The Fox Fanzine

[Mike the Metal Ed]

1 hour ago, Leicesterpool said:

I remember there was good cartoon inside of a Leicester fan trying to get tickets for the away trip to Southend during the league one promotion season. Being told the tickets were sold out and having to sit with the home fans, during the half time he ends up beating up the Southend mascot and stealing his costume and sneaking into the away end that way. 

Oh yeah that'd be Fanatical Frank. I think those comics have gone downhill over the years compared to Thirty/Forty/Fiftysomething, but I remember that one well now.

[TrickyTrev Benjamin]

Quite sad tbf, use to look forward to the new issue every month. Fanatical frank was amazing and part time Pete. Remember the one when he tricked him into going Millwall and Pete wanted to stay in the car and it got smashed up. Use to post a lot on the old fox fanzine board back in the day. Different era of supporting Leicester and a better one in my opinion. Football was so much better. 

[worth_the_wait]

For those brought up in the age of messageboards and social media, it might be difficult to understand just how important fanzines were, when they first appeared in the late 1980's.
 
But they really were brilliant ... an independent fan-based take on what was going on, rather than the existing official media outlets.   Which were ok as far as they went (official club propaganda, local radio/newspaper, national TV), but gave fans no real voice.
 
Fanzines exploded onto the scene, and were just so different to anything we'd had before.   Some of them were fairly short-lived, especially the ones catering more for conspiracy theories or just filled with bizare rantings.   Ones such as "Where's the money gone?" were amusing but totally irreverent and didn't last too long.  As was another superbly-named "For fox sake".
 
But "The Fox" was a great fanzine, which is why it lasted so long.   An independent, but sensible fan-based approach, professionally produced and with a perfect mix of match reports, cartoons, comedy, serious stuff, interviews with ex players, etc etc.   That's why it lasted in print for 35 years.
 
The trouble is, the world moves on, and most print-based fanzines have had their time.  Sad, but it's how it is.    
 
I'll miss The Fox.   As has already been said, for many of us it's been an LCFC-supporting companion for 35 years.   And the long-running "40/50 something" cartoons reflected many of our lives at the time.  Absolutely classic.

 

But I'll leave you with the best editorial I have ever read, and one that never fails to make me smile.    It appeared in the The Fox Summer Special 2016, and I unashamedly quote it in full ...
 
 
"Well bless my soul, Leicester City only went and won the bloody Premier League..
 
We've had three months to get our heads around it, but to be honest I am still really struggling to absorb the implausible, surreal, wonderful events of 2015-16.  After 132 years of mostly very modest plodding along, City finally managed to finish at the summit of the Engish game and, in doing so, created the biggest upset ever - not only in football, but in the whole world of sport.
 
A team that had spent 140 days at the bottom of the Premier League the previous season followed up with a top place finish ten points clear of the field, and in doing so erased and rewrote what was thought to be possible in the game.  They didn't so much tear up the rulebook as reinvent the Laws of Football Physics.
 
If it had happened to Stoke or Crystal Palace, I would have rejoiced in it.  Fot it to actually happen to our club is almost too good.  It is no exaggeration to say that it has altered my perception of live itself, as well as vindicating my unstinting 42 years of support of what often seemed like a lost cause.  I'm actually glad now that trips to Hull and Middlesbrough, Swindon and Oldham, and all the rest, were as awful as they were, because they have only served to make this moment sweeter.
 
The humiliating heavy defeats far from home, the soakings on roofless terraces, the painful near-misses, the physical violence, heavy-handed policing, being ripped off for ticket prices and Coventry City winning the FA Cup... all these things are now wiped out.
 
In turn, this achievement also serves to guard against future disappointments, as they will inevitably come.  Whatever happens to City from now, the upset will be reduced by the fact that you can shrug your shoulders and say, 'yes, but we won the Premier League'.  Everything that happens will be placed against that back-drop - we have all achieved an ambition so wildly unlikely that it wasn't even really an ambition in the first place.
 
My generation of City fans have banged on about the Weller, Worthington, Shilton, Whitworth, Glover sdie for decades; just imagine how long today's young fans will be talking about a side that actually won something!
 
I don't plan to have any more kids, but if there is a terrible accident then I solemnly promise that they will be called Claudio Kasper Danny Christian Wes Robert Danny N'Golo Andy Riyad Marc Jamie Shinji Leonardo Jeffrey Demarai Marcin Daniel Ritchie Nathan Gok Silke... even if it is a girl.

 

[Spudulike]

Just reading the splendid The Fox Annual no. 1.

 

I'd entirely forgotten that Howard Wilkinson once managed us (albeit only a short while) and, far more alarming, was the club had replaced the Post Horn Gallop with House of Pain's Jump around for the first match at the Walkers Stadium. Really?! I don't remember that and would've been outraged even now had I known (I was there so must have missed it). 

[Foxdiamond]

2 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Just reading the splendid The Fox Annual no. 1.

 

I'd entirely forgotten that Howard Wilkinson once managed us (albeit only a short while) and, far more alarming, was the club had replaced the Post Horn Gallop with House of Pain's Jump around for the first match at the Walkers Stadium. Really?! I don't remember that and would've been outraged even now had I known (I was there so must have missed it). 

I too had forgotten about H Wilkinson. Great to have the new annual

[westernpark]

5 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Just reading the splendid The Fox Annual no. 1.

 

I'd entirely forgotten that Howard Wilkinson once managed us (albeit only a short while) and, far more alarming, was the club had replaced the Post Horn Gallop with House of Pain's Jump around for the first match at the Walkers Stadium. Really?! I don't remember that and would've been outraged even now had I known (I was there so must have missed it). 

Just had a Google, Fox Annual added to Christmas list, thanks for that.

[Footballwipe]

On 30/05/2022 at 07:54, worth_the_wait said:

For those brought up in the age of messageboards and social media, it might be difficult to understand just how important fanzines were, when they first appeared in the late 1980's.
 
But they really were brilliant ... an independent fan-based take on what was going on, rather than the existing official media outlets.   Which were ok as far as they went (official club propaganda, local radio/newspaper, national TV), but gave fans no real voice.
 
Fanzines exploded onto the scene, and were just so different to anything we'd had before.   Some of them were fairly short-lived, especially the ones catering more for conspiracy theories or just filled with bizare rantings.   Ones such as "Where's the money gone?" were amusing but totally irreverent and didn't last too long.  As was another superbly-named "For fox sake".
 
But "The Fox" was a great fanzine, which is why it lasted so long.   An independent, but sensible fan-based approach, professionally produced and with a perfect mix of match reports, cartoons, comedy, serious stuff, interviews with ex players, etc etc.   That's why it lasted in print for 35 years.

 

Spud's bump has reminded me about the end of the Fox. Something which I bought from about 14 years old until my dad passed away ten years ago. I even bought some back issues when I started buying them and got even more along with the 20 issues of Where's the Money Gone as mentioned on page one.

 

Thing about these is that they are exceptional historical sources. There is a level of subtle detail in there that we cannot even begin to fully appreciate. From the small details in the match reports (like the walk to the ground, the away end), to the attitudes of the time (specifically WTMG and how utterly politically incorrect they were ) as well as fan's views of the club, wider football and other issues. (everything from fan culture, merch/catering and how the club was being run) There is absolutely no way we could get this from the club programme or even first-hand interviews if they were conducted now. Not only are they an entertaining read, they are an invaluable time capsule for Leicester City Football Club that spanned so many huge moments and that's why we should really appreciate them for what they are.

 

I haven't collected one for ten years now I admit, but as someone who missed the 90's through age they are an incredible way to digest that decade. Really enjoy picking out a random one from time to time and looking through.

[when_you're_smiling]

25 minutes ago, Spudulike said:

Just reading the splendid The Fox Annual no. 1.

 

I'd entirely forgotten that Howard Wilkinson once managed us (albeit only a short while) and, far more alarming, was the club had replaced the Post Horn Gallop with House of Pain's Jump around for the first match at the Walkers Stadium. Really?! I don't remember that and would've been outraged even now had I known (I was there so must have missed it). 

From what I remember, the trumpet player (I have no idea what the correct term is) sat in the West stand and played it himself from his seat just before the players came out, until he was eventually reinstated back on the pitch not that long after.

[SemperEadem]

17 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

Spud's bump has reminded me about the end of the Fox. Something which I bought from about 14 years old until my dad passed away ten years ago. I even bought some back issues when I started buying them and got even more along with the 20 issues of Where's the Money Gone as mentioned on page one.

 

Thing about these is that they are exceptional historical sources. There is a level of subtle detail in there that we cannot even begin to fully appreciate. From the small details in the match reports (like the walk to the ground, the away end), to the attitudes of the time (specifically WTMG and how utterly politically incorrect they were ) as well as fan's views of the club, wider football and other issues. (everything from fan culture, merch/catering and how the club was being run) There is absolutely no way we could get this from the club programme or even first-hand interviews if they were conducted now. Not only are they an entertaining read, they are an invaluable time capsule for Leicester City Football Club that spanned so many huge moments and that's why we should really appreciate them for what they are.

 

I haven't collected one for ten years now I admit, but as someone who missed the 90's through age they are an incredible way to digest that decade. Really enjoy picking out a random one from time to time and looking through.

Great post.

The attitude of holding the club to account on certain issues has certainly dwindled.

[On our way...]

On 28/05/2022 at 22:45, FLAN said:

Wasn’t it the same guys who made up the postcards for Madrid to send to McGhee ?

[On our way...]

2 minutes ago, On our way... said:

[SkidsFox]

Quote

In turn, this achievement also serves to guard against future disappointments, as they will inevitably come.  Whatever happens to City from now, the upset will be reduced by the fact that you can shrug your shoulders and say, 'yes, but we won the Premier League'.  Everything that happens will be placed against that back-drop - we have all achieved an ambition so wildly unlikely that it wasn't even really an ambition in the first place.

What a great quote!

[Harboro]

Haven’t seen it mentioned here and sure some of you will receive it for Christmas but the new annual from the fox is out!
 

https://www.conkereditions.co.uk/product/the-fox-annual-no3/