FANATIC #001 by tommackinnon311097

// FORZA JUVE // FORZA JUVE // FORZA JUVE // FORZA JUVE // FORZA JUVE // FORZA JUVE //

FANATIC

Issue 1 - Forza Juve April 2019

The magazine FANATIC about being a football fan

£5

Calciopoli, Cristiano and Culture at Italy’s best club // ROCKWOOD // O’DEA // BLACKPOOL // BOLTON //

WEAR THIS // READ THIS //

EDITOR’S LETTER Welcome to FANATIC! The magazine FANATIC about being a football fan. Our pilot issue is jam-packed with content to keep you enterained on that long away day to pre-match pint and everything in between.

FORZA

We will take you to Turin, via Bolton and Blackpool where we will have a look at how the fans of both clubs are dealing with the mess left by ruinous owners. One of our favourite articles this month is an interview with academic Joel Rockwood who discusses the future of football. We explore Italy’s premier club and our cover star Juventus and what it’s been like being a fan of the club with the not to distant memories of Serie B and the Calciopoli scandal.

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CONTENTS

WHAT A COMPLETE BAT!

Celtic’s Green Brigade welcome Valencia to Parkhead ahead of the Europa League Round of 32 tie. Brendan Rodgers’ side lost 2-0 after goals from Denis Cheryshev and Ruben Sobrino. Maybe they should’ve been slightly more wary of The Bats.

NEED A HERO? CALL KUBA!

Wisla Krakow fans pay tribute to their saviour Kuba Blaszcyzykowski ahead of the Warsaw derby, who donated ÂŁ300,000 to save his club as well as leaving leaving Wolfsburg to join his boyhood club. Donating his full wage to disadvantaged children so they can attend Wisla games, Kuba also scored the only goal of the game. What a guy.

Everywhere we go BLACKPOOL Football Club BOLTON Wanderers Football Club

You know your team best. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why every month we speak to you to find the inside track on your club. For issue #001 we spoke to Chris Manning about Bolton and the Blackpool Supporters Trust about Oyston and The Tangerines.

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Bolton Wanderers Now and Tomorrow Chris Manning of the Lion of Vienna Suite Bolton fanzine walks us through being a Wanderer under Ken Anderson and Phil Parkinson. Us Bolton fans have never had it easy. Ours has been a case of boom and bust for as long as I can remember. Wanderers usually have something interesting going on, be it promotion or relegation – but lately we’ve become familiar with a new kind of drama in the form of (at least for now) Chairman Ken Anderson and his tenure at the club. He arrived on the scene during Wanderers’ lowest ebb. We faced being wound up in the Court and it was on Dean Holdsworth’s coattails that Anderson came along at the 11th hour to save us from extinction. Anderson quickly snapped up Holdsworth’s shares and seemed to enjoy the attention his new role afforded him. He would go on to give his son a role in player recruitment, with club accounts hinting that his boy would be well compensated for

his work. His regular columns on the club website would be his opportunity to settle scores, to hawk merchandise and to, on occasion, accuse local journalists of being alcoholics. Like I said, it’s never boring being a Bolton Wanderers supporter. There’s always something going on. Now, in the blink of an eye, three years have elapsed and Wanderers find themselves mired in the Championship relegation zone with only the desperate form of those around them saving the club from being well and truly adrift. Whilst Anderson has been on the receiving end of much criticism for the way he has acted as Chairman, his failure to act on the ‘performance’ of manager Phil Parkinson must surely rank as his greatest mistake.

Whilst undoubtedly a fine person and having worked with limited resources (to say the very least), Parkinson has implemented a deeply dull style of play at the club. Safety first is all well and good and most fans appreciate that there must be an element of this given the paucity of choice in terms of quality players – but to see our paltry goal return in each of his three seasons in charge can lead one to a single conclusion, that the man doesn’t really know what to do with attacking players – a fact that is reflected in the way that the team operates when they cross that white line.

“There may well be an exciting future around the corner.”

That said - however grim this might sound, there may well be an exciting future just around the corner. On Sunday morning Anderson and the club announced that a deal had been struck with a UK-based consortium to sell his shares in the club and to facilitate a takeover – something that supporters of the club had longed for since the early days of his reign.

Everywhere we go BOLTON Little is known about the incoming owners and exactly what they can bring to the table but, one can hope, they can act immediately. To sack Phil Parkinson would make an instant impact and would give the squad the chance to hear a fresh voice and, with only a dozen or so games remaining in this season, even give them a fighting chance of achieving a third straight Championship campaign. What happens next is a mystery, but, as ever with Bolton Wanderers, it’s bound to be an interesting ride. F

Follow Lion of Vienna Suite on Twitter(They’re verifeid BTW) @LionOfViennaSte

BLACKPOOL UP AND DOWN WITH THE OYSTONS AT BLOOMFIELD Advisor to the Blackpool Supporters Trust Robbie Whittaker has been to more court hearings than games of late, but there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve followed the Seasiders since I was seven - August 1968, to be precise. I took one look at the stadium, the pitch, the Tangerine demi-gods on it and fell utterly and irrevocably in love. We were in Division 2 then, and always in the shake up for promotion to the top flight at first. That all changed in 1978, when we fell into the third tier for the first time in our proud League history. It took twenty nine long years to get back to the Championship, and by then times had changed. The

Division was crammed full of teams with bigger support and more resources than us, and just being there felt like an achievement. Some of my fondest memories come from the first two years back at that level, when we were pleased just to be there and everything we got we had to fight for. We developed a bit of a siege mentality, and I liked it. 2009/10 was a dream, really. I remember us beating Newcastle in September and thinking that we probably wouldn’t have to worry about

the bottom three that season; but as time went on it became clear that our eyes were on glory. We were a bit lucky to fall into the last play-off place, to be truthful, but what followed is something I will never forget. Blackpool, Premier League. Wow. With the benefit of hindsight, that was when it all changed. While we were all dreaming of trips to Anfield and Old Trafford, the club owners were actively planning to remove as much of the Premier League windfall as they could. We acquitted

ourselves honourably in that relegation season, and the one that followed ; but the pattern of asset stripping and cynical noninvestment was well under way by then. By the end of 2015, the Not A Penny More boycott was well under way, as thousands of us voted with our feet and shunned home games. We fell all the way to League 2, and scarcely competed for a time; since then, there has been a modest renaissance that has seen us back in League One and on the play-off fringe. This feels like defying gravity, in that for nearly two years now the club has been at the centre of a protracted legal struggle between the Oyston family as the controlling minds, and minority shareholder Valeri Belokon. The latter, not unreasonably, took exception to the removal of funds, the way in which he was shut out of

Everywhere we go BLACKPOOL decision making at the club and the manner in which a Premier League legacy his money had largely earned was siphoned off. Famously, the High Court saw it his way; he was awarded an eyewatering £31.27 million for the prejudice he had suffered, and at the time of writing the club is in receivership and the first act of the Court Receiver has been to kick the Oyston family off the Board.

“We can all go back”

It looks as though, at long last, we can all go back. It will feel odd, at first. In the last couple of years I have attended more court hearings than I have matches. I’ve written more court reports than match reports; I’ve learned far more about “insolvency events” and what they imply, than I would ever care to. Most shocking of all, I and thousands like me have learned that when a club falls into the wrong hands in England, the fans have

The Odious Owen Oyston

almost no formal recourse they can follow to seek justice. No-one speaks up for us; the people who have the power to do something to help(by which I principally mean the English Football League) are uninterested in doing so and apparently unwilling to challenge their Members about the way they behave. It is a disgraceful state of affairs and the people

responsible should be ashamed - as well as brought to account. Because one rich man chose to sue another, it looks as though we are going to get another chance at being a normal club, but at the national level, the fight for a decent form of regulation for the domestic game will go on. Every League club is just one owner away from the nightmare we have gone through; fans of

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will be delighted to reach a point where I can argue on social media about dodgy penalties, view a transfer deadline day with hope and optimism, debate our team tactics and enjoy the simple pleasure of travelling home for a League game.â&#x20AC;?

Everywhere we go BLACKPOOL Sell-out crowds, like this one against Arsenal in 2011 might be coming back to Bloomfield Road... clubs like Leyton Orient and Hereford United have arguably had it just as bad as we have and others like those who support Coventry City, Bolton Wanderers and Port Vale are flirting with disaster whilst the Engilsh Football League looks on. Our battle may be almost won - but theirs continues, and we intend to stay alongside them to help them wage it. In the meantime, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking

forward to an outbreak of normality. I will be delighted to reach a point where I can argue on social media about dodgy penalties, view a transfer deadline day with hope and optimism, debate our team tactics and enjoy the simple pleasure of travelling home for a League game. It has been far too long since I could, and I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be taking it for granted when I can. F

Help Blackpool Supporters Trust by liking their Facebook page and follwoing them on Twitter. BST are one of the good guys.

... And scenes like this will be on the way out.

16 Questions with... Darren O’Dea The Dundee Captain and the 20-capped Republic of Ireland international talks Mllwall, Mourinho, and Mraz.

1. FAVOURITE SONG? Bon Jovi, Keep the Faith. 2. LEAST FAVOURITE GENRE OF MUSIC? Rap. 3. FAVOURITE FILM? Silence of the Lambs. 4. FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMME? I absolutely love The Wire. 5. LOVE ISLAND OR I’M A CELEBRITY? Love Island. 6. CORRIE OR EASTENDERS? Eastenders every day of the week. 7. FAVOURITE FOOTBALLER? As a kid it was Ryan Giggs. 8. FAVOURITE TEAM TO WATCH? Liverpool. 9. FAVOURITE AWAY GROUND? I’ve played in a lot of different places. Where did I love playing? This sounds strange but when I was at Leeds I played at Millwall. That was scary. I think because we won it was the only time I fell scared for my safety. It was a good buzz. I enjoy stuff like that so it stuck with me. 10. MANAGER YOU’D MOST LIKE TO PLAY FOR? I’d have to say Jim McIntyre! Or I’d like someone like Antonio Conte or Jose Mourinho. Someone who is more of a defensive coach. I like a bit of confrontation too. 11. STAYCATION OR ABROAD? I’m a home bird, stay here. My favourite holiday destination? I go to Dubai every year 12. NIGHT OUT OR NETFLIX? Netflix all day long, I’ve packed those days in. I’ve started Shooter and the new Sinner is out. Watch Sinner! 13. FAVOURITE FOOD? Spaghetti Bolognese. 14. LEAST FAVOURITE FOOD? A misplaced salad on a burger.

15. PARTY TRICK? My boys will tell you on a night out. I like singing. Must be the Irish in me. I always sing Jason Mraz ‘I’m Yours’. We have New Years parties in the house and I’m up singing Jason Mraz. 16. READ A BOOK OR PLAY ON YOUR PHONE? I read a lot. I’ve read a book recently called ‘Hunger in Paradise’. Fantastic book. I used to be into autobiographies, Paul McGrath’s one is fantastic. If I was going on holiday I’d buy a fiction book, but during the year I’m reading something related to football.F

FORZA JUVE By Tom Mackinnon

Cristiano. Calciopoli. Culture. Supporting The Old Lady.

The year is 2006. It should be a footballing year remembered only for an Italy side featuring Gigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Ale Nesta that conquered the world. But thanks to the dodgy dealings of Reggina, Lazio, Milan and Juventus it will be a year that was marred by the Calciopoli scandal.

Juve’s general manager Luciano Moggi had been found to be influencing the decisions of the Italian referee’s organisation. The punishment, and what a punishment, was a relegation to Serie B and an eventual nine-point deduction for Juve. Many first team players departed that season as The Old Lady amassed a points total of 85 in the second tier, pipping Napoli to the title by six points. Many wondered if Italian football would ever be the same again. Fast forward 13 years and Juve are top of Serie A, 16 points ahead of Napoli in second and have become a European footballing juggernaut once again. This is, in part, down to the work of current Juventus President Andrea Agnelli. Agnelli has brought the club from the very bottom of its

FORZA JUVE

existence to the being on the brink of an eighth-straight Scudetto on the pitch. Off the pitch, Juve have become one of the best-known brands in football, trumped only by the two Manchester clubs and the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Juventus return to European football’s top table can be bookended by firstly the Calciopoli scandal and season in the second tier and the €100 million signing of five-time World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer that has just passed. Two seismic events in the history of the club at very different ends of the spectrum.

Max Allegri’s side have been dominant in Italy, winning eight league titles in a row.

The 13 years between Calciopoli and Cristiano have been well documented, but what has it been like supporting the club through it all? Can you support your club the same knowing all that has gone on? The answer is yes. Despite the chequered history surrounding Calciopoli, Juve fans come to the Allianz stadium in their droves. Last seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s average attendance was 39,316. Or just under 95% capacity of their stadium. It does need to be remembered that there are far worse things for football club owners to do than intimidate referees. Clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are the public faces of the Abu Dhabi and Qatar ruling-families, two families who instil some of the worst

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Can your same that on?â&#x20AC;?

you support club the knowing all has gone

human rights practices the world over. While effectively choosing your referee for the big games is reprehensible, it is a relatively heinous aberation in comparison to the aforementioned atrocities committed by the PSG and Man City chiefs.

Calciopoli was big news

Moving past Calciopoli and Cristiano briefly, the move away from the Delle Alpi and into the J-Stadium in 2011 was one of the best decisions made by the club. Their old Delle Alpi stadium was infamous for being one of the most poorly built stadia, for having limited view of the pitch for many inside and exposure to the elements, whereas the J-Stadium is a feat of modern football ground architechture. On top of this, the fact the club now own their stadium, something that is uncommon in Italy, means all matchday revenue is theres, contributing to the massive financial gulf between Juve and the rest of Italian football. It has also allowed them to catch-up to the big dogs of European football, resulting in two Champions League finals in the past five years, losing out on both occasions to the Spanish giants Real and Barca.

FORZA JUVE

These two defeats (in 2015 and 2017) have focused the club, and allowed Agnelli to build towards the next chapter in the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well-storied history. If you take Calciopoli as the first chapter in the recent history of the club, the next two would be the return to local dominance under Antonio Conte; and the quest and failure for European dominance under Max Allegri. This summer saw Juventus sit down and pen the beginning of their latest chapter. The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, who had won four Champions League titles in five years at Real Madrid was the perfect opening sentence. The Serie A title already looks wrapped up but a tricky tie against Atleti will prove a very tough task for The Old Lady who have gone all in on the competition. If the club fail to reach the pinnacle of the European game

The move to the spaceship like J-Stadium has helped Juve compete at Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top table once again. this June at the new Metropolitano, then Allegri will likely pay the price with his job, even if the domestic double is already wrapped up such is the desire for the Juve fans and higher-ups to get their hands on the big-eared trophy. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiaola has already been touted as a potential replacement for someone not yet out of the job and on the brink of his fifth straight Scudetto.

Their domestic dominance and incessant quest for the Champions League make it an exciting time to be a Juventini and very much changed days from the scandal and shame of playing in the second tier for the first time in the Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history. The arrival of Cristiano and portentially Pep is very intrigiung, yet expensive. As for a cautionary tale when blinkered by a relentless chase for success, everyone at Juve need not look far. F

Juve fans and the bosses know the big prize is the Champions League

The Future of Fanzines Football fanzines… remember those? Used to be all over the place. You could hardly walk into the Sportspages bookshop in Charing Cross Road without treading on them, as they’d run out of display space on the racks and had to spread them out on the carpet in front. A few still continue. Arsenal fanzine The Gooner is one, although we now have an annual campaign to secure enough advance subscribers to make it viable continuing. In truth, as the evidence has made all too clear, their time is gone. Those that continue do so for one simple reason. There are enough people who still like to read words printed on paper rather than on a screen. It’s largely generational though. Whenever I see someone carrying a paid for newspaper in the area I live, it’s generally an older

person. With football fanzines, there really aren’t too many people under the age of 40 that will buy them. The popularity of the matchday programme has gone south too. It’s the same for all print media. Times change. Fanzines were revolutionary back in the late 1980s and 1990s because they gave an uncensored voice to fans. There were very occasional legal challenges made to what was printed, such as Arsenal’s ‘1-0 Down 2-1 Up’ suggesting throwing a brick at director David Dein’s car might be a good thing to do. Dein’s lawyers got in touch and I have a vague memory that some compensation might have been paid as Dein’s car was actually damaged. This was around the time of the North Bank bond and the expense of watching a match from that part of Highbury rocketing due to its conversion into an all-seater stand.

The Gooner: Then(Below) and now (L)and an unhappy David Dein (R) 24

The Gooner Editor Kevin Whitcher sits down to discuss the past, the present and the future of Fanzines. Change began occurring a little over a decade later once people were able to read and exchange opinion online – firstly through personal computers and later through their phone. Initially this was in words, but in time, podcasts followed and now we have a surfeit of fan opinion video channels. I’d argue that, although there is some excellent content out there, there is also a lot of dross. Perhaps that could be said of fanzines back in the day too, although those that genuinely lacked what their audience wanted would not have sold for long. When no one is paying for output, there are

less determining factors to prevent weak content getting an airing. The Gooner used to sell three times as many copies per issue as it does today, and there were sometimes ten issues a season. Now there are six. That it continues at all is down to a mix of reader habits, content that is less easy to find elsewhere, an attempt to deliver quality and the support of a core long-term readership. The fanzine (Arsenal’s first) began in the autumn of 1987. I can confidently predict it will not still be around in 32 years’ time. It may not even be around next season if not enough subscribers renew their

existing commitment. But as long as the time producing it can be justified and there is enough interest, The Gooner will continue. The reality is though that its audience is not getting any younger and in time, it will be a memory. This will apply to all fanzines eventually. Times change. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s natural. And it should be remembered that there is plenty of quality amidst the noise of newer media. The uncensored fan expression that began with the fanzine movement has been clearly established, and it’s not going to disappear now. F

It’s academic wit

Former journalist and Sports Business University Joel Rockwood discusses life-long Liverpool supporter in 2019

“I first went to Anfield as a fouryear-old and just remember being terrified by the Kop. The first time you see the pitch from the stands, the enormity of that view – it either grabs you or it doesn’t.” Joel Rockwood has been a Liverpool fan all his life, becoming a journalist and academic have come more recently but his support for The Reds hasn’t wavered. “The first team I can properly remember and fell in love with was the 1987/88 team. We signed four players in that summer that transformed the club: Barnes, Beardsley,Aldridge and Houghton.

Those four really set the tone for what was considered to be the best team at the time in British football.” Joel has moved from fan to journalist to academic, with each role bringing a new perspective to the game we all

love. “You could build a bit of objectivity into how you look at things. So, I’m a bit more able to see the value of a rival clubs and what it brings to you. I think even the staunchest Rangers fans will be aware of the

th Joel Rockwood

Lecturer at Central Lancaster what it’s like being an academic and with our very own Tom Mackinnon my club Liverpool, they’ve always got a warm welcome for clubs coming to Anfield, and that isn’t a typically English thing, and to be fair Liverpool aren’t a typically English club in many respects.”

“Even the staunchest of Rangers fans will be aware of their reliance on Celtic”

reliance on Celtic and vice-versa. As an academic there was more layers to that, you are more objectively aware of, whether it’s a commercial or cultural one, the vaulue of different clubs. I think that has probably helped

Joel’s Liverpool hereos

As much as he’s changed since he started going to Anfield, Rockwood believes football has morphed into something totally different: “Football in the 1980s was a period of real change. The first year I went was 1984, the following year was Heysel, which made a lot of people question the sordid elements of fandom and the potential ramifications of involvement in that, I know people that went to prison over Heysel and they were changed through that. Then Hillsborough four years later was the changing point of European football. People talk about the Bosman case for employment contracts and migration but I think Hillsborough in terms of how football fans are managed, legislative responses for policing, the organisation and structure of grounds fundamentally changed around that. There were certain key elements of change, particularly the introduction of Sky and the two disasters.

Sky Sports brought big change for UK football in 1992 28

The most significant change was the move to all-seater stadiums, that helped set the tone for the complete resurrection of English football.”

A packed Anfield crowd ”A lack of a common voice in English fandom, the lack of a collective doesn’t help. The Germans - if something that happens that they don’t like, two rival sets of fans come together, and they collectively participate in a response to that. They will chant about how football needs to be affordable and they’ll boycott matches and things like that. That’s not really happened here. English fans have been naïve and culpable in that, but we’ve been lead down a road by the footballing authorities and it’s just got astronomically expensive.”

Looking to the future, Joel thinks the soul of football might be evaporating: “There has has been a move towards entertainment. If you look at the ‘match experience’ and what goes on at, say the Etihad and Anfield, the top two in the league at the moment, if you look in and around the stadium, particularly for the non-local fans, there is live music put on, there’s entertainment and the match is the culmination of an entire day. There has been a move to extrapolate more money from tourist supporters.

PSG... A glamour club

that most dominant teams from other areas are from an affluent area, so I see a little bit more of a trend towards that sadly. These clubs can only fight on tradition. When you recruit a player, you have to sell the entire soul of the club if you want to compete against that The model of provincial clubs in the way that the Virgil doing well, Celtic and Forest Van Dijk deal went through winning the European Cup, [Liverpool pipped ‘mega club’ Borussia Monchengladbach, Manchester City in an Saint Etienne, even Liverpool eye-watering £75 million deal if I’m being honest are the from Southampton.]” only example of a team that aren’t from a glamorous place. Joel Rockwood knows one thing for certain ‘the only constant Paris, Madrid, Milan: these in football is change’. F are the places that a modern day, three thousand Virgil Van Dijk... pound a week player wants to live. Bucking a trend You are creating these mega clubs that are very difficult to touch on and off the field and it’s difficult to compete with that. I see that becoming harder for other clubs, Liverpool and Manchester are the exception of that rule in the way 29

“The match is the culmanation of the entire day”

wear this! Three things to wear this month to the football, fives and even the shops. Blue Night and Lemon Tangant Shell Jacket by Umbro (£49) Think Larsson. Henrik Larsson. In all its Swedish splendour this jacket screams sun, sea and scandi. Just think how cool this will look on you. It would wouldn’t it?

Holland ‘88 by Tile Soccer (£14) Winter. Koeman. Muhren. Gullit. van Basten. van’t Schip. Wouters. Rijkaard Rinus Michels. You’ll be in top company with this tee from our friends over at Tile Soccer. You can also get this design on a mug, a hoodie or your bedsheets if you want to dream in orange.

A smile (Free - although there are a few ways you can pay for one.) Life can be hard, so remember to smile. It can be difficult at times so if you’re stuggling contact Samaratins (UK 116 123), CALM (O800 585858) or Mind (03001233393 or text 86463).

Brilliant Orange: the neurotic genius of dutch football by David Winner An absolute classic look into Dutch football, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so much more than that. Delving into architechture, the Dutch psyche and the teachings of Johan Cruyff, Winnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book will have you booking flights to Amsterdam and wondering how that 1974 side never won the World Cup.

The European Game: The secrets of European Football Success by Daniel Fieldsend Fieldsend leads you across Europe through the lens of 18 different football clubs. Learn why Athletic Bilbao only play Basqueborn players or how Sporting crafted the machine known as Cristiano Ronaldo.

Andrea Pirlo: I think therefore I play by Andrea Pirlo and Alessamdro Alciato Obviously the book is as effortlessly cool as Pirlo himself. As the book was released while he was still playing the content thins out in the last few chapters and we find out why Andrea detests VAR and why we will too. The man is prophetic.

Three things to READ this month ON THE WAY to the football, fives and even the shops.

READ this!

Mind’s logo features on all 72 EFL club’s shirt this season. The squiggle joins onto the first letter of every player’s name on the back of their shirt with the aim of promoting better mental health. If you need help then call Mind on 03001233393 or text 86463.