A collection of zines charting decades of the cheers, tears and triumphs experienced by football fans is being gathered together for a new exhibition in Leeds.
Librarians at Leeds Central Library are calling on supporters across the region to raid their collections at home and submit some of their favourite zines, which could be displayed in Voice of the Fans when it opens at the library in May.
The show will include copies of the popular Leeds United fanzine The Square Ball, featuring Elland Road idols including Gordon Strachan and Lucas Radebe, Marching Altogether, founded by Leeds fans to campaign against racism and fascism in football and Bradford City’s City Gent – the longest running football zine in the country.
Exploring the huge and varied impact grassroots self-publishing has had on football fan culture, the exhibition, which is co-produced with British Library, will trace the birth of zines in the 1970s, right through to modern, multimedia content.
The exhibition will also feature influential publications from the British Library’s collection including Foul, The End and other Yorkshire zines such as Flashing Blade and Mi Whippet’s Dead.
Ahead of the exhibition opening, staff at Leeds Central Library have been poring through their already extensive collection, picking out some of the best examples of imagination, ingenuity and humour among the pages of countless zines created by fans over the past 50 years.
This includes a copy of the first ever edition of When Saturday Comes, published in March 1986 with a cover price of 20p. It was originally published bi-monthly and distributed entirely by fans, soon becoming popular and sold in newsagents around the UK.
Fanzines donated to Leeds Central Library will help to enhance Leeds Libraries current zine collection and may also feature in the reading area of the exhibition. The library is specifically looking for donations of Leeds and Yorkshire fanzines, particularly from non-league clubs. They’d also be keen to hear from anyone involved in producing Leeds United fanzines The Hanging Sheep and Till the World Stops.
Antony Ramm, librarian at Leeds Central Library, is one of the curators who has been collating the display:
Football fans are well known for their incredible passion for the game, and zines have played such a central role in supporters being able to make their voices heard in a totally independent and authentic way.
They’ve also been a huge part of holding clubs to account as well as being at the forefront of exploring some of the important cultural issues which have affected both players and fans.
Above all, zines really capture the unique spirit, enthusiasm and humour that’s at the heart of being a football fan, and that’s probably why they have been so enduringly popular.
We’d love for fans to have a look through their collections and support the exhibition so we can try and build a full picture of this amazing zine culture which has powered football fandom in Yorkshire for decades.
Voice of the Fans will open at Leeds Central Library on May 9, 2025 and will explore the influence and impact of grassroots self-publishing in football, trace its development from the 1970s through to the contemporary digital age, and shine a light on the role of libraries in preserving these histories.
Kenn Taylor, Lead Culture Producer North at the British Library, said:
We are thrilled to be co-producing Voice of the Fans with Leeds Libraries. This special exhibition will feature a number of loans from the British Library’s collection of zines, some of which are housed at the British Library’s site in Boston Spa, near Wetherby, which includes media created by football fans from the 1970s onwards.
Our collaboration with Leeds Libraries is part of the British Library’s wider commitment to the region, working closely with the local community in Leeds and opening up our collection for everyone.
Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said:
Football fan culture is a massive aspect of life in Leeds and Yorkshire, and that passion and enthusiasm for sport is part of our cultural heritage.
“It’s wonderful to see so many examples of the ways supporters have made their voices heard coming together in what will be an amazing celebration of creativity and love of the beautiful game.
