A new National Lottery Heritage Fund project will establish a digital archive of two of the city’s original fanzines, The Pie and The Almighty Brian
A new National Lottery Heritage Fund project will establish a digital archive of two of the city’s original fanzines, The Pie and The Almighty Brian
Downing a 50p Baileys and accepting a crowd plea to “Get involved”, magazine editor Andy Lyons, writer Harry Pearson and host Daniel Gray talk Terrible Teammates, from Len Shackleton to Millwall Russians via the man who showed them all. Magazine Deputy Editor Ffion Thomas previews WSC issue 434, Record Breakers brings us a Jamaican jingle, and we continue our sprightly feature The Final Third, in which a guest contributes a match, a player and an object to the WSC Museum of Football. Joining Dan as our visiting curator this time is Michael Walker, football writer with The Athletic and the Irish Times, and author of the excellent Up There: The North East Football Boom & Bust and Green Shoots: Irish Football Histories.
Taking a break from reading the match reports of Dmitri Shostakovich, magazine editor Andy Lyons, writer Harry Pearson and host Daniel Gray discuss Last Days and Season Ends, from Basque delight to flip flops in Paisley, via the bonkers Bundesliga of 1999. Record Breakers brings a West Flanders wonder, WSC Deputy Editor Ffion Thomas takes us inside the pages of magazine issue 431 and we continue our giddy feature, The Final Third, in which a guest contributes a match, a player and an object to the WSC Museum of Football. Joining Dan as our visiting curator this time is the Times newspaper’s Scottish football correspondent, and author of Fergie Rises, Michael Grant.
Mariner Books, £25
Reviewed by Jonathan O’Brien
From WSC 427, January 2023
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Battles of attrition and tedious timewasting in the lower leagues are increasingly a turn-off for supporters, whose entertainment is sacrificed for points