It seems like only yesterday to me, that I was stood in the back of the Cock and Bear stand reading Speed Humps Roundabouts and Wheelie Bins, one of two fanzines that we were treated to as Boro’ fans back in the heady days of the mid 90s. Back then, fanzines were a thing everywhere. They started in sci-fi, bands had them, films had them, games had them, but they were at their absolute best, in my opinion,  when football fans were writing them.

SHRAWB was a classic, as was it’s “rival,” if you can call it that, To The Manor Reborn, a play on the name of an 80s sitcom for old gits. SHRAWB was coined from a classic Boro chant, which had come about thanks to the moaning of a “supporter” in the local paper. Mrs Scott-Morris, who had written to the Trib complaining about the swearing, would certainly have been pleased with the reworking of that particular song. Less so, with the personalised chants that were made just for her.

SHRAWB eventually faded away, but TTMRB remained a vital piece of Boro fandom and as a young lad I was thrilled when Laney, the editor at the time, gave me the chance to write for and sell it in the car park of the Cock and Bear, with a pint in hand. I can’t imagine many people have the lofty ambition of being part of a fanzine clique, but I remember feeling that day like I had made it. I was a part of Boro’ culture myself, like so many people before me that I had looked up to during your teenage years. Looking back, teenage me had really low standards for his heroes.

I wrote for the zine for a number of years, first with Laney editing, then with Nathan Walker. When Nathan left, for some ridiculous reason, I was appointed editor, presumably because I had a media degree and therefore should have known something about the whole process.

During that time, the club left Manor Park and moved to Liberty Way, so I had to change the name of the zine to Taking Liberties. In hindsight, I should have left the name. It had something of a nostalgic feel about it, which I think would still appeal today, but again, what did I know?

We managed to get out two issues of the zine when I was editor, before I jacked it in and left it to my good friend Mark Jakeman. It went online eventually, when Stephen Nelmes took over and I continued to write my bits, also doing TLTV, a vlog based zine, well before vlogs were a thing where people made legit careers out of it.

I feel I missed a trick there.

Thing is, all that died off and for the best part of a decade, there hasn’t been an independent voice of the Boro’ faithful.

Well, that’s all changing.

This is the beginning of a new era down the club and as part of an effort to help spread stories that don’t just reflect all the doom and fucking gloom that surrounds things going on, I wanted to put out our side of the story, the fans side.

That’s where the Blue and White Army comes in. It’s a zine and it’s a news source. I want to be the place where people can go online to hear what’s been happening down the club, to read match reports, to hear something positive, to have a laugh and have a smile.

Thing is, I don’t want this to be about me. I want this to be about us.

So I need you to help me. If you want to write for The Blue and White Army, in whatever context, drop me a line. This site is going to be for everyone, so don’t worry if your writing isn’t the best, we’ll make it work for you, we’ll find a way to get you heard. So if you have a story idea, you think you can tell a good yarn, and you’re mildly engaging drop me an email.

I’m not going to bang on about how this zine will die without the support of local people and businesses etc., I think the club has got the monopoly on that plea at the moment, although if anyone does want to set up a fundraiser for me to drink beer in my pants while writing drivel on this blog, that would be greatly received.

As well as writers, I’d love to hear from people who can help with photos and graphics, because no one really wants me to try and scrawl together a logo that will ultimately look like a bad cliparted version of the Boro badge bastardised with a mouth or something equally unoriginal.

What I’m saying is, save yourselves from a barrage of Brucey-centric nonsense, by coming and contributing to this site with me. Drop me an email at ben@benbruce.co.uk

I’ve got big plans for this site. Not big as in stupidly huge, but in terms of how I want to engage you and the club, I think with a couple of hands to help we can have something entertaining and fun.

And I absolutely, positively promise you, that TLTV won’t  be coming back.

Ever.