Bobbing Along Issue 1 March 1989. 40p (cheap)

Bobbing Along Issue 1.

This is the story of 'Bobbing Along',  a magazine I produced about Cardiff City from 1989 to 1993. Fanzines were all the rage at the time and within about a week of producing mine, Cardiff  City had another three 'fanzines' on sale, all of which were good in their own way.

I never liked the title, which was decided at the last minute, and is something of a tribute to the Disney film 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' which I never liked, either. This  reference was never mentioned anywhere, and set the tone for the magazine which was  at times gleefully obscure.

The primary aim of this page is to preserve these editions. But it's also to explain a bit about why it was written and how it was produced. You should be able to click on the pages and read them. It's also something of a 'Redux' as I have been able to remaster the pages from the original page mock-ups, clean up the images and get a better resolution on the pictures.

I will also discuss the personalities, people and players of the time.  Where necessary, I will be merciless.

Hold the Front Page (over a lit match)



The Front Page - an awful collage done with letraset and pen at the last minute of a needlessly self-imposed deadline.  This was before the days of cut and paste. Instead, I had to cut and paste this together from whatever materials were at hand. Letraset was expensive.

Enclosed within are some thoughts on Cardiff City fight against relegation during the 1988-89 season. Back then, the only place you could read about the City was in the South Wales' Echo or the match programme, neither of which really reflected the joys of supporting City.

The Echo seemed scared to alienate the Chairman or supporters by actually holding an opinion stronger than, 'that 3-0 defeat at Hartlepool was a bad result in anyone's book.'  They never mentioned the fans unless it was to report court appearances.

The match programme, given City's long run without success,  was unjustifiably upbeat.  (I do not consider the promotion from Division 4 the previous season as success, it was more like the start of a recovery. Like a recovery from leprosy.)  And if they did feature supporters in the match programme at all, they were treated like they were on a 'Dying Wish' charity outing.

We could say what we wanted. We were fearless - our names and addresses weren't on it.

If you want to read more Bobbing Along Issue 1 and read a detailed commentary of the life and times of Cardiff City, it's here!.

Available from Amazon Kindle

Bobbing Along Issue 1

Bobbing Along Issue 1 Commentary

Bobbing Along Issue 2

Bobbing Along Issue 2 Commentary

Bobbing Along. Issue 3. May 1989

Bobbing Along. Issue 4. August 1989



Bobbing Along Issue 2. April 1989 (still 40p, still cheap)

 Bobbing Along Issue 2



The front cover

Undeterred by overwhelming public apathy, work on Issue 2 began almost immediately. Sales of issue 1 were encouraging. I wasn't exactly thinking of giving up my day job but had I had a paper round I might have given that up. It cost more to produce than I was charging. This was before the days of cheap printers from Currys and letraset wasn't cheap, either (or is that either?).

This time more voices were heard as a steady flow of additional contributors (two) came forward to help out.  This allowed the number of pages to increase from 10 to 12. Even so, the last two pages were something of a stretch to produce and not particularly good.

In a recession busting deal, the cover price remained at 40p.

In hindsight there was probably no good reason to rush out an issue so quickly other than the pleasure in writing and producing it. Selling the mag was a pain.  Had I known then about the internet I would have sat on it for twenty years as copies of Issue 1 are rumoured to fetch anything up to 45p on eBay.



Bobbing Along. Issue 3. May 1989.40p (cheap)

Bobbing Along. Issue 3. May 1989.40p (cheap)

Issue 3 and I still couldn't glue my paragraphs in straight. I have an astigmatism in the eye and can't play darts or snooker or cut wallpaper straight either.

This was always one of my favourite editions although I can now see its many flaws. Despite being a 'monthly' publication, there's an element of repetition starting to creep in. Indeed, there was a list of people and organisations that we felt duty bound to be rude about in every issue.

City Chairman, Tony Clemo, gets off quite lightly here (I bet he was relieved). Alun Evuns, head of the FAW at the time, didn't. In retrospect, it's all a little unfair.

This cover features the debut of the 'Bobbing Along Banner.' Note the black box denoting the cover price. This was a nice bit of future proofing as price increases could be slipped in without drawing attention to themselves.

No-one has ever asked me what the influences of 'Bobbing Along' were so I will tell you. It owes a debt to Woody Allen, Douglas Adams, George Orwell, Spinal tap, The Goodies File, Foul! magazine, The Rothman's Football Yearbook (indespensible) and Cardiff City - in that order.

Please forgive the occasional misspelt word in the magazine as there was no such thing as a spellchucker in those days. 

Tony Hancock, featured on the 're-vamped' cover, is a personal favourite. If you think that Hancock has nothing to do with football then Click Here.

There's also a piece on the press' reaction to the Hillbrough disaster of April 15th, 1989.

If you want to read more Bobbing Along Issue 3 and read a detailed commentary of the life and times of Cardiff City, find it here

Available from Amazon Kindle

Bobbing Along Issue 1

Bobbing Along Issue 1 Commentary

Bobbing Along Issue 2

Bobbing Along Issue 2 Commentary

Bobbing Along. Issue 3. May 1989

Bobbing Along. Issue 4. August 1989

Bobbing Along Issue 4. August 1989 50p (Hey!)

Bobbing Along Issue 4.  August 1989 50p (Hey!)

Yes, there was a 20% increase in the cover price which I fully expected to be punched over (but wasn't). The original price of 40p was stupid as it meant fiddling about with small change. Selling a fanzine was a quick 'walk by' transaction. The longer you took giving out change the more passing trade you missed. So the price rise benefitted consumers. No-one likes a queue, afterall.

The 1988/89 season ended with a collective shrug of the shoulders.  Manager, Frank Burrows spent the entire closed season seemingly on the brink of leaving (hence the cover strapline). It was rumoured that he fell out with Chairman, Tony Clemo, over money. This is not true. Both men were in total agreement on the subject. There wasn't any.

The 1989/90 season saw City relegated. Frank Burrows and star striker, Jimmy Gilligan both moved on to Portsmouth after only a few weeks. Even with them, early season form was wretched.

Len Ashurst was appointed as manager in a blaze of self publicity (it made the South Wales Echo).  Ashurst was roundly considered a spent force as a manager by everyone but Chairman, Tony Clemo, who announced the appointment as something of a coup to a press conference that audibly groaned at the news.

Ashurst hadn't managed in the Football League for 4 years after relegating Sunderland in 1985.   He proclaimed, however, that he had the 'Midas touch' as if this purely imagined gift in itself would get promotion. He was wrong. Anyway, if he really knew his Greek mythology he would have known that the 'Midas touch' is a curse, as was Ashurst.

This could have been a classic edition of the magazine. But it is rather rambling in places and would have benefitted from clearer thinking in its writing and, dare I say it, stronger editing . Less is more, afterall.

This is all too clear in the article called 'Wales: A Suitable Case For Special Treatment?'  This article contains a degree of effort and research that I can scarcely believe I undertook but it holds on to its 'point' by its finger nails. What was I aiming for? Impassioned amateurism or some level of professionalism? In the end, neither was achieved and I can't decide if this is good writing.

The cover illustration is from the film, 'The Ladykillers'. This continues the theme of fond nostalgia for British comedy of the 1950s and 1960s. Coincidentally, the period (from a 1989 perspective) in which City were last good.

If you want to read more Bobbing Along Issue 4 and read a detailed commentary of the life and times of Cardiff City, find Issue 4 here.

Available from Amazon Kindle

Bobbing Along Issue 1

Bobbing Along Issue 1 Commentary

Bobbing Along Issue 2

Bobbing Along Issue 2 Commentary

Bobbing Along. Issue 3. May 1989

Bobbing Along. Issue 4. August 1989