THIS weekend is a special one. Not just because there is a raft of exciting football scheduled for all levels of the pyramid. 

From the mouth-watering clashes Arsenal vs Manchester United and Liverpool vs Aston Villa on Sunday, following on from Brighton vs Newcastle and Manchester City vs Fulham on Saturday, to name but four matches in the Premier League. To the Championship where you have the fixture between top of the table Leicester, who host Hull, as well as Sunderland vs Southampton, not to mention Watford’s trip to Coventry. 

Further down you have League Two sleeping giants Bradford City’s trip to Mansfield, while further still you have North Ferriby of the Northern Premier League Division One East, making the trip to Prescot Cables in the First Round Qualifying of the FA Cup.

All clashes that will have dyed-in-the-wool fans – not to mention lovers of our game in general – looking forward to them.

However, the reason I have selected these fixtures and teams is because off the field, supporters of many of the clubs’ selected above still take the time and effort to produce a printed “labour of love” called a football fanzine. 

Whether it be the Treble winners’ forensic King of the Kippax, to Anfield’s passionate Red All Over the Land, to Brighton’s stylish Dogma, and the essential United We Stand, the fact is that despite the strange fascination by many over the billions if not trillions spent on the top tier of football in our country, many loyal football fans choose to spend their free time eschewing such nonsense and instead choose to write, produce, edit, publish and sell independent publications that are as authentic and genuine as you’ll find in a game awash with cynicism and greed, fakes and chancers. 

Don’t believe me? No-one makes any money out of fanzines, it’s simply all about giving fans a voice and a platform in a far more reasoned style, who are thankfully a long way away from those contemptible grifters and those hysterical caricatures on YouTube, out simply to make a fast buck off the back of their club. 

It’s no different further down the leagues, Watford’s Golden Pages, along with every fanzine listed here, is a good read, produced by people who care passionately about their club. As is the supreme Love Supreme, Sunderland’s outstanding effort, not to mention Leicester’s irreverent publication. 

As for City Gent, well no conversation about fanzine culture in this country can be complete without mentioning the estimable Mike Harrison who has produced the outstanding City Gent fanzine since 1984 for Bradford fans – and fanzine lovers. 

And don’t forget the team at North Ferriby who produce quarterly, in print, the View from the Allotment End, come rain or shine. Which is exactly what hardy fanzine sellers do outside matches and on street corners in the vicinity: flog copies of our labours of love, come rain or shine. 

I have had the privilege of coming across a few of the good people involved in the publications above, and they are all joined by a genuine love and passion for their clubs. 

Which brings me onto the Gooner Fanzine. As some of you may know I am editor of this particular Arsenal fanzine – I refuse to use the definitive article because the Gunners are lucky enough to have three other fanzines in print. The smart Poison Lasagna, the cheeky Up the Arse, and, arguably, Britain’s longest running fanzine (argubaly what it is), established 1949, the Arsenal Supporters Club publication Gunflash. (Btw thanks to Baso for stocking the Gooner in the Arsenal Supporters Club bar, cheers).

It’s been a difficult summer as I thought long and hard about closing the Gooner (est 1987) because we couldn’t get to 1,000 subscribers which would help us break even, and stop me having to fund the losses out of my own pocket. 

Yet, despite the support of so many good people, on so many levels, in so many ways, we fell short. Which hurt. Because with Arsenal estimating that there are supposedly more than 100 million people around the world that call themselves supporters – Gooners – not to reach four figures led me to seriously question the point of me and others staying up until 3am (on top of our day jobs) on a regular basis to get every issue as good as we can possibly make it. 

That was until I had a think about what fanzines provide – and specifically, just what the Gooner Fanzine provides. 

So I had to remind myself. (Apologies for the hard sell).

Our labour of love serves a community of like-minded souls who care deeply about our club.

The reason we exist is because we provide an authentic platform in print for intelligent, informed, and irreverent debate and discussion on The Arsenal.

We publish knowledgeable and passionate writers, and are proud of our band of readers who continue to savour reasoned, insightful, original writing full of fervour and ardour, dedication and devotion, warmth and zeal, affection and humour.  

It says plenty that in this digital age of immediate consumption, the print version of the Gooner Fanzine (somehow) continues to exist, even if it is hanging on by its fingernails. 

Not least because supporters – albeit an ever-dwindling number –still enjoy reading considered articles, columns, in-depth features, Q&As, and opinion pieces on all things Arsenal, illuminated with contributions from talented Arsenal creatives. 

We have decent relationships with many Arsenal people past and present and have previously run exclusive interviews with such luminaries as Tony Adams, Sol Campbell, Jack Wilshere, Lee Dixon, and Ray Parlour to name but a few. (We’ve also got a few more big names lined up over the course of this season, so watch this space).

The Gooner offers everything from serious deep dives into first team tactics to warm nostalgia articles — and everything in between connected with our wonderful club – illuminated and illustrated with top quality (fully licenced) photographs and Arsenal art, along with resident cartoonists, caricaturists, and humourists (see the front cover of our 300th issue for example).

We are also proud to cover the Arsenal Women’s side as well as academy teams in every issue, with our must-read expert writers on the women’s game and youth football. 

We also promote new writing and writers – and would happily love as many submissions as possible from new readers. 

We also have letters pages to share our readers’ concerns by giving them a voice. We fought the European Super League. We were also the first Arsenal group to give a voice to fans left frustrated by the e-ticketing fiasco, all by the first Saturday evening of the season.

We also have a Star Subscriber section, where we interview a randomly chosen subscriber to learn more about their wonderful fandom (not to mention sharing weird and wonderful facts about themselves).

And that’s without mentioning our large squad of writers who, as fans, just as you or I would in the pub, share their passionately articulated opinions, and who continue to give up their time and effort for the cause completely free of charge. 

All of which helps us edit, produce, publish, and distribute our 68-page full colour fanzine, which hits the streets six times every season. 

We believe we are an essential part of an Arsenal matchday, even if it’s simply hearing our sellers shout “Getcha Gooner” come rain or shine at every single Arsenal first team game that is played. Along with a large proportion of Arsenal Women and Arsenal Academy matches at U21 and U18 level. 

Quite simply it is the goodwill of so many decent people who give up their time freely to contribute that has allowed us to survive in these challenging times.

Such love like that means the Gooner Fanzine is too special to let die.

Which is why, when you see Gooner Fanzine sellers around Islington and Ashburton Grove on Sunday, before, during and after Arsenal vs United, instead of buying a detestable half and half scarf, why not buy into the genuine fabric of a Gunners matchday that is a fanzine, whether it be the Gooner, Poison Lasagne, Up the Arse or Gunflash – or even all four. 

Or if you support one of the teams listed earlier in this piece, then buy their fanzine. You won’t be disappointed. If you’ve never purchased one before, then you’re buying into something special – even more so in these days of horrendous online vitriol. 

Someone once said fanzines are like a friendly social club that welcomes everyone and that, once you’ve sampled our bonhomie and camaraderie, you’ll never want to leave. 

We quite like that as a description. 

So, we’d absolutely love it if you fancy trying our labours of love for yourselves. 

Buy a fanzine and support independent writing. 

Layth Yousif is editor of The Gooner Fanzine. Buy it in north London on Sunday. Or buy your own club’s fanzine.