THE FRIDAY ROUTINE rarely changes for Barry Crossan.
At lunchtime the lifelong Shelbourne FC supporter nips out of work to collect the latest batch of Red Inc from his storage space and meets up with a friend to split the supply.
Later that evening the pair reconvene near Tolka Park, where Crossan and his small team set up shop and start selling the latest issue of the longest running fanzine in Irish football.
Most of the sellers head inside the ground shortly before kick-off, while Crossan hangs around for the last few stragglers. As the whistle goes and the crowd take their seats, he packs up and heads for the pub.
It’s been over three years since he last set foot inside the ground.
To understand why, you need to go back to the start.
The 1990s was an exciting time to be a Shelbourne supporter. The club won a first league title for 30 years in 1992, and added three FAI Cups before a famous double in the 1999/2000 season, with the odd sprinkle of European football thrown on top for good measure.
As Crossan puts it, “They were just the shit at the time.”
In January 1999, the first issue of Red Inc went on sale for 50 pence before a home game against Cork.
Football fanzine culture was thriving at the time. Every month, When Saturday Comes would publish a list of every known fanzine available in the UK and Ireland. Fanzines of major clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool were readily available in Easons.
A few years after Red Inc was launched, Crossan contributed his first article. He’s been editor since 2014.
Some recent issues of Red Inc.
His role involves contacting as many as 40 contributors to gather ideas before each issue. Sometimes as few as five or six are available to contribute. A few weeks later, the submissions slowly begin to trickle in. Most by email, some by WhatsApp. As the deadline draws closer, an idea for the front cover is pieced together over the course of a few late nights. The final product is sent to the printer and collected a few days later before going on sale outside Tolka.
It could not be described as a money making exercise. Sometimes the fanzine just about breaks even, and any small profits they do make tend to get either pumped back into the club or donated to different causes. Yet even when Shelbourne were struggling in recent years, a loyal readership kept the fanzine afloat. Supporters of League of Ireland clubs often struggle to find in-depth coverage of their team, so to the die-hards, a 40-page magazine is an easy sell. Crossan remembers one First Division game where only 350 hardy souls turned up at Tolka Park. They still sold 150 fanzines.
“In many ways, it is definitely a labour of love, because we just want to give the fans a voice and express whatever they think is important to them, and also showcase good writing as well,” Crossan continues.
The fanzine was set up by Reds Independent, a supporter group established in 1998 in reaction to the club’s decision to move a Uefa Cup home game against Rangers to Preston’s Prenton Park over perceived security fears.
The fanzine’s stated aim was to “give fans an independent voice”, and the nature of the content varies from issue to issue, bar a few mainstays.
Issue 61 of Red Inc, August 2017.
A quick flick through some recent issues includes:
– A WhatsApp group chat from the night Shelbourne secured promotion to the Premier Division last year.
– A detailed history of Tolka Park.
– A Shelbourne fan’s diary from the 2019 Copa America.
– A look at the background behind the 1986 Cup Winners’ Cup tie between FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen of West Germany and SG Dynamo Dresden of East Germany.
– An analysis of falling attendances in Tolka Park between 2007-2016.
– An Englishman’s long-distance love affair with the League of Ireland.
– Various album, book and app reviews, alongside a lot of opinions on Bohemians.
The fanzine has also moved with the times in order to reach a greater audience. New front covers are proudly displayed on Instagram, while accompanying playlists are made public on Spotify.
If something seems interesting or different, Crossan is happy to give it a shot.
“The best issues are the ones where we have 12 or 15 writers, and not just six voices. It’s supposed to be a broad church and I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but there is no right or wrong.
Issue 65 of Red Inc, March 2019.
“I’m a bit of a fanzine nerd. I absolutely gobble them down. I read about six a month, generally from various clubs in the UK.”
He has also seen plenty of fanzines come and go in the League of Ireland.
There was ‘Hoops Upside Your Head’ at Shamrock Rovers, ‘Eccles Is Innocent’ at Bohemians, and the long-running ‘FourFiveOne’ at Cork City, to name a few.
Yet Red Inc is still going strong. Twenty-two years on from Red Inc #1, issue 68 has just been released.
“I think the key things that make a good fanzine… one is honesty of opinion from the fans. Variety of voices is the second one. The third is biting humour. We’ve tried to bring that back into Red Inc because fanzines can be a bit too serious. You need some balance and to not take yourself too seriously. Also the ability to keep innovating and keep things fresh. Get new writers and new voices in.”
Unsurprisingly, the majority of Red Inc’s contributors click through the gate at Tolka Park on a Friday night. Not Crossan.
“I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror if I went in, to be honest,” he admits.
It all started with the club’s decision to surrender their interest in Tolka Park to relocate to a ground-share with local rivals Bohemians. Fans were aggrieved that they had not been consulted before the decision was made, and also by the statement from chairman Joe Casey in October 2016, who claimed that supporters groups had in fact lobbied Dublin City Councillors in favour of the move.
As a result, Reds Independent asked supporters “not to fund the club in any way while the status quo exists”. Crossan, along with a few other outraged supporters, decided to boycott the club’s home fixtures in protest.
“My views are not the views of Reds Independent on this,” Crossan begins.
“Some of my friends have gone back, and a few have asked would I not go back, but for me, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
Some days are tougher than others. Shelbourne’s return to the Premier Division after six seasons away has regenerated some of that old excitement which helped Crossan fall in love with the club in the first place.
“There’s a great level of enthusiasm around the club,” he says.
“The new blood who have come in [to the board], I don’t have any real beef with them. They’re trying to run the club in a very professional way. They deserve a lot of credit for that. On the pitch, they’ve put together a decent team. Anything could happen this season.
“There was a real buzz around the ground last Friday, for example. I remember thinking it was a bit sad there wasn’t any politicians around to actually see how important this club could be to the community and to the area in general.
“Tolka Park is such a fantastic stadium. It’s so rich in history and tradition. It’s just a fantastic place to watch football. Under lights it’s great.
“Even standing outside last Friday, the place just looked great.”
Whether Crossan will ever return remains to be seen. He is not totally against the idea of going to a Shelbourne home game at Dalymount Park, but says it is unlikely if the current board remain in charge.
Like many Shelbourne fans, he is wary about what the future holds for the club.
Whatever happens, the longest running fanzine in Irish football will be there to tell the story.
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