Red Issue

Last updated
Red Issue
Editor'Veg'
Categories Football fanzine
FrequencyMonthly during football season
First issueFebruary 1989
Final issue
Number
January 2015
295
Country United Kingdom
Based in Manchester
LanguageEnglish

Red Issue was a British fanzine aimed at Manchester United supporters. The fanzine was published monthly during the domestic football season since February 1989. [1] The content of the fanzine was satirical, featuring jokes at the expense of Manchester United's own players in addition to their rival clubs.

Contents

Launch

The fanzine was launched at the end of the 1980s. At the time of the launch, Alex Ferguson had failed to deliver any silverware as team manager and the club were still in a run that would eventually last 26 years without winning England's top division league title. Other United fanzines, Red News (the first United fanzine) and United We Stand, were launched during the same late 1980s era, and remain in circulation. Red Issue remained the best-selling matchday fanzine at Old Trafford stadium from its launch until its closure.

Issue regulars

The fanzine contained several regular contributions, starting with the editorial comments inside the front cover reflecting on recent United performances and news.

Other regular features were:

The rest of the fanzine contained articles about past team exploits, contributions from readers and often comic strips which poked fun at United's rivals such as Manchester City ("Bertie Magoo - The Bitter Blue") and Liverpool ("Sticky Fingers")

Campaigns

Proclaiming to be the "Voice of the fans", Red Issue tried to influence fan campaigns throughout its history - with notable contributions in the defeat of an attempted takeover of the club by Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB and attempts to block the Glazer takeover.

Green & Gold - Till They Die Or Fold/Till the club is sold was a campaign by some of the Red Issue faithful led by forum leader Chatmaster. [2] [3] [4] [5]

After Manchester United claimed an historic 19th league title, the Red Issue fanzine was behind the unveiling of a banner at arch-rivals Liverpool's home stadium Anfield, taunting opposition fans with their league titles record having been toppled. [6]

Website

The Red Issue website ran in conjunction with the fanzine, containing links to the online forum. The website carried the same satirical tone to the fanzine itself, and advertised it on many pages. The online news bulletins from the Red Issue management stopped on 1 December 2007. The paywalled website continued after the closure of the fanzine, under the sole direction of the fanzine's final editor, who also controlled the Red Issue Twitter account, which made its final post on 31 July 2021. [7] [8] [9] [10]

Related Research Articles

A fanzine is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest. The term was coined in an October 1940 science fiction fanzine by Russ Chauvenet and first popularized within science fiction fandom, and from there the term was adopted by other communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool F.C.</span> Association football club in Liverpool, England

Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has played its home games at Anfield since its formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester United F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United, or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division in the English football league system. Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Hicks</span> American private equity investor (born 1946)

Thomas Ollis Hicks Sr., is an American private equity investor and sports team owner living in Dallas, Texas. Forbes magazine estimated Hicks' wealth at $1 billion in 2009, but it dropped to $700 million in 2010. Hicks co-founded the investment firm, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, previously owned 50% of the English football club Liverpool F.C., and is chairman of Hicks Holdings LLC, which owns and operates Hicks Sports Group, the company that formerly owned the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Stars, and the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. In 2010, Hicks was forced to sell the Rangers and Liverpool to satisfy his creditors, and the Stars went into bankruptcy the following year.

<i>Total Film</i> British film magazine

Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers a cinema, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews, and features. Total Film is available both in print and interactive iPad editions.

Manchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. The club was formed as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot in Newton Heath, in 1878. The club split from the railway company in 1892 and remained under private ownership for almost 100 years, changing its name to Manchester United after being saved from bankruptcy in 1902. The club was the subject of takeover bids from media tycoon Robert Maxwell in 1984 and property trader Michael Knighton in 1989, before going public in 1991; they received another takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB corporation in 1998 before Malcolm Glazer's stake was announced in September 2003.

War of the Monster Trucks is a fanzine for the English football club Sheffield Wednesday.

Red News is the first Manchester United unofficial supporters' fanzine, founded in 1987. It is available in printed format, and on the internet with daily news on the football club Manchester United. It is run by matchgoing Manchester United supporters for United fans at games and all around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds United F.C.</span> Association football club in Leeds, England

Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club play their home matches at Elland Road and compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liverpool F.C.–Manchester United F.C. rivalry</span> Rivalry between English association football clubs

The Liverpool F.C.–Manchester United F.C. rivalry, sometimes referred to as the Northwest Derby, is a high-profile inter-city rivalry between English professional football clubs Liverpool and Manchester United. It is considered the biggest fixture in English football and one of the biggest and fiercest rivalries in world football. Players, fans and the media consider the fixture between the two clubs to be their biggest rivalry, above even their own local derbies, with Everton and Manchester City respectively.

The 1989–90 season was the 98th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and their 28th consecutive year in the top flight. This article covers the period from 1 July 1989 to 30 June 1990.

<i>A Love Supreme</i> (fanzine) Independent magazine about Sunderland AFC

A Love Supreme is a Sunderland AFC fanzine, first published in 1989.

The 1983–84 season was Liverpool Football Club's 92nd season in existence and their 22nd consecutive season in the First Division. It was Liverpool's first season under the management of Joe Fagan, who was promoted from the coaching staff after the retirement of Bob Paisley, their manager of the last nine seasons who had won at least one major trophy in all but the first of his seasons as manager. Fagan's first season as manager ended with Liverpool becoming the first team in England to win three major trophies in the same season as they won the league title, European Cup and League Cup. They beat Roma on penalties to win the European Cup for the fourth time, and defeated Merseyside rivals Everton in the League Cup final replay, and fought off a challenge from the likes of Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Queen's Park Rangers to win their 15th league title, and their third consecutive title.

The 1987–88 season was the 96th season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, their 26th consecutive year in the top-flight, and covered the period from 1 July 1987 to 30 June 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester City F.C. supporters</span> Supporters of Manchester City F.C.

Since their inception in 1880 by Rev. Arthur Connell and William Beastow as St. Mark's , Manchester City Football Club have developed a loyal, passionate and dedicated following. Evolving from a cricket team which aimed to unite the community in industrial east Manchester, St. Mark's changed to Ardwick F.C. before settling on Manchester City F.C. on 16 April 1894.

Edward Gareth Woodward is an English accountant and investment banker who was the executive vice-chairman and effectively the chief executive of Manchester United from 2012 to 2022. Richard Arnold succeeded him in his role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne City FC</span> Association football club in Victoria, Australia

Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that competes in A-League, the highest division of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL).

The Anfield Wrap is a collective of podcasts, radio shows, videocasts, live shows, magazine and website articles predominantly about Liverpool F.C. as well as the culture and music in the city of Liverpool.

<i>Roker Report</i> Fanzine, blog, and podcast about football

Roker Report is an online fanzine, blog and accompanying series of podcasts and livestreams related to English football club Sunderland and the club's women's team. Roker Report has interviewed many high-profile former players and celebrities and gained significant attention among Sunderland fans during 2018 when Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven gave exclusive interviews to the podcast team after buying the club. Roker Report has performed an annual charity drive since 2019, and has raised over £120,000 for local charities.

Fans Supporting Foodbanks is a joint initiative between rival Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C. supporters, founded in 2015 to tackle food poverty in Liverpool. It provides a quarter of all food donations to north Liverpool food banks and has helped to develop a network of fan-driven food banks across the UK. It is an example of progressive football fan activism.

References

  1. "Red Issue 1st edition cover". imageshack.us. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. "Reissued Forums". www.forums.redissue.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  3. "Football News - all the latest breaking football stories - Mirror Online". www.mirrorfootball.co.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  4. "It's time for the fans to fight back". Times Online. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  5. "United fans go for gold - and green". Metro News. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  6. Ashdown, John (16 May 2011). "Manchester United fans unveil '19 times' banner at Anfield". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  7. "Home". redissueforum.co.uk.
  8. " @RedIssue " on Twitter
  9. "Why Manchester United chief Ed Woodward turned down a Red Issue interview - Manchester Evening News". 11 October 2017.
  10. @RedIssue (31 July 2021). "In the meantime, enjoy what time is left, watch out for magnificent offerings from the imminent, brilliant…" (Tweet) via Twitter.