The BA Hons Sports Journalism course at the University of East London and When Saturday Comes football magazine have come together to establish an unprecedented and invaluable archive of original football fanzines.
The collection, built up by WSC since it was first published in 1986, has been generously donated to the University of East London, and will be held permanently in UEL’s Library archives at its Docklands campus. The collection features hundreds of fanzines covering a wide range of British clubs, and provides a fascinating insight into the evolution of supporter-led publishing through some of the most eventful years in the sport’s history.
WSC’s editor Andy Lyons said: “We were happy to hand over our fanzine collection to UEL and hope that it will prove to be a useful source of information for the next generation of sports journalists”.
‘Hugely influential’
Sports Journalism Joint-course leaders Dekan Apajee and Adam Powley welcomed the donation, saying: ‘We are delighted to host the WSC fanzine collection. The magazine has been at the forefront of supporter-focused writing for over four decades, and has been hugely influential in shaping the modern football media and setting agendas across a wide range of issues.
“The fanzines also represent that tradition, articulating the views of informed supporters via original, forthright, and adventurous publishing. As a historical archive the collection will be a priceless source of information for our students and an outstanding research resource.”
UEL’s Head Of Content And Digital Environments, Krishna Roy-Chowdhury, and Archivist Paul Dudman added:
“We are pleased to welcome the WSC zine collection to the UEL Archives. This represents an important addition to our collections and will help support engagement with UEL teaching in Sports Journalism and across academic disciplines.
“The addition of this collection reflects the commitment of UEL Archives in supporting student success through access to relevant and accessible archival resources. In addition to the WSC fanzines, the UEL Archives also hold the British Olympic Association Archive and Library.”
Further details on the Library’s collections: https://www.uel.ac.uk/student-life/library/library-archive
