The City Gent is the oldest surviving football

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

in the UK with nearly 40 years of continuous publication, having first been published in October 1984. It was co-founded by

Bradford City A.F.C. Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

fans John Dewhirst and Brian Fox.

History

In the summer of 1984

fans John Dewhirst and Brian Fox discussed the creation of a football fanzine, as a result of being made unemployed, Brian Fox was able to commit more time to the project and so in October 1984 the first edition was published and sold at the ground on match days. The first edition was positioned as being the ‘Voice of Bantam Progressivism’ and was a success due to it being built on four principles: * The first was a commitment to be as professional and well written as possible. * The second was to be constructive and responsible when communicating criticism about the club. * The third was to include historical features about the club at a time when there was literally nothing in print about BCAFC. * The fourth was to be unashamedly proud of being Bradfordians. The name for the fanzine was taken from the mascot for

that was introduced in the 1960s by the club. and the design of the character was based on then chairman

Stafford Heginbotham Stafford Heginbotham (12 September 1933 – 21 April 1995) was a British businessman and chairman of Bradford City football club at the time of 56 deaths in the Bradford City stadium fire, which occurred immediately after the club won league pro ...

. In 2000 during Bradford City's spell in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

the editors were banned from selling the fanzine at Bradford's last two away games, at Villa Park and Derby's Pride Park, because those clubs wished to protect their in-house publications. However, then Chairman Geoffrey Richmond allowed the fanzine to be sold at the Club's shop despite it being in competition to the official programme, such was Richmond's support for the fanzine.

Notable editions

* The April 1989 edition of the fanzine raised funds for the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

* The 200th edition of The City Gent coincided with the 30th anniversary of the

Bradford City stadium fire The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...

and £1 from every edition sold went to support the

Bradford Burns Unit The Bradford Burns Unit is a burns research facility set up at University of Bradford following the Bradford fire disaster on 11 May 1985. The fire disaster at Valley Parade killed 56 people and injured more than 250. Founder Professor David S ...

Awards

*New Football Pools Fanzine Awards 2008 - Best League Two FanzineTelegraph and Argus - fanzine in a league of its own
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References

External links

Official website for The City Gent

Official Twitter account for The City Gent
{{DEFAULTSORT:City Gent, The Fanspeak Football fanzines