Old FF magazine

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NYC Davie

Well-Known Member
Morning all FFers. I’ve been down in England for over 30 years now and was thinking recently about the old magazine. I always used to get one on my trips back up to Ibrox (along with No.1 and the Historian although the latter was a wee bit more sporadic but phenomenal on the old times). Later on I subscribed to FF and got it down here by post.

Anyway, got thinking about some of the posters (brilliantly choreographed by the Grandmaster and BTW Mark, you deserve a medal for all you’ve done for the support over the years). We had The Major, Little Boy Blue, the guy from Essex and many others, particularly The Gub, who was phenomenal and who had Mr Murray’s number a long long time before the rest of us! I also loved The Dowanhill Hack. This mystery man had some impressive inside knowledge of our enemies.

A wee trip down Memory Lane for me, happy, happy times which thankfully look as if they’re now back. Any other contributors with reminiscences?
 
Some of the cartoons were amazing

I remember after Van Vossen had that miss at Parkhead there was one where he was holding a banjo approaching a cow and the caption said "Peter had nothing against the beast, but felt he had a point to prove"

Another belter was make yourself look like your hero. Put a claw hammer up your nostrils and in one move wrench out brain and skull completely. Hey presto! Tony Mowbray!
 
Dowanhill Hack - was this David Leggat? Dig my fanzine collection out from time to time and FF/N1 always a good read. On the mention of the cartoons, one that always cracks me up is a profile of McStay as a player but with wooden legs and castors.
 
The best way to keep up to date in the pre-internet era, especially as I was living abroad at the time. I wonder where all those characters have gone... Surely the Major must be a General by now...?
 
I got a lot of the posters framed...the prince of Denmark, Cup final day....brilliant
 
First thing i would do getting off the bus as a youngster was purchase FF. Have a quick flick through walking to the stadium, just to whet the appetite for the bus and ferry journey home.
The contributions by Suck, The Gub, The Major. Tha Dowanhill Hack to name a few were tremendous reading.
The one cartoon I remember was about the time of the signing of MoJo and a woman had 4 weans in front of her and she called them "Eenie, Meenie, Minie and....Tam"
Great memories
 
Does anyone remember the cartoon of the St Mirren board of directors sacking Tony Fitzpatrick and saying I wonder what Tony will do with himself now. Then next picture had him walking down the street carrying his season ticket for parkhead
 
I have a load of them still .Recently sent 2 to kent bear to frame for his blue room .
Fair to say some of the authors had the minty one called out a long time before any probs arose over our finances .
A weeks reading on a return from the game when there was no internet to keep us informed .
 
Major used to Drink in the District till lockdown
Gub posts on here but not seen him in ages
LBB passed away I'm sure, sat with him at a dinner and his knowledge was unreal
Red hand of Ulbster sadly passed away a good 15 years ago

I posted a few times under Oslo bear, think I was working in Copenhagen at the time B-)

whatever happened to that Grandmaster Suck fellow?
 
I bought the first edition whilst waiting in the queue at Douglas Park in August 1988, the graceful Mark Walters on the cover. I think I've got every issue, plus the mini leaflet versions, Hello, Hello, which were the kind of emergency issues.

Anyone remember what the number of the final paper issue was?
 
I stood outside Ibrox for 20 plus years selling the FF fanzine and have some great memories from it. Met a lot of good people through it too.
It was always a great barometer for me to judge the mood of the support. Every person seemed to stop and buy one when things were going great. Standing in the pissing rain selling eff all in darker times.
Thinking of that now, I would love to be standing at the corner of Copland Road and Edmiston Drive and seeing the sheer delight in all the Bears faces as they passed by just now.
 
big_hec said:
Major used to Drink in the District till lockdown
Gub posts on here but not seen him in ages
LBB passed away I'm sure, sat with him at a dinner and his knowledge was unreal
Red hand of Ulbster sadly passed away a good 15 years ago

I posted a few times under Oslo bear, think I was working in Copenhagen at the time B-)

whatever happened to that Grandmaster Suck fellow?
Click to expand...
I was in the District lounge one sat after the game ,zines hanging out of my pocket and an old guy asks if i enjoyed the match and then gets onto the zines and who i enjoyed reading .Straight out with the Major and he sticks his hand out and says thats me son . :)) Pleasure to have met him and got a yarn and put a face to the scribblings in the zine .Great memories
 
Khal Drogo said:
Some of the cartoons were amazing

I remember after Van Vossen had that miss at Parkhead there was one where he was holding a banjo approaching a cow and the caption said "Peter had nothing against the beast, but felt he had a point to prove"

Another belter was make yourself look like your hero. Put a claw hammer up your nostrils and in one move wrench out brain and skull completely. Hey presto! Tony Mowbray!
Click to expand...
This is the one that I always remember. The @orjan cartoons were fantastic.

I must have about 10 years worth of old FF in my mum's attic back home. Would be worth digging them out for those cartoons alone.
 
NYC Davie said:
Morning all FFers. I’ve been down in England for over 30 years now and was thinking recently about the old magazine. I always used to get one on my trips back up to Ibrox (along with No.1 and the Historian although the latter was a wee bit more sporadic but phenomenal on the old times). Later on I subscribed to FF and got it down here by post.

Anyway, got thinking about some of the posters (brilliantly choreographed by the Grandmaster and BTW Mark, you deserve a medal for all you’ve done for the support over the years). We had The Major, Little Boy Blue, the guy from Essex and many others, particularly The Gub, who was phenomenal and who had Mr Murray’s number a long long time before the rest of us! I also loved The Dowanhill Hack. This mystery man had some impressive inside knowledge of our enemies.

A wee trip down Memory Lane for me, happy, happy times which thankfully look as if they’re now back. Any other contributors with reminiscences?
Click to expand...
These are exactly the ones I used to buy at Ibrox, plus a programme. Loved reading them, particularly the Historian. Still got plenty stashed away somewhere.
More recently, WATP magazine arrived, did a feature on oor Rangers Club in Thringstone, is that publication still about?
Btw, my family came down here in 1966, so will be 55 years this summer. Poetic, no?
(Also, plenty others came down before us, some as early as 1961. The story of our Rangers Club & wee Scottish enclave is a cracker)
 
I used to buy it back in the days when you could poke fun at ourselves and others clubs without people going Tonto about everything. How time's have changed.
 
That parkhead flag day poster from roughly 1993 was a thing of beauty, absolutely brilliant.

Great days.
 
I was so disorganized with my subscription that I would rarely send the cheque before the first issue of the season.
Mark would always send it with a reminder anyway.

Thanks Mark.

Saw a post by Bilkobear recently. Sure he had a lot of good stuff.

Favourite was the Downhill Hack and the Dirty Orange Barmaid.
 
I'd love Mark to publish a best of/compendium.

I know everything was of it's day and time stamped but surely there would be demand?
 
Still got the very first edition somewhere. Loved the fanzines, even bought the odd one for other clubs like Millwall, Bradford from the Program shop in Glasgow city centre.
 
would love to get hold of a flag day poster I messaged Mark a while back to see if any had survived but unfortunately not!
 
Steve Snedden said:
I'd love Mark to publish a best of/compendium.

I know everything was of it's day and time stamped but surely there would be demand?
Click to expand...

That is a fantastic idea. If someone wanted to take on the task, we could do a Kickstarter or presale to make sure that the costs are covered before printing. I would 100% buy one.

I always went into the stadium with a mild sense of disappointment if I thought there was going to be a new issue and there wasn't one on sale outside the ground. As soon as I bought it I folded it lengthwise down the middle, put in my inside jacket pocket in the winter, and in the back pocket of my jeans in the summer.

Read the cartoons and the short articles in my seat before the game and at HT, and the columnists and long articles on the lavvy over the next couple of days.
 
Khal Drogo said:
Some of the cartoons were amazing

I remember after Van Vossen had that miss at Parkhead there was one where he was holding a banjo approaching a cow and the caption said "Peter had nothing against the beast, but felt he had a point to prove"

Another belter was make yourself look like your hero. Put a claw hammer up your nostrils and in one move wrench out brain and skull completely. Hey presto! Tony Mowbray!
Click to expand...
Some of the cartoons were incredible (including the How Much For the Donkey nativity scene and Parkhead Chimney Christmas card pack) and I was proud to get a couple of cartoons published in the fanzine myself.

But nothing could touch the "Although he had nothing against the beast . . . " Van Vossen cartoon. Head and shoulders above anything else that was ever published. Perfection.
 
When I croak it my kids have got a loft full of Rangers fanzines and programmes to sort through. Occasionally have a look when I’m up there some good memories.
 
This thread has reminded me I have my collection from back in the day with a few true blue fanzines ,aye ready fanzines & the blues brothers which l have been meaning to put on eBay or Gumtree as taking up space. Was hoping to sell at a car boot as a job lot but Covid put paid to that! Was working the day of memorabelia was being sold in the Louden
 
I reckon the first time I bought FF would be around 1993.

I was twenty, had lived in England for over a decade and much as I enjoyed reading, it felt like a guilty pleasure as it seemed a little "right-wing" and sectarian for my "right on" studentviews.

Fast forward 27 years and I find the FF lounge full of dangerously ignorant lefties and I am far from convinced by our "Everyone, Anyone" campaign.

:)):)):)):))
 
I'm sure there was another contributor Rantin' Robert who was also a good read. For cartoons in FF, I used to enjoy Strangers on Rangers.
 
Khal Drogo said:
Some of the cartoons were amazing

I remember after Van Vossen had that miss at Parkhead there was one where he was holding a banjo approaching a cow and the caption said "Peter had nothing against the beast, but felt he had a point to prove"

Another belter was make yourself look like your hero. Put a claw hammer up your nostrils and in one move wrench out brain and skull completely. Hey presto! Tony Mowbray!
Click to expand...
Remember both those.
Might still have the copies in the loft.
 
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I think the first issue I bought was issue 5, bought everyone after that, even wrote a few articles for it when I got older.

Was always a great read on the bus back after the game or at half time, lot of information & history (& not just on Rangers) that just wouldn’t get anywhere else

The contributors meetings in Annie Millers were also a fantastic learning experience / meeting place, really the starting point for looking towards greater power & voice for the fans, the RST & thoughts of fan ownership.

I said on another thread recently but I recommend to everyone the heart & hand podcasts on the history of Follow Follow (was split into two different pods one on the print copy & the online)

just shows what has came out of that now that both H&H and FF have Rangers media credentials and you have club 1872 with such a large shareholding, people genuinely don’t think it’s pie in the Sky about looking at fan ownership / getting to that 25% share mark

No question FF has been hugely important these last 30 odd years to Rangers and the support, so many good things have originated or been spread through the magazine / forum. Long may it continue.

I take my hat off to Grandmaster Suck, he started the ball rolling, produced the outlet to give fans a say, and he’s taken a lot of flack for it over the years & I’m sure not always been easy at numerous points, massive credit to him.
 
I absolutely loved the old FF magazines, I indeed purchased the t-shirt of Mo Johnston scoring the last minute winner against the great unwashed or Yahoos as they were affectionately known as by ourselves!!
I used to contribute under the name of ‘Doctor Roger’
I have a few back copies if anyone is interested in them?
 
Used to get mine from the wee guy who would come into The Hayburn in Partick selling them.

I was always amazed that no matter how pished I got after the games, I always still had the fanzine on me when I got home. :)
 
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