Programmes

& fanzines

Pile them up in the spare bedroom

Season 1999-2000 (so far)

Bury (15 Jan) by Peter Davies

Cost: £2

Pages: 48 including cover

Good things: Lively, varied, colourful; an excellent feature on Bury-Wrexham connections.

Bad things: Some very small font sizes.

Bizarre things: Picture of Flynn, aged about 13, on Page 28.

Great one-liner: “Karl has a great passion for the game.” (Well, most of the time).

Verdict: More impressive than their stewards.

FANZINE
Where Were You At The Shay?
This publication wasn’t readily available when Wrexham visited Gigg Lane; nor did the editor respond to RP’s request for a copy (we sent a cheque, a s.a.e., and a covering letter…could we make it any easier for him?) So, all we have to review is a pre-1997 copy of WWYATS? (Issue 6 @ 50p). It’s a neat fanzine, but dominated by a rather tiresome anti-Bolton crusade. Peter Davies

Bristol Rovs (29 Jan) by Dean Domerecki

Cost: £2

Pages: 48

Good things: As with everything else about Bristol Rovers, a good ‘house’ blue-and-white feel. All-round heavyweight contender, with enjoyable contributions from the manager, supporters club, web-site and even fanzine editor. Much better presentation of statistics than most club programmes, and a very good visitors’ ‘10-year history’ graphic - showing that we appear to have peaked two seasons ago.

Bad things: Couldn’t find any.

Bizarre things: In addition to the obligatory framed aerial photo and other club merchandise, you can also have your very own club kit…garden gnome. Only £10.99. In addition, reviews of a Wrexham v Rovers programme from 1996, and, would you believe, Shrewsbury v Chester from last season.

Great one-liner: From Ian Holloway: “The nice thing about not playing this season is that I can watch from the touchline…what is going on out on the pitch - it is therefore much easier to make slight adjustments to the way we play and to let the players know where they might be going wrong”.

Verdict: As with the club, right at the top of the division.

FANZINE
The 2nd May
Still going strong, 28 pages but A4-sized, costs £1, and is produced in London by the estimable editorial team of Hazel Potter and Ian Marriott. With about a dozen contributors there’s a good spread of subject matter and writing style, but on the whole the articles tend to be lengthy yet still readable. This latest issue, out on the day of the Wrexham game, includes a run-down of the division’s title contenders, an ‘agony uncle’ page, a guide to upcoming away games (they don’t like Burnley either) and report on recent policing at the Oxford game - all of this written in a way that keeps non-Gasheads interested. The only downside of the fanzine is print quality, which is less than fantastic, particularly on the front cover, which affects to be glossy. Overall, though, one of the better efforts that we see.
Dean Domerecki

Scunthorpe (1 Feb) by Daniel Jennings

Cost: £1:80

Pages: 32 (including cover)

Good things: The 'Commercial Page' - people send in letters to the
programme. One was from a Luton fan congratulating the Scunthorpe following
on their support at Luton.

Bad things: No match reports (pictures weren't even used), managers section (very brief), 'head to head' presentation (very basic), league table (didn't add up), Wrexham section (copied word for word from the Luton programme), the picture parade (why?), a trip down Memory Lane (long and boring), reserve and youth team sections (extremely short), Iron roll call (all the stats were clearly wrong), interview (only eight questions), squads (only half of Wrexham's).

Bizarre things: The league table just didn't make any sense at all!

Great one-liner: “The longest serving manager in the second division is in
charge of today's visitors to Kennilworth Road.”

Verdict: The worst programme I have EVER read!

FANZINE
Fe Online
We sent off for a copy of Fe (and again we sent a cheque, a s.a.e., and a covering letter…) but to no avail. So we settled for a look at Fe Online. The main thing to note is the fanzine’s ultra-clever title (Iron…Fe…Get it?) The web-site (homepages.which.net/~andrew.
kiddle) is clear, organised, and contains a selection of articles from the paper version of Fe. Peter Davies

Flexys Cefn Druids by Robert Stock

Cost: 80p

Pages: 40

Good things: Colour front and back cover, with several photos of Druids players with the Cymru Alliance Trophy. Also detailed Welsh league tables and an interesting “League of Wales All-Time Table 1992-1999”.

Bad things: A lot of the front cover seemed to be on a slant, meaning that several words appeared outside the box that they were meant to be inside. Some unclear photocopying of league tables, and occasional very small print.

Bizarre things: News that one of the Druids physiotherapists (they have two) is none other than a certain Mr Neil Roberts. Also in the “Honours Section” is the prestigious award of “Best Non-League Programme in Wales 1994-1995”. I get the feeling it was simply put in to fill space.

Great one-liner: The advert for “WAINWRIGHT AND GIBSON”. Surely Sunderland aren’t after Gibbo too, are they?

Verdict: Decent attempt, probably one of the better programmes in the LoW.

FANZINE
The Ancient Druid
With this being Issue 2 of this Cefn Druids fanzine, there is still a lack of contributors. In the Editorial there is a plea for contributions, and for page sponsors. Look out in future issues for the RP-sponsored pages. Sponsorship is just £5.00 per page per season. On the last page there is an article based on an issue raised in RP - the idea that Druids could give some much needed match experience to young Wrexham players or players coming back from injury. It’s also got the usual programme reviews and match reports. Being 50p for 28 pages, it’s reasonably good value and definitely worth a read if you see Issue 3 on sale (the Editor sells them at Wrexham matches if Druids aren’t playing). Robert Stock