Todays #FanzineoftheDay is issue 9 of From Behind Your Fences (FBYF) coming in at the pocket busting size of 44 pages but the penny pinching price of 60p. Promising no more than 3 pages on the world cup, away day news and Farmer Dan we are back in Spetember 1990. Boston United are in the GMVC (if you know, you know) and would finish the season 18th so I’m relieved that issue 9 comes to us with early season hope still in place and way before the bad old days of Steve Evans.

There is no editorial as such, just the heartening news that due to economies of scale and league status the lads from the fanzine will be sharing coach arrangements with the team. A great article explaining the plans to try and sneak into the Yeovil social club, the addition of SCT to all journeys, ticket sales from a video shop, the promise of pitiful football and the difference between a full coach and a minibus trip. Magnificent.

Farmer Dan is a lovely little cartoon, well drawn, clean lines and a clear story. It will be one familiar figure to most football fans, a moaning miserable git who can be heard throughout the vicinity bemoaning players 24/7 and talking about the good old days. I need to find out about his near death experience in issue 7. I’ve included the rest of the double spread as it has a nice if rather fanciful article about the stature of a former striker, poor quality news of a bonfire and the revelation that this fanzine was produced 123 miles away. This is by no way the farthest away (Wombling Downunder) but it is a tremendous effort.

No idea where or how these were sourced but the “Incredibly crap teams of our time” is a great idea. In this case we visit the North East with the remarkable news that Morpeth (Pop 14,393 according to the 1991 census) has FIVE teams in division 3 of a Sunday league. The possibility that there were more than a couple of others in divisions 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 is a reminder of times when every pub/working men’s club/business had a team (As a teenager I used to ply my trade in Division 8 of the Chesterfield and district Sunday league)

There is news of conference club shops as clubs got on the merch train. “TUFC ladies briefs complete with club crests” is a phrase I never thought I’d see in print.

Finally there is a tremendous “Talent unloaded for nothing XI” with some names everyone will recognise. All clubs make mistakes but Kevin Blackwell, Keith Alexander, Devon White and Simon Garner are standouts here. In addition, a “Platini free kick taker”, a £13,000 “free transfer” and returns to Chorley tell the full story of non league transfer policy.

As we often find with non league fanzines there is just an overwhelming sense of having a bit of fun in this fanzine. There is loads more to cover and we’ll come back to this sometime, especially if we can find out about the near death of farmer Dan.