So, for those of you who arrived here from NewsNow or Twitter due to the headline of this here article, Arsenal supporters have enjoyed a fanzine culture since 1987 (or even longer if you take Gunflash into account). Yet, some younger fans may not even know what a fanzine is. Well, it’s a magazine published by supporters, about the subject of their devotion (in the case Arsenal Football Club), but produced independently of said subject – which means that, unlike the matchday programme, we can write honest opinion about The Gunners rather than pretending the not so good stuff hasn't happened.

The Gooner started life in late 1987, and has been sold outside the stadium on Arsenal matchdays ever since. Sadly, mainly due to the gradual demise of people buying printed magazines, sales fell gradually after the stadium move in 2006, in spite of the larger number of matchgoing fans. So much so that by 2018, we had to launch a campaign to raise enough subscribers to guarantee The Gooner could remain viable and publish six editions over the course of the 2018-19 season. We now have an annual campaign to do this, requiring 1,000 subscribers to commit in advance of our going to press with the final edition of the season – so that we can either say goodbye with a farewell issue or (ideally) announce we have survived for another year.

The campaign to get subscribers renewing began at the end of December with details of how to sign up for next season in the free calendar enclosed with issue number 281. Now, with the publication of issue 282, which goes on sale at tomorrow’s home match v Newcastle, we really ramp things up. We need to secure the target of 1,000 subscriptions by midnight on Saturday 28^th March, just over six weeks away, so that we can announce our fate in the final issue of the current season… hopefully that’s not going to be our farewell edition, but that’s down to you good people.

We will be individually emailing all existing subscribers that have yet to renew (at least those we have email addresses for) in the next couple of weeks to give them a gentle nudge – and point them to a flyer that comes with every copy of the immediate issue, enclosed as an extra reminder (with a form for those who wish to pay by cheque) - and regularly publicise the campaign on our social media platforms, more especially Twitter where we have a healthy following.

Each issue of The Gooner is 68 pages thick, mixing topical and retro articles about the club, as well as regular columnists, now including Gunners legend Lee Dixon and goal.com’s Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts. A typical issue’s contents can be seen here. If you wish to view a pdf of an issue from earlier this season to get the idea, drop us an email to [email protected] - and we'll send you a link to download one. Alternatively, if you wish to have a physical copy in your hands, we’ll send you one from earlier this season if you cover the postage – send £1.50 (or £3 if you are abroad) to paypal.me/goonerfanzine and put your name and address in the message with the payment. If you don’t have PayPal, you can pay with a credit card through our online store on this page.

UK subscriptions cost £30 for the season – less than the cheapest adult ticket to watch a Grade B match at the Emirates (v Watford for example) or £42 if you are abroad.

For those that are ready to subscribe now, there are four ways to pay…

1. Via online bank transfer, making a payment of £30 (or £42 for addresses outside of the UK) to:
   Account name: The Gooner, Sort Code: 20-76-90 Account Number: 03004112.
   Use the reference 2021 followed by your surname (e.g. 2021Smith). Very important – please follow up the payment with an email to [email protected] stating your name and address, and the reference that you used for payment (e.g. 2021Smith), otherwise, we will not be able to match the payment to you.
   If you are paying from a non-UK bank account details are as follows –
   IBAN - GB79 BUKB 2076 9003 0041 12
   SWIFT / BIC - BUKBGB22
   Bank address - Barclays Bank PLC, Walthamstow 3, Leicestershire, LE87 2BB, England
   
   
2. Pay direct via PayPal to this email address: [email protected]. If doing this, please make your payment a ‘friends and family’ payment (Not for goods / service) – this helps keep our costs down. Very important – If you do make a payment this way, please email us at [email protected] to inform us of your postal address, as when paying this way, PayPal does not give us your address details.
   We also have a direct paypal.me link – paypal.me/goonerfanzine (although please untick the ‘Paying for goods or a service’ box to save us PayPal fees!)
   
   
3. You can pay with a credit or debit card via our ‘Save The Gooner Subscription’ page on our online store. Just select the appropriate option depending on whether you are in the UK or abroad.
   
   
4. Finally, you can subscribe via post by sending a cheque for £30 (UK) or £42 (abroad) made out to ‘The Gooner’ to: The Gooner, 12 Buxton Court, Hanbury Drive, London E11 1GB.

Don’t let your Gooner die!