Issue 13 of what some say was the benchmark St Johnstone fanzine, Wendy Who? appeared in all its 50p glory in February of 1992. The cover joke a reference to a subject that would take up quite a few pages of this edition, ticket allocation for an upcoming cup game vs Junior league Caley Thistle just before they merged, surged and submerged a bit again. We’ll come back to ticket allocation and fanzines at a later time. Suffice it to say, the fanzine were not happy with the club.

The editorial mentions this and falling out with the club…a fanzine falling out with the club? Never. I love the ennui on display in describing a “safe mid table” position as being something of an achievement, St Johnstone were in the top tier by now. There are calls for some player contracts to not be renewed..another. oft repeated call from fanzine editors down the ages. Plus there is a nod to the groundsman, sadly missing from so many periodicals down the years. When looking at editorial pages I always look for names to add to the list. Editors quite reasonably wanted to keep their identity hidden at times and Rasputin is one of my favourite pseudonyms.

With Panini now out of the World Cup sticker market there is a reminder of one of the competitors they saw off back in the 90s. Proset cards didn’t impress with their accuracy and I’ve no idea who this guy but he is setting the bunched shorts trend long before prem era footballers took up this ridiculous habit. Proset were an American company with hooks in the NFL and NHL so the foray into Scottish football probably wasn’t their main focus. they went bust in 1992.

There is a poem and ode to goalkeeping issues at the club. God only knows what the fanzine presented to poor Stewart but the joke here was that Stewart had come out of retirement to play one game for the Saints that season, aged 40. Kennedy had a decent career at Rangers, winning two league championship winner’s medals, and two for the League Cup plus 5 international caps, his last an unfortunate 5-1 reverse against England..

How about a piece on parking at Scottish grounds…this fanzine does not disappoint.

The Scottish press were once again covering themselves in glory with their accuracy..apparently Totten’s 200th game had been 4 games before this…Fanzines and stats, never argue. If you want to see Alex Totten’s stats as St Johnstone manager they’re here. YW https://fitbastats.com/stjohnstone/manager_games.php?id=667&page=1

Totten’s reign at McDiarmid Park will long be remembered as he ushered the Saints throught the leagues and into 2 national cup semi finals. You can read more about it here https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/past-times/3973240/alex-totten-st-johnstone/ an article that is worth scanning for this photo alone.

There is a lovely little piece about Kenny Ward. Ward was one of those players who drifted around various clubs without ever really “pulling up trees” after a great start. He signed for Cowdenbeath from junior side Oakley United and went on to play for Forfar, Hamilton, Clydebank, St Johnstone, Dunfermline, and Falkirk. He is however, a member of the Cowdenbeath hall of fame (Don’t believe me? Well here is a link..https://www.cowdenbeathfc.com/club/hall-of-fame/kenny-ward) AND scored a crucial goal for the Saints against Airdrie PLUS appeared in the John Menzies TV ad for the official Scottish League Video 1990-91. Most importantly, 34 years on this page in a fanzine has caused me to look all this up and fill another joyful 15 minutes of my time plus a few of yours.

Long tributes to an average squad player are what fanzines were made for. The type of departure that a club would let slip by with a cursory mention in the programme if that, given a whole page here. Great stuff, as is this tremendous feature.