Welcome to issue 263 of Red All Over The Land: The Behind The Barricades Issue.
Fanzine update! The plan back in early March was for Issue 263 to be a celebration of Liverpool winning the League for the 19th time but I’ve had to change my plans. The White Suit Issue has been delayed as has the buying of The White Suit.
By the time you read this, football should have restarted. We required a maximum of six points from nine games and if we get them we can relax, get that bottle of something open and finally enjoy the sweet smell of success the best way we can
There will be those who will say our title is tarnished. Some have already said we think winning the league is more important than those who have lost their lives? That’s just spite. There are those who called for the season to be declared null and void; if you’re not too sure who they were, have a glance at the league table. Others have inferred any title should be accompanied by an asterisk. Fair enough so stick one on the Arsenal title of 1989.
The most used word at the start of the lockdown by Government ministers was unprecedented. Usually when they talked about what they were doing to help everyone. It’s a word which sometimes can be seen as a boast [heaven forbid, I’m not saying they were boasting] but the record Liverpool were creating was definitely unprecedented and worth boasting about. So we’ll continue to boast.
Sports fans around the globe have been affected in some way by the Pandemic. So, for this Issue I asked our correspondents from the USA, Australia and Germany for their thoughts on what it has been like where they are and to share those thoughts with us.
The keyboard closet opened when it was announced Liverpool wouldn’t be signing a player they were rumoured to be signing but never actually said they were signing. It was suggested FSG weren’t supporting Jürgen which is stupid [being polite]. We need to wait and see what happens when what they are describing as the new normal finally arrives. In football I doubt it will be anything close to the old normal.
What about Red All Over The Land? Well for the foreseeable future it will continue. Obviously not being able to sell on match day is a problem but we have subscribers and I’m finding other ways to sell the Fanzine and therefore keep it going. I want to be able to continue supporting @SFoodbanks and to date we’ve raised £300. Every subscription and sale sends money into the Foodbank pot and if we do get some level of normality back into our football life Red All Over The Land will continue to support them. So I thank all subscribers and those who have bought a copy for helping us help @SFoodbanks. Twitter has helped, Facebook far less and a word of thanks to TAW and The Ragamuffins [The Fan Park Band] and those from ‘My First Game’ for their support. We could do with a mention in the local media but they don’t seem to be aware of us. So, if anyone can knock on a door or two it could help.
Finally I hope everyone who reads this Fanzine is coping with the current situation. We Never Walk Alone. Now over to Jürgen and the boys to bring us some joy.
JJP Social distancing has never been a problem for me, people have always given me a wide berth.