Nostalgia of Soccer (Football) Magazines Project-Part 2

In my continuing collaborative series with @1888Letter, I will ask the experiences of Englishman Mr. Andrew Palmer, Editor of Football Masters Magazine.

Name: Andrew Palmer

Twitter: @apwhu122

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.palmer.92317

Personal Description:Just celebrated my 60th birthday and after 30 years involved in Football Publishing (Video)Now publishing Football Masters
a Digital Retro magazine FREE to subscribers,

Websites: https://footballmastersmag.weebly.com/

       https://www.facebook.com/FootballMastersMag/

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: At what age did you become a Football fan and how long after did you start reading Football Magazines?

Response:  I went to my first game aged around 5 (1964) at Cray Wanderers, the ground was a 5 minute walk from my Grandma’s, Approx 3 years later I went to my first professional game to see Charlton Athletic play at the Valley, both with my Dad.
My mum bought me my first magazine in 1969 with the launch of Shoot.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: What was the first Soccer (Football) magazine that you read as a new young fan of the game?

Response:  Shoot in 1969 I was 10

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Were there other local magazines that you also read?

Response: Not really I had moved on from the Beano to Shoot.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Describe the general format of these particular magazines? What was your favorite section(s) of these said magazines?

Response: Because it was weekly it was very current, my favourite section was Focus on:

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Was the coverage of Football mainly local  British or was International Football news covered as well in a meaningful way?

Response: Shoot was 90% British at the time.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: In general on a typical newsstand, how many choices were available for reading Football?

Response: At the time both Charles Buchan Football Monthly and World Soccer were monthly and not really targeted at 10 year olds also a bit more expensive.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Do you remember foreign Football publications at your newsstands as well? If so did you read any?

Response:  World Soccer but at the time only interested in British football.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: I will ask this from everyone, one of my best memories as a young football fan was the anticipation of the day when new issues were available on newsstands. It was a weekly ritual that would stay with me for decades. In your own words, can you explain your memories of these days?

Response: Absolutely, wondering what image would be on the front, and what pictures inside could go up on my wall.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Did you enjoy your magazines for the scores/league tables, etc or did you prefer the writing? Or was there an evolution as when you aged you started to appreciate the deep written analysis more?

Response: I think at the time it was more about the writing and the pictures.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: How has the quality of your favorite magazines changed (for better or worse over the years)?

Response:  I preferred the original versions of most of them, certainly in later years 442.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Looking back what was the best era for your favorite magazines?

Response: 1970’s my teenage years.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: The daily newspapers play a big part in the coverage of the game. Can you compare these daily papers to the weekly/monthly magazines?

Response:  I think today’s newspapers are magnificent for their football coverage.

 Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Has your taste in magazines changed over the years or do you still read your favorite magazines?

Response:  Now I am researching for Football Masters, I am reading loads of World Soccer, Football Monthly, Soccer Star and Shoot and I am really enjoying reminiscing

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Looking back, do you feel these magazines kept you sufficiently informed about the events of the game as a whole?

Response: Yes definitely Shoot for a 10 year old

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Did your interest in reading magazines wane with the advent of Internet and 24 Hour Sports Television channels or are you as interested as ever in reading?

Response:  I will always love my Football.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Are there publications that have since been defunct that you miss?

Response:  Not really as the newspapers offer such great coverage.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Getting back to my earlier question about anticipating the release of magazines. Given that now many receive their magazines on PDF, do you feel that a level of excitement has been lost as a result?

Response: I really hope not as Football Masters is a PDF and people seem to be enjoying reading it.

Soccernostalgia/@1888Letter Question: Once again thank you for taking the time in participating in this project.