STAND Against Modern Football #1

Get it while it’s hot

It’s finally here, the most anticipated publication since the Almighty took a hammer and chisel to two great big fuck off stone tablets on top of Mount Sinai, and said to Moses “Ere y’are lad”. The first issue ever of Stand – Against Modern Football is finished and on sale now; and the Lord said “from small acorns shall grow mighty oaks”. Here’s a link to the site where you can buy it:

http://standamf.bigcartel.com/product/stand-fanzine-issue-1

You’ll notice the cover is a picture of the protests at The Goldstone Ground during the dark days of Archer and Bellotti, very apt I think.

Rolling of the press

I wrote a piece in issue 40 of The Seagull Love Review about STAND, as the guys behind this new national fanzine are mates of mine and the TSLR boys, who themselves do a stirling job producing Brighton’s one and only fanzine.  STAND’s Tumblr have reposted my TSLR article here. Buy a copy of TSLR at the match to read more about it. Actually, buy both of the bloody things and let’s get Albion fans at the heart of what we hope will be a popular, fan-led movement to bring a bit of sanity back into the higher levels of the professional game of football.

I have written a 1500 word article in this first issue of STAND about the Albion, our struggles from Archer through to those NIMBY bastards on Lewes Council, and to hopefully show that not all modern stadiums and club stories are doom and gloom, and that there are still things in the modern game that are worthy and benign – and the current state of Brighton & Hove Albion is definitely one of them. We, as a club, are still among the good guys, and that’s something to be proud of in my opinion.

After all, Brighton fans wrote the rule books about fan power, taking on the shysters, the clowns, and the fucking crooks who always seem to weasel their way into football clubs and associations. We’re old hands at this kind of thing. And that’s why Build a Bonfire and We Want Falmer are such important books about this fight for the soul of the game. So get STAND AMF bought, contribute, spread the word.

The Seagull Love Review in 64 seconds

This made me laugh a wee bit

Remember to buy it, it’s on sale at Hull today and at Falmer Tuesday night

TSLR 40

Buy a fanzine from our new sales team

It’s the season to be hopeful. Some exciting summer signings, the return of the Dagger of Benicalap, and of course The Seagull Love Review is out once more, and best of all – yours truly has come out of semi-retirement to write a column again.

This season the boys have changed printers, and – gasp – the magazine will be in technicolour, that’s right, there are coloured pages being prepared as we speak.

A common gripe among Albionites has been “I want to buy the fanzine, but fucked if I can find a seller at Falmer”. Well, this year TSLR have trained up an army of little council estate urchins to help sell the mag in more areas around the ground than ever before, and they will be paid with a thick ear and enough loose change to buy a bag of boiled sweets, so everyone’s a winner.

Issue 40 (Yes, FORTY) will be for sale away at Swindon in the cup game Tuesday night, Hull away on Saturday 18th, and again at home from an urchin on Tuesday 21st at the Cardiff match. The fanzine goes from strength to strength, but it needs your support as Albion fans to keep it going – fanzines are everything to football that Soccer AM, Russian Billionaires, Oil Sheikhs and 200K a week dickhead footballers aren’t, support your local FANzine – The Seagull Love Review.

A casual buy no. 45

As I’ve mentioned before 2012 is the 30th Anniversary of the Italian clothing label Stone Island. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I’m a big fan, probably too big a fan judging by the amount of cash I’ve spunked out on this brand over the years. But there’s no other label like Stone Island, it’s unique in every way, much maligned but at the same much envied and copied, and never bettered at what it does.

During this anniversary year the label is re-issuing some old designs from the early days in the 1980s, they’re also releasing a special ’30/30′ jacket that incorporates all the textile innovations that Stone Island are famous for – Raso Gommato, liquid reflective, the thermo-sensitive ice jacket, and Mussola Prismatica. It is really two jackets in one and the RRP will make your eyes water. But I am seriously considering saving up for one, it’s a one-off, looks absolutely stunning, is 100% reversible, and the ’30/30′ means it’s a 30th anniversary jacket that can be worn 30 different ways. It will also be very collectible in years to come, so watch this space.

Much cheaper, and the first anniversary item to be released is the Tela Stella jacket. Back in 1982, the then little known Italian fashion designer Massimo Osti started Stone Island as an offshoot to his already established CP Company brand. Osti had just one fabric – a heavy cotton that was similar to that used for tarpaulins covering military trucks, and six colour dyes to work with. The result was the original Tela Stella. The fabric was impregnated on both sides with contrasting pigment resin, and treated with enzymes to give an effect of wind worn marine oilskins, or well-used military tenting. Military and nautical toughness and durability have been trademark influences on everything Osti did, and those who took up his various labels since.

This 2012 Tela is an exact replica of the first jacket, right down to the buttons, which were actually discovered in a store room in Ravarino, Italy, from the original 1982 batch made for the first jackets. Back then Stone Island stuck the now (in)famous compass rose badge on the chest, and some of the subsequent early collections, which were outlandish in treatment and style, had the compass in even odder parts of garments, until the left upper arm was where it eventually settled.

My only gripe about the new and old 30th anniversary range is the commemorative compass badge, I don’t like the look of it at all. It’s crap. Personally I would have liked the company to have produced the normal SI compass rose, but maybe edged it in matching yellow, similar to the vintage SI with the green edge. It’s a minor fault, and I’ll just wear the clothes with the badge detached.

There’s a book coming out soon too (I’ve pre-ordered it on Amazon) which archives every piece of Stone Island clothing from ’82 – ’12. That will be more than worth a look, and will probably send me screaming through eBay like a demented hunter, but I will fight the urge as long as I can.

Crofts returns

I’m delighted that the rumours that dragged on for weeks were actually true this time – Andrew Crofts has come in from the cold at Norwich and come back to the Albion on a three year deal.

He was our best player back in 2009-10 and I thought the move up into the Premier League with an already exciting Norwich side was a move too soon. Sometimes it’s nice to be proved right.

Are we going to be contenders this coming season? The signs are there definitely, it’s going to be a belting adventure whatever the league table looks like come May 2013.