Lyon's Den

no.14 Andy Lyons

Red Passion says a big ‘Hello’ to the editor of national soccer magazine, When Saturday Comes

Background: The 'Half Decent Football Magazine'. You know the one.

Setting: WSC Editor Andy Lyons is regularly in touch with Red Passion. He asks us to do all kinds of things: fill in start-of-season questionnaires for publication in the magazine; help with other Wrexham-related features; pass on contact details. So, we thought we'd turn the tables - and ask him to help us. So, Andy…

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Could you tell us a bit about the origins of WSC? "WSC started in 1986. Co-editor Mike Ticher and I had worked together in a record shop. We used to talk about football a lot and thought that there might be scope for a zine looking at football from an alternative point of view - the sort of thing that wasn't provided either by club programmes or by existing magazines which were aimed at teenagers."

What's its philosophy or rationale? "The aim was to provide a platform for the views of intelligent football fans. At the time football was under threat - the government wanted to introduce identity cards. The game was seen by outsiders as being infested with hooligans. We wanted to show that most football fans are just normal people. WSC tried to reflect the sort of conversation fans might have in a pub before a match. It caught on slowly after a few mentions in newspapers and on TV etc. Having been bi-monthly at first, WSC went monthly in early 1988."

What's its relationship to 'fanzine culture'? "Some club fanzines had already started but we didn't know about them until our first issue came out. The big fanzine explosion happened around 1988-90. There had been a dozen or so before… then it mushroomed to hundreds - more or less at least one for each club."

What's your circulation? "Roughly between 21,000-25,000 with variations during the year."

Your typical reader? "In their 20s or 30s, a reader of broadsheet papers, the music press, things like Private Eye and Viz. Quite likely to be an ex-student. Broadly left-liberal politically."

What does being editor involve? "Planning an issue as the month goes on, trying to mix serious and funny stuff, coming up with alternative perspectives on things that have been in the news or might have been missed by the press. We receive a certain amount of unsolicited material too. We've built up lots of contacts over the years - which means we're usually able to cover a story at a particular club."

Good things about the job? "Working in an area that I'm interested in and not being answerable to anyone else. I make my own hours etc."

Bad things? "'Pressure at deadline time. Pages have to be filled when the end of the month comes around."

Who do you support? "Everton - I grew up on Merseyside but have lived in London nearly half my life. I watch Brentford because a couple of friends support them. Also see Fulham sometimes."

What are your best and worst memories following Everton? "Best - Rotterdam 1985 and various wins over Liverpool. Worst - when the 1985 team weren't able to play in the European Cup, plus the decline in the 1990s/Peter Johnson era."

andy lyons: top trivia
Favourite/least favourite food? Fave: pasta/chili with rice; Least fave:
anything I've cooked
Favourite/least favourite drink? Fave: Valpolicella; Least fave: Linctus
Favourite/least favourite TV shows?
Fave (current): Simpsons; Least fave: Big Brother.
Favourite/least favourite footballers?
Fave (current): Kevin Campbell; all- time: Brian Labone; Least fave
(current): Dennis Wise; Least fave (all-time): Souness.
Favourite/least favourite music?
Fave: pop-psychedelia, 60s soul; Least fave: opera; Britpop.
Favourite holiday? Australia
Favourite yoghurt flavour? Greek honey
Favourite crisps? Salt and vinegar.
Favourite newspaper? None in particular. Look at them all.
Favourite politician? John Prescot (maybe).
Favourite soccer writers? Brian Glanville; Patrick Barclay; Patrick Collins.

How has WSC evolved over the years? "More colour. Better design. Better writing generally."

How do you view the soccer glossies: FourFourTwo, Total Football…? "They exist because of the changes in football that also created the Premier League, the Sky-led 1990s boom. A bit bland, sometimes overly laddish - they appear to be addressing an audience of people who may have only got interested in football post-1992. Wouldn't employ many of their writers."

Where does WSC get its writers from? "Fanzines, some readers who write part-time, some journalists on local papers, freelancers etc. Also a few newsagency journalists abroad."

Do you still see WSC as a unique mag? "It's got a niche of its own.'

What do you think are WSC's strengths? "Its contributors' and readers' interest in, and knowledge of, football and football fan culture. Not too tied in to the lad mag boom which will eventually subside."

Weaknesses? "We've covered a lot of ground in 14 years so we're sometimes reluctant to go over familiar subjects even though they may be new to some readers. Also lack of money generally - so we can't always carry through all our ideas."

How many people work on WSC? "Three full-time, two part-time, plus we get occasional help with layout. A separate company sells the advertising."

What are your premises like? "A big room in an old print works converted into offices. Editorial, design, subs and the business side are all run from there."

What does the future hold for WSC? "We want to get back into publishing football books, which we used to do more of, and developing the internet side."

For yourself? "Eventual death."

What do you know about Wrexham?
"The Arfon Griffiths era - cup runs in the late-'70s. Dixie McNeil, Dai Davies, Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones etc. David Smallman - it didn't work out for him at Everton. They're behind Tranmere these days but equally ahead of Chester."

Cheers Andy – thanks a lot!