A Supporters Fanzine?

The Bit O’Red Supporters Trust are currently investigating the possibility of facilitating the production of an independent supporter fanzine. The last fanzine Rovers supporters had was called ‘Rovers Return?’ It was an excellent production and was produced throughout the 1993/94 season (as far as I can remember. May have been further issues). Sadly this fanzine passed away and up until now supporters have not had a publication to call their own.

We as supporters are best placed to describe the trials and tribulations of supporting Sligo Rovers. The highs – the lows- The Shed – The Showgrounds – The Away days – St Mel’s Park – the Mon Dogs – beating Dublin teams- the highs of cup wins – the lows of defeat – the despair of having to play Dublin City – the books – the songs, the disappearance of half-time soup-your first game- your favourite game, goal or player – the fun and sometimes the mayhem. These are just some of the things that makes us supporters of Sligo Rovers.

Dixie Dean, Johnny Armstrong, Gerry Mitchell, Paul McGee, Harry Mcloughlin, Tony Fagan, Chris Rutherford, David Pugh, Colin Cameron, Eddie Annand, Johnny Kenny, Padraig Moran, Martin McDonnell, Michael Beag, Ian Gilzean, Glen Shannon, and Raphael Cretaro to name but a tiny fraction of players have come and gone throughout the years. There have also been various player mishaps too with Gabriel Ojo topping the list of Rovers worst players. Even those that never saw him play have heard the name. Although maybe Darren Jack runs a close second.

There is plenty to talk about and lot’s of opinions to share. Your fellow supporters know what it’s like supporting Rovers but they don’t know what it’s like from your point of view. We all got stories to tell and now’s your chance to get it out there.

To get a fanzine produced takes a small bit of effort. There’s something for everyone. You could write a regular column, make up footie related jokes, draw some funny caricatures, or send in quotes, letters, photos or posts you’ve come across. At most you would only need to contribute to just ten issues per season with around five issues being likely for this season. This will be your fanzine, so you can decide what you want to see in it.

If you’re interested in contributing, however big or small, to a new Sligo Rovers fanzine then feel free to contact us at info@thebitored.org If you have any suggestions, ideas or otherwise then please feel to contact us at the address above.

best of luck in doing the fanzine!

section o do our own fanzine called one f in longford our seventh issue is on sale now we have being on the go 4 years!

definitely well worth a shot ! we have our regular punters who wait with unanctiapted breath for the latest issue!

all sales from ours goed towards the section o sponsorship fund of dean fitzgerald for the season!

thanks to everyone who has got in touch on this already. some good ideas being put forward.

if you'd like to help, by writing something for the fanzine let us know. even if you have just a few ideas of what you'd like to see in a fanzine then feel free to send your suggestions to us at info@thebitored.org

i'll keep this thread update with any further news on the fanzine.

what type of stuff have you got so far gary?

at this stage we have got interest from supporters who are going to write for the fanzine. whatever they write will be totally up to themselves, beit something different each issue or a regular column. we also have a few other ideas. to make sure the fanzine represents what supporters want it's important for supporters to give us their ideas and suggestions for the fanzine. every idea is welcomed. if any supporter thinks they can contribute to a fanzine in any way, no matter how much or how little then get in contact asap on info@thebitored.org.

I don't know what the relationship between the supporters' trust and the club in Sligo is but my advice would be to make sure that the fanzine is completly unofficial, i.e. published by a few lads instead of any organisation. There is a rule against controversial comments in club publications so you want to make sure that the fanzine is at arms length from anyone officially involved in the club.

I don't know if it's any help but if you like you can pm me your address and I'll sent out a copy of the first two issues of this season's STIG.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bald Student

I don't know what the relationship between the supporters' trust and the club in Sligo is but my advice would be to make sure that the fanzine is completly unofficial, i.e. published by a few lads instead of any organisation. There is a rule against controversial comments in club publications so you want to make sure that the fanzine is at arms length from anyone officially involved in the club.

I don't know if it's any help but if you like you can pm me your address and I'll sent out a copy of the first two issues of this season's STIG.

---

thanks for the info. we'll stamp 100% unofficial and a few pages of a disclaimer notice to ensure no rules get contravened. :D thanks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by garykelly

thanks for the info. we'll stamp 100% unofficial and a few pages of a disclaimer notice to ensure no rules get contravened. :D thanks.

---

I dont see the reason for this. Does this mean that the fanzine is going to be ANTI-Club?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redzer

I dont see the reason for this. Does this mean that the fanzine is going to be ANTI-Club?

---

simple reasoning. If a publication contains material that could affect the club then there could be repurcussions for the club in question. by stating that a fanzine is 100% Unofficial and having a standard disclaimer the club cant be called into question at any level for anything that appears in a fanzine.

And no, it no way means it's anti-club.how could it. such disclaimers protect our club. It could be anti alot of things but not anti club. giving fans an outlet for opinion, speculation and enjoyment wouldnt make it anti-club. the tone of a fanzine is dictated by fans who contribute. i've seen fanzines that rip their own clubs and player to pieces. but personally i'd want any fanzine to do with rovers to be positive, interesting and a bit of a laugh. at the end of the day, fans support their club so there's no question of an 'anti-club' ethos.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redzer

I dont see the reason for this. Does this mean that the fanzine is going to be ANTI-Club?

---

Perhaps Redzer you should have an Anti-Trust disclaimer on all of your posts :D

Nearly all clubs in england have a fanzine and many clubs in ireland have one. I had a look at the Cork City one (called Four Five One) and it had me in stitches. All a fanzine is, is a publication for fans written by fans and in a lot of cases it is done with a sense of humour.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by marktis

Perhaps Redzer you should have an Anti-Trust disclaimer on all of your posts :D

Nearly all clubs in england have a fanzine and many clubs in ireland have one. I had a look at the Cork City one (called Four Five One) and it had me in stitches. All a fanzine is, is a publication for fans written by fans and in a lot of cases it is done with a sense of humour.

---

Marktis, I simply asked the question. I would not like to think that we would need such a disclaimer.
I am still not sure as to what is meant by "If a publication contains material that could affect the club then there could be repurcussions for the club in question".
In light of that statment, I think it was a fair question to ask.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redzer

Marktis, I simply asked the question. I would not like to think that we would need such a disclaimer.
I am still not sure as to what is meant by "If a publication contains material that could affect the club then there could be repurcussions for the club in question".
In light of that statment, I think it was a fair question to ask.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

---

To give an example, wasn't your manager fined for saying that he hoped a certain referee wouldn't be in charge of any more Sligo games? That type of statement, critical of referees or other people involved in the league, which would typically appear in a fanzine but would get the club a fine if it appeared in an official publication.

Not Bad Student Mullet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redzer

Marktis, I simply asked the question. I would not like to think that we would need such a disclaimer.
I am still not sure as to what is meant by "If a publication contains material that could affect the club then there could be repurcussions for the club in question".
In light of that statment, I think it was a fair question to ask.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

---

apologies redzer. should have made it more clear than I did. student mullets post basically clears it up.

marktis - the trust are just facilitating the production of the fanzine. the fanzine will be for all supporters and supporters clubs regardless of being in the trust, south sligo, north sligo , dublin sc or otherwise.

We've set up a date for the first issue, which i'll post to this forum in another thread.

I think the first fanzine the Rovers had was made by Ronan Conboy and Leonard Gunning 1995 - anyone remember it? - I dont think The Rovers Return came along until late maybe even 1995.

Not 100% sure on that

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sligobhoy67

I think the first fanzine the Rovers had was made by Ronan Conboy and Leonard Gunning 1995 - anyone remember it? - I dont think The Rovers Return came along until late maybe even 1995.

Not 100% sure on that

---

yeah i cant remember too many specifics. but i think that rovers return was out in the season mcstay managed us in the first division. :confused:

it was called "The Bit O'Red" - year before the treble - 3 issues

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sligobhoy67

it was called "The Bit O'Red" - year before the treble - 3 issues

---

Good memory SligoBhoy67, didnt realize the fanzine still lived on in a, very, few peoples memory. We were however forced to stop production due to lets say 'external forces'.

150 prints were made for each issue and we sold all 150 each time, only mere schoolboys at the time of publication.

Rovers' Return? was brought out in the 93/94 season - I've still got a couple somewhere.
It was so-called - including the question mark - as it was in fairly confident hope that, having just been relegated, we were going straight back up. The question mark was, as far as I remember, removed for the edition at the end of the season.
A few years later, I bumped into Mickey O'Connor, who said he had seen a copy with a cartoon of him in it. He wasn't so much annoyed about the depiction of him diving in the Showgrounds as by the depiction of him with an even bigger belly than he had at the time. :D
I used to write stuff for it. It's a long time ago now, and all I can remember was the dedicated Greg and Paula (what was the family name?), the latter, I think, having produced the celebrated cartoon.

ya the McCulloughs produced the Rovers Return - but it definately came out after The Bit O'Red was issued, I've got copies of both in the house in Sligo.