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Southampton Fanzine


rickylambert

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Hello Everyone,

 

I'd really appreciate it if you completed this 7 questions survey on Fanzines.

 

We have big plans, for this but its obviously pointless, if no one's interested in them anymore.

 

Feel free to post your opinions on fanzines below.

 

Here is the link to the questionnaire:http://kwiksurveys.com/s/7tEw961C

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The trouble with fanzines is that people get content and share opinions online now. So the market for them dwindles unless they're really really good.

 

Basically I think there are only a few models: source content online, add a load of non-time critical historical articles and interviews, and present it with a rapid turnaround of current news and opinion that's nearly as immediate as online - and that makes it a nightmare logistically in terms of printing and circulation.

 

The days of people buying a fanzine to find out what someone thought about the last match, or reading 2 month old match reports, are gone - we already know because we see it here immediately, and it's at least a week old by the time you can possibly publish it and sell it. You'll also need to make a decision about quality - I'm not paying £2 for a fanzine unless it looks professional.

 

Hypothetically, if there was a fanzine on sale with Charlie Austin on the cover last Saturday I'd have been impressed and bought one, and you only get that split second to impress.

 

The other option is you go low quality and ignore the immediate, but offer a massive amount of content so people don't mind shelling out because they know there will be SOMETHING different in there. Or you offer unique stuff like cartoons (good luck with the effort and lead times for doing that). A few Saints fan-site people and bloggers, etc might want the chance to "be published" and share their stuff with a bit of free publicity for their URL.

 

I guess you could also focus on local business advertising and adopt the Evening Standard/Metro "free" model too.

 

Why yes, I have thought about doing this before. ;)

Edited by The9
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Sorry guys, there's really no need to do this. It'll be a failure from the outset. Fair play for having a crack at it though.

 

It'll be poorly written judging by the questions.

 

I guarantee you won't be able to get interviews with players.

 

Most former Saints express their views on Twitter these days or provide the odd sound bite via the Echo.

 

There's only so much fans will care about hearing what former players have to say about the current state of things. If the club is playing well and everything is honky dory, they'll be churning out the praise.

 

If there's a bad spell, they'll be jumping on the bandwagon.

 

The only way this will work is if you nail a niche, and that's incredibly hard to do with football.

 

Saying all this, I'll buy nine copies.

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The problem most "fanzines" these days have is they're too nice. In the past things like OTM and The Ugly were readable because they were offensive, **** taking and shared most fans sense of humour. From what i've seen of the modern fanzine they tend towards nicely, nicely approaches, interviewing players; not offending the club; forgetting about terrace culture.

 

If a fanzine publish a bunch of articles on current players, or crappy tactical stuff then it's dull and won't sell, if it comes across tongue in cheek (hope you die soon), with top tens (a la Ugly) and general celebrates the fans not the sport (like they used to), then i'd probably be far more interested.

 

Also selling in pubs would be a much better way of doing it than most.

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Good luck. Have you researched other clubs fanzines and seen which are successful? I'm sure a few of them wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts and experience with you.

 

Selling in pubs is a good idea. You could probably arrange for some to sell it for you in return for advertising. Long gone are the days when I convinced the manager of Virgin to stock the Ugly Inside. Only lasted a few issues until he noticed some of the content and took it off sale.

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Sorry guys, there's really no need to do this. It'll be a failure from the outset. Fair play for having a crack at it though.

 

It'll be poorly written judging by the questions.

 

I guarantee you won't be able to get interviews with players.

 

Most former Saints express their views on Twitter these days or provide the odd sound bite via the Echo.

 

There's only so much fans will care about hearing what former players have to say about the current state of things. If the club is playing well and everything is honky dory, they'll be churning out the praise.

 

If there's a bad spell, they'll be jumping on the bandwagon.

 

The only way this will work is if you nail a niche, and that's incredibly hard to do with football.

 

Saying all this, I'll buy nine copies.

 

Hiya Mate,

 

Sorry you didn't like the questions, was there something in particular you thought was wrong with them? In terms of not getting interviews with players, I've been fairly successful with getting interviews on my blog (http://www.ohwhenthesaints.org) and have got a good relationship with the guys in the media department, so I'm happy with the situation there.

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I started to fill the form in and then saw the content list which read more like a Saints magazine than a fanzine. It's a long time since I bought a Saints fanzine, and my memory might be playing tricks on me, but I thought fanzines were full of ****take and comedic slants on things.

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Yep. Cartoons, photoshopped pics, ditties, **** takes, strange supporter stories, silly columns and lots of unusual offbeat stuff that looks at Saints and supporters in a completely different angle. Regular interviews with players and former players sounds very dry, although if they were open to it (which I doubt), perhaps there is an unusual angle/story. A fanzine that is really just a Saints magazine offers no interest to me personally.

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I still buy fanzines at away games whenever I see them. Most are pretty good. A lot of them have switched or are planning on switching to online only content (the West Ham one I picked up last month is in it's last season of print). Would certainly be difficult to launch a successful one in this day and age, but if you offer something original and of high quality then I believe it could still do well. Stoke and Barnsley have relatively new ones going, so might be worth asking them for advice. You need to be different and having good contacts would help a lot. Man United's Red Issue did well right up until it closed last year because they managed to break so many big stories. Best of luck with it.

Edited by Papa Shango
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Maybe hand out fliers with contents / teasers and QR code things to a website? There's a bunch of bloggers on here, some very good, some less so where you could get content from, just by linking, presumably with permission.

 

Paid by advertising, so free at point of consumption. Maybe a physical mag could get away with more controversial stuff as it has less distribution.

 

I like the survey tool with the sorting thing!

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There was a Saints fanzine a couple of seasons ago. Geeky looking bloke used to stand near the King Alfred selling copies. It didn't last that long, maybe his look put people off.

 

anyone buy a copy? What sort of thing was in it?

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The problem most "fanzines" these days have is they're too nice. In the past things like OTM and The Ugly were readable because they were offensive, **** taking and shared most fans sense of humour. From what i've seen of the modern fanzine they tend towards nicely, nicely approaches, interviewing players; not offending the club; forgetting about terrace culture.

 

If a fanzine publish a bunch of articles on current players, or crappy tactical stuff then it's dull and won't sell, if it comes across tongue in cheek (hope you die soon), with top tens (a la Ugly) and general celebrates the fans not the sport (like they used to), then i'd probably be far more interested.

 

Also selling in pubs would be a much better way of doing it than most.

 

 

This.

 

If they are not written with good humor and micky taking then I will not be interested. If I want to buy a bland interview with the current star player ill buy the satisfied match program, which I don't!

 

If the editor and contributors are not humorous, funny or follow terrace culture (and I am not talking hooliganism) then its not for me.

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anyone buy a copy? What sort of thing was in it?

 

I didn't and i never saw anyone else buy one. Should have done as I felt a bit sorry for him stood there. No idea why he didn't advertise it on here though, forums and social media are the first places I go to advertise.

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I didn't and i never saw anyone else buy one. Should have done as I felt a bit sorry for him stood there. No idea why he didn't advertise it on here though, forums and social media are the first places I go to advertise.

 

From memory, he did. Asked for some input from Saintsweb members.

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The only way a Fanzine could work these days would be if one person or a group of people got together with a clear sense of humour and a bloody-minded approach to content. It would need to be very funny and capture the essence of being fan.

 

The very last thing anyone with that mindset would do is run a survey to find out what people want.

 

To stand a chance and independent fanzine would need to be totally independent and have some sense of the counterculture.

 

And even then it would probably still fail because print is a medium in serious and terminal decline.

 

Just make it funny or don't bother.

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The problem most "fanzines" these days have is they're too nice. In the past things like OTM and The Ugly were readable because they were offensive, **** taking and shared most fans sense of humour. From what i've seen of the modern fanzine they tend towards nicely, nicely approaches, interviewing players; not offending the club; forgetting about terrace culture.

 

If a fanzine publish a bunch of articles on current players, or crappy tactical stuff then it's dull and won't sell, if it comes across tongue in cheek (hope you die soon), with top tens (a la Ugly) and general celebrates the fans not the sport (like they used to), then i'd probably be far more interested.

 

Also selling in pubs would be a much better way of doing it than most.

 

agreed the world has moved on and PC rules these days

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No reason why it cannot be a success if you have talented writers and creatives. As above really with regards to content, make it funny and controversial with plenty of attitude. Above all make it original. I work in the industry and though print has been effected by new media there is plenty online that you can use to your advantage in terms of content, pictures etc.

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I think the concept of a private eye styled Southampton fanzine could work. If it was based on micky taking bizarre interviews with past and former players and good cartoons. What you would want to avoid is opinions on the team and tactics because they are two a penny. You also only need just a few pages - today people want an instant hit.

 

Sadly what fanzines starting out need is a crisis.

 

Humour is the key. I always remember the Ugly Inside's Sergei Ggotsmanov the man with a thousand names; Sellhimov, Subhimov etc etc

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I think the comedy element is what you need to aim for. Lots of mickey taking cartoons both of other clubs fans etc , and a few saints mocking bits too. Obviously these days you need to be careful because Americans visited and people sue for anything whether true or not.

 

Fun is the key thing whatever way its dressed up. Programmes are boring.

 

Find out which 5 items the players would take with them to a desert island etc etc .. or quiz them all to see who is the the thickest.

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The Ugly Inside was a very good fanzine, particularly early days. But once they started getting too well put together looking more like a magazine they kind of lost their edge. Truth is they've had their day and with t'internet, everything has been said or done before the next issue would hit the streets.

 

Best bet would be to get a John Bull Printing Set and try and recapture the original vibe of the 'fanzine' but it certainly wouldn't make you rich!

 

Must dig out those old U.I.s......

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Good luck. Have you researched other clubs fanzines and seen which are successful? I'm sure a few of them wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts and experience with you.

 

Selling in pubs is a good idea. You could probably arrange for some to sell it for you in return for advertising. Long gone are the days when I convinced the manager of Virgin to stock the Ugly Inside. Only lasted a few issues until he noticed some of the content and took it off sale.

 

I remember seeing it in there :)

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anyone buy a copy? What sort of thing was in it?

 

I bought number 1, found it exceptionally dull, bought number 2 to see how they'd do without months to accumulate content, it was even dryer, and didn't buy any more. I think they may have got to 4 before the bloke disappeared off the footbridge.

 

I think there's a place for decent content alongside all the stupid/funny/cartoony stuff, the problem is without unique content of some kind people don't have a reason to buy it.

Hence my options of either very professional, or just loads of thrown together "funny to someone" stuff with a lot of volume, there's no real middle ground.

 

I do recall Daren Wheeler considering relaunching Beautiful South in the past 5 years but he had some discussions with the club and they made it pretty clear he couldn't do it they way he wanted to. Clubs are also a lot more litigious and protective of their brand than they were in the late 80s/early 90s.

Edited by The9
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I bought number 1, found it exceptionally dull, bought number 2 to see how they'd do without months to accumulate content, it was even dryer, and didn't buy any more. I think they may have got to 4 before the bloke disappeared off the footbridge.

Also known as "moving to the States to work", I believe :lol:

 

The problem I've found with many similar attempts is that they try to be all things to all people, which ends up making it a bit dull, as you say. Nobody's going to read the match reports as they'll have probably either seen the game already or read a match report from any of the dozen in the national media long before they get their hands on a fanzine. Unless, that is, the match report is done like this: http://www.htfc-world.com/reports/Southampton2/southampton161010.htm :adore:

 

The main thing fanzines have been good for, IMO, is providing a platform for people to talk **** about their clubs, but forums, Twitter, Facebook, blogs all do the same thing now, only more instant, requiring no actual printing or publishing to get their views out there. While there will always be a nostalgic desire for printed fanzines, I just don't think there's enough things to write about these days, as everything will have appeared somewhere online a week before the fanzine even goes to the press, let alone hits the streets.

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