When Saturday Comes, 400

Rezension


When Saturday Comes
The Half Decent Football Magazine
Issue 400, August 2020
48 S.








Nach den jahrelangen Unterbrechungen des englischen Ligenbetriebs in den beiden Weltkriegen war der Andrang in die Stadien jeweils gewaltig. Das wird nach der Coronavirus-Unterbrechung nicht so sein, wie Roger Titford in einem Artikel analysiert. “Informed figures such as Tranmere chairman Mark Palios see the financial failure of several League clubs as likely, and the even greater worry is that Covid-19 could take down the 100-year-old four-division structure too. Previous breaks suggest the appetite for live football does not go away, but its reappearance may benefit the less costly, less fragile, more local and more socially distanced spaces of non-League football. The superclubs will always find a way. For those in between, as for many unfortunate people around the world, life support will be required and risks will be taken.”

In einem Special zur Jubiläumsausgabe 400 wird über mehrere langjährige Themen der Zeitschrift resumiert: Fans in den 1980er Jahren, Fußball und Musikkultur, Fernsehen und Fanzines. Eine Rundfrage unter verschiedenen englischen Fanzines über ihre Erfahrungen ist interessant. Spannend ist die Aussage des Y Front von York City: “With the resurgence of a new wave of club fanzines over the last few years, along with very old established titles, the fanzine scene is at its brightest since the heyday of the 1980s.”

Die 400. Ausgabe konnten auch wieder Abonnentinnen und Abonnenten außerhalb der britischen Inseln in Printform erhalten. “We had been forced to suspend them due to the sharp rise in shipping costs caused by fewer flights. Astonishingly, we have not been asked to cancel or refund a single subscription since the suspension, and for that we thank you – your loyalty means a lot to everyone at the magazine.” Es war mir eine Ehre.