Description
Inspired by the British Library’s Voice of the Fans exhibition and pop-up display in the Festival Hub, this panel discussion celebrates and explores the extraordinary history of football fanzines.
For more than 60 years, fan-made magazines have given supporters a voice beyond the mainstream, shaping the culture of the game through wit, passion and activism. From the terraces to the printers, these publications challenged authority, championed inclusion and amplified campaigns against racism, sexism and homophobia.
This conversation brings together leading editors and writers to discuss how fanzines transformed football, the communities they built and their lasting influence on today’s digital fan culture.
Co-produced by the British Library.
About the Speaker
Mike Harrison
Mike Harrison first became involved with Bradford City fanzine The City Gent in 1987, becoming editor in 2004. Harrison has now completed his 22nd season at the helm and has appeared numerous times on television and radio. During Bradford 2025, Harrison exhibited enlarged fanzine covers and contributed to the Voice of the Fans exhibition. This is Harrison‘s second appearance at Bradford Literature Festival.
About the Author
Ryan March
Ryan March is the founder and editor of Alternative Wales, an independent platform dedicated to Welsh football culture. Through writing, audio, video, and print, Alternative Wales digs into the moments others overlook: the away trips, the cult heroes, the rugged pitches, the music, the humour, and the beautifully chaotic heartbeat of Welsh football. With a background rooted in grassroots football culture and long-form storytelling, Ryan created Alternative Wales as a space for people who care deeply about Welsh football and everything surrounding it. Alongside his friends and colleagues Greg Caine and Charlie Phillips, Ryan has helped the platform become a home for thoughtful, creative, and authentic Welsh football content, celebrating the clubs, characters, and moments that often slip through the cracks.
About the Artist
Zoë Hitchen
Zoë Hitchen is a photographer, creative director and cultural producer who co-creates GIRLFANS with founder Jacqui McAssey. GIRLFANS, established in 2013, is a cult football fanzine using ethnographic photography, writing and artwork to document and celebrate the lived experiences of women, girls and non-binary fans who go to the match.
Rooted in DIY publishing, grassroots football culture and inclusive design, GIRLFANS continues the tradition of football fanzines as spaces for fan voice, community and resistance. Its most recent edition, GIRLFANS England, has been shortlisted for The Football Art Prize 2026, recognising its contribution to contemporary football culture.
About the Academic
Cameron Huggett
Cameron Huggett is an AHRC-funded doctoral researcher working with the British Library and Teesside University. Huggett’s research examines the history of racial discourses in football fanzines and e-zines from 1975 to the present whilst also contributing to the Norwich City fanzine Along Come Norwich. Huggett’s wider interests include working-class leisure, music, sport, and the connections between people and place in nineteenth and twentieth-century Britain and Ireland.
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