Reading FC fan creates fanzine after demise of club programme

A controversial topic, popular matchday programme 'The Royal' was shelved by the club after the Covid-19 pandemic, with the match that never was (a game against Stoke City which was scheduled for the day after football was paused) the last edition printed.

Citing a lack of readers and the cost of production, it was confimed in a meeting with the club that it would not be returning for this season, a meeting which sparked Mr Williamson's brain into action.

Pretty stoked about this. A new Reading Fanzine, on sale this weekend at the ground for £2. I'll be somewhere down Northern/Hoops Way on the way up from the Greyhound Stadium car park (I'll also be having lunch at BCSF!). Thanks so much to everyone who's helped out! #readingfc pic.twitter.com/PusU1DFfNh

— Matthew Williamson (@Photomattic) August 3, 2022

Speaking to the Reading Chronicle, he said: "The demise of the matchday programme has been a real sore point for many of us. Last year I assumed that somebody would step into the void with their own fanzine, but that never happened! When STAR's meeting notes came out during summer, where the club confirmed that there would be no programme for this season either, I decided it was time to stop waiting for someone else to bring it together and so The Other Face of Football was born."

With issue one printed and distributed ahead of the opening home match of the season, a 2-1 win over Cardiff City, the release was met with largely positive reviews.

"We started getting things ready during the summer, and thankfully had a few guys writing pieces - who really deserve all the credit," he stated. "They smashed it out of the park and meant we could get it out much quicker. I've said it before, but just a massive thank you to all the effort they put in because without it, nothing would have happened!"

So what can you expect from The Other Face of Football?

"We're just trying to make something that we would want to read ourselves," Matthew explained. "The first issue was about people's best memories of Reading, going to football should be a fun experience and for too long it hasn't been. That's not to say that every article will be mindlessly positive, I know how much that can grate too, but that's our starting point. Going forward it will focus a lot more on the sides of 2022, for better or worse! I just hope that people enjoy the first issue as much as I do."

The next issue is expected to be out in November, with a limited number of copies of edition one still available online and in person before the next home match against Middlesbrough.