''Red Issue'' was a
fanzine aimed at
Manchester United supporters. The fanzine was published monthly during the domestic football season since February 1989. The content of the fanzine was
satirical, featuring jokes at the expense of Manchester United's own players in addition to their rival clubs.
Launch
The fanzine was launched at the end of the 1980s. At the time of the launch,
Alex Ferguson had failed to deliver any silverware as team manager and the club were still in a run that would eventually last 26 years without winning England's top division league title. Other United fanzines, ''
Red News'' (the first United fanzine) and ''United We Stand'', were launched during the same late 1980s era, and remain in circulation. ''Red Issue'' remained the best-selling matchday fanzine at Old Trafford stadium from its launch until its closure.
Issue regulars
The fanzine contained several regular contributions, starting with the editorial comments inside the front cover reflecting on recent United performances and news.
Other regular features were:
*The Word on the Street (known as Backbeat from 1995–2005): Snippets of gossip regarding United, the club's players, transfer rumours and the like. Collected by 'Woodward and Bernstein' via emails from private sources amongst both mag readers and football insiders, and also from the ''Red Issue'' forum's Sanctuary section, it was not unusual for a story to appear here before any
tabloid newspapers
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalism, sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even Fake news, blatantly false), which takes its name from the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid ne ...
picked up on it.
*Life of Smiley: A play on
the Lightning Seeds
The Lightning Seeds (also known as Lightning Seeds) are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1989 by Ian Broudie (vocals, guitar, producer), formerly of the bands Big in Japan, Care, and Original Mirrors. Originally a studio-based s ...
' track "
The Life of Riley
''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book.
Radio
The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later kn ...
", a columnist's views on United, accompanied by happy or sad smiley faces depending on the subjects in question.
*Mr. Spleen: Another regular column, usually far more critical of Manchester United and the teams' players than the editorial or Smiley.
*Boylie: the views of Peter Boyle on all things related to Manchester United.
*View from the Smoke: A regular column written by British journalist
Mick Hume.
The rest of the fanzine contained articles about past team exploits, contributions from readers and often comic strips which poked fun at United's rivals such as
Manchester City (''"Bertie Magoo - The Bitter Blue"'') and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
(''"Sticky Fingers"'')
Campaigns
Proclaiming to be the "Voice of the fans", ''Red Issue'' tried to influence fan campaigns throughout its history - with notable contributions in the defeat of an attempted takeover of the club by
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
's
BSkyB and attempts to block the
Glazer takeover.
Green & Gold - Till They Die Or Fold/Till the club is sold was a campaign by some of the ''Red Issue'' faithful led by forum leader Chatmaster.
After Manchester United claimed an historic 19th league title, the ''Red Issue'' fanzine was behind the unveiling of a banner at arch-rivals Liverpool's home stadium
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...
, taunting opposition fans with their league titles record having been toppled.
Website
The ''Red Issue'' website ran in conjunction with the fanzine, containing links to the online forum. The website carried the same satirical tone to the fanzine itself, and advertised it on many pages. The online news bulletins from the ''Red Issue'' management stopped on 1 December 2007. The paywalled website continued after the closure of the fanzine, under the sole direction of the fanzine's final editor, who also controlled the ''Red Issue'' Twitter account, which made its final post on 31 July 2021.
References
External links
''Red Issue'' official website
{{Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United F.C. media
Football fanzines