ammers FA Cup winning squad (minus Mr B. Moore, now a Fulham player as pointed out by Blow Football’s resident baker Mr B. Blenkinsop) but thankfully there is also a 1980 version by The Cockney Rejects to celebrate West Ham’s 1980 cup victory so that gets an airing.

Mouldy Old Dough was a novelty hit for Lieutenant Pigeon in 1972 and it became the name of an Oldham fanzine. Why? The song was played throughout the 70s pre game by the club DJ, years later a new DJ tried to stop playing but received a lot of complaints from supporters so had to start playing it again. The fanzine lived so it’s on the playlist though one Oldham fan later commented “If anyone can recall a team running out to a less obviously inspiring piece of music it would be interesting to hear of it, though at least Oldham never made the mistake of overexciting their fans or tuning pre-kick-off expectations to an unrealistic pitch.”

It was finally replaced by ELP’s slightly different Fanfare for the Common Man in 1992 but the fanzine didn’t appear until 1998, a reminder that tradition dies hard in football as is the fact that on Friday 18 February 2022, a blue plaque was unveiled on the house in which ‘Mouldy Old Dough’ was recorded in Coventry commemorating the first No1 single by a Coventry group after £700 was generously raised by the public with Latics fans playing a big role in hitting the target. https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2022/february/22022022-a-thank-you-from-lieutenant-pigeon/

Birmingham fanzine Tired and Weary is named after a line in the song “Keep Right On” by Harry Lauder, still played at the ground today (with altered lyrics). It’s a strange anthem written as it was to mark the death of Lauder’s son during the first world war. This all started during the club’s run to the 1955–56 FA Cup final. Manager Arthur Turner asked Scottish winger Alex Govan to sing a song on the coach to the quarter final and he started singing “Keep Right On”, the players were still singing it on arrival at the ground and again in the dressing-room after the 3–1 win. Fans took to the song quickly, with Lauder’s recording played before a home game with Blackpool a week later, song sheets available for spectators. The song has been a constant at the club’s matches ever since. 

End of Side 2

There are other musical stories behind the name on the list and I hope you enjoy it and a remember to take time to pop into your library and find out more about the many things they have that you don’t know you need to know yet (Bit like this blog – Ed)

Side 3 will be released soon on black vinyl only, who the hell needs a coloured vinyl version of anything?