4,000 Holes

Issue 98 is here... for just £1.50, we've got another cracking read with the contents as listed below. To order your copy please visit our ONLINE SHOP, or to purchase through eBay CLICK HERE. Postage is just 75p for first class delivery in the UK. Season subscriptions are also STILL AVAILABLE HERE for just £9.00 (includes P&P) which gets you all five issues from 97 to 101. If you prefer grabbing a copy in person, the fanzine will be sold outside Ewood before the forthcoming home games from an hour before kick-off (at the bottom of Kidder Street). Issue 98 includes: Lewis Holtby - "Goodbye, Liebchen", From The Terraces, "Who Were You?" #12 Jay Bothroyd, The Forgotten Friendly - Barcelona v Rovers in Spain, 101 Great Rovers Goals: #2 Scott Sellars, #3 John Lowey, Rhodri the Dragon’s “Voice From The Valleys”, Sliding Doors #4, Eamonn Rogers profile, Will any club ever reach the same heights as Rovers?, Rovers Fans suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, TM Press Conference Template, Just Look At Them Now!, Tommy Briggs - A Man For All Seasons, Crossword, One Goal XI…. plus much much more!

In our latest issue we highlighted supporters' disappointment at the lack of proper acknowledgement when former players have passed away over the last few years. It is really good to see changes have now been made. Well done to Rovers for this tribute yesterday and let's hope it continues in future.

Where has this been announced? Our latest issue made a big point about the lack of acknowledgement at matches for the numerous past players who have passed away this year. This would be a great step forward by the club.

Had a lot of very good feedback on this one and we've sold over 230 copies in just the first week. Available to buy again on Kidder Street before the match today and still online of course. Thank you!

Thank you! Yep, a lot of effort by great contributors makes it really worthwhile. Not bad for £1.50?

Thanks very much! That was a tough one! More of the "Look At Them Now" coming this season!!

Not at Hull, but it will still be available at the next two home games. Thanks!

ISSUE 97 HAS ARRIVED!! For £1.50, we've got a full colour 36-page fanzine containing the usual frivolity (and some serious stuff!). To order your copy please visit our ONLINE SHOP, or to purchase through eBay CLICK HERE. Postage is just 75p for first class delivery in the UK. Season subscriptions are also STILL AVAILABLE HERE for just £9.00 (includes P&P) which gets you all five issues from 97 to 101. And if you prefer grabbing a copy in person, the fanzine will be sold outside Ewood before the forthcoming home games from an hour before kick-off (at the bottom of Kidder Street). Issue 97 includes: Let's Do It Right Rovers, Preview of Matt Jansen's Autobiography (with extracts), Overheard in the Blues Bar, From The Terraces, 4-page Kevin Stonehouse Tribute, TM visits the Last Chance Sporting Clinic, Rhodri the Dragon’s “Voice From The Valleys”, What Do We Know? - The West Brom Fiasco 2004, All Rover The World, Glenn Keeley profile, 101 Great Rovers Goals #1, Quizzes and Crossword, S Club XI plus lots more!

Please note that we have a wonderful four-page 2000-word tribute to Kevin Stonehouse in Issue 97 of the fanzine. This is just the kind of richly deserved write-up that the club sadly fails to provide in enough detail to remember past players. It includes words from Mick Rathbone, Terry Gennoe, Mick Speight and other teammates. Issue 97 is available for just £1.50 on Kidder Street before the Boro match. It can also be purchased online as part of a SEASON SUBSCRIPTION HERE or INDIVIDUALLY HERE.

Honoured to have been given a copy of Matt's autobiography to read before its September release and yep, it's absolutely superb. The full sincere story - answers to all the questions we've ever asked and simply a must-read for all Rovers fans. We've got some extracts from the book in fanzine Issue 97 this weekend in order to whet your appetites! Fanzine subscriptions still available here - five issues for just £9 including P&P! https://roversfanzine.bigcartel.com/product/4-000-holes-full-season-subscription-2019-20?

Overwhelmed with season subscriptions in the last 10 days and delighted to already have almost as many subscriptions as last season - including orders from Ireland, Norway, Australia, USA and Canada! Thank you if you've signed up - Issue 97 is currently being put together and there's some really wonderful stuff in there. Details to come closer to publication! P.S. Subscriptions still open? https://roversfanzine.bigcartel.com/product/4-000-holes-full-season-subscription-2019-20

Thought he'd already found the solution?

Hopefully you're ready for the new season now - the good news is that the fanzine will return! A postal subscription to all five issues can be purchased by CLICKING THIS LINK. It's only £9 this season, which includes all P&P costs. International delivery is also available. Based on the quality of contributions already received, the fanzine will be staying in good shape for another year. It also promises to be an exciting season as we pass the 100th issue mark and see some 25th anniversary celebrations of 1994/95 - is it really that long ago?! Thanks to everyone who has already subscribed - the first issue of the season (Issue 97) is due out on Saturday 17th August.

THE FINAL ISSUE OF THE SEASON HERE!! To order your copy please visit our ONLINE SHOP or purchase through eBay by CLICKING HERE. It's only £1.50 and postage is still 75p for first class delivery. It will also be available to buy on Kidder Street from an hour before kick-off at the April home matches. Issue 96 includes: Alternative Hall of Fame, From The Terraces, Next Season Starts Here?, All Rover The World, Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?, Did You See That?!!, Witless Tributes, Voice From The Valleys, Who Were You? #10, Venky's Sleeping Pods Plan, The Borehamwood Zizou, The Naming of the Shrewd, Top Of The Pops, Cartoon, Quizzes, Crossword, The Second Coming XI plus much more! Finally, it's been another strong year for the fanzine with over 1500 copies sold and almost £400 raised for charity, so thanks for your interest if you've purchased any this season. Onwards to 2019/20!

Just to round this post off, we ended up selling 300 copies of Issue 95, raising £300 for local charities so thank you very much to everyone who bought it. The next issue will be on sale before the Stoke City match in April - please email any contributions to roversfanzine@gmail.com before the end of the month! Thanks again for supporting the fanzine - 30 years old this summer!

We've already sold 210 copies of Issue 95 in the first week. Thanks to everyone who has purchased so far this month. Plenty more still available via the links above and from noon on Kidder Street before the Middlesbrough match. It's £1 to charity for each one sold - so that's £210 raised already for the likes of East Lancs Hospice and Nightsafe. Cheers!

WE'RE BACK WITH A BRAND NEW ISSUE!! To order your copy of the fanzine please visit our ONLINE SHOP or purchase through eBay by CLICKING HERE. It's still only £1.50 and postage is 75p for first class delivery. Please note that a full £1 from each issue sold will be donated to local charities. We do this whenever we can if sales have been healthy enough to put us into profit. If you prefer grabbing a copy in person, the fanzine will be sold outside Ewood before the forthcoming home matches from an hour before kick-off (at the bottom of Kidder Street). Thanks for your interest! Issue 95 contains: We Spy On Who We Want!, Waggott Woes, The Brereton Enigma - Solved!, Tactics and Humility, Overheard in the Blues Bar, Kit Stories - 1960 FA Cup Final, Reffin' Hell, Sliding Doors #3, Voice From The Valleys, Who Were You? #9, There's Only One Simon Garner, The Evolving Nature of Fandom, Film Poster, Our Boy Dunn Good, Quizzes, Crossword, Tartan Army XI plus much more!

Haha, incredibly there's 2 to 4 pages on each of them.... depsite the lack of appearances at Ewood!

Coincidentally enough the next one in February is someone from that same season who played in the same position as Sebastian Perez.... who of course gets a few mentions!!

Thanks....we've also had Dino Baggio, Richard Brown, Johann Vogel, Alan Fettis and Javier de Pedro featured in the past - always brings back stories which are barely remembered!!

Another forgotten man who was featured recently in our excellent "Who Were You?" series. Raises the possibility that he was actually underrated and underused in 98/99. Another from that era coming in this February's Issue 95!

Yep, the £10 season subscription already includes postage costs - issues 92 to 94 should be with you on Thursday! Thanks for ordering.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased so far! Already sold over 200 copies in the first weekend. Plenty more still available to order via the links above?

THE DECEMBER ISSUE IS HERE!! To order your copy please visit our ONLINE SHOP or purchase through eBay by CLICKING HERE. It's still only £1.50 and postage is 75p for first class delivery. If you haven't already heard, we managed to get ourselves shortlisted for the Football Supporters' Federation "Fanzine of the Year" Award which reflects how much we've improved it over the last 18 months and, of course, the continued excellent contributions by fans. We reckon that makes it amazing value for just £1.50! Issue 94 contains: Filling Our Fortress, Unrecognised Strikers, "Heart, Scarf and Soul" - A play starring a Rovers fan, Roque's Santa Cruise, Voice From The Valleys, Pre-Match Superstitions, The Ginger Ninja Appreciation Society, Rovers' Last Battlefield, Support As Performance - Not Everything is Mental, European Hangovers, Fabulous Faz!, Who Were You? #8 Dino Baggio, BRFCS Goes To Brockhall, Quizzes, Crossword, Boozers XI and many more shenanigans. If you prefer grabbing a copy in person, the fanzine will be sold outside Ewood before the forthcoming December matches from an hour before kick-off (at the bottom of Kidder Street). Thanks for your interest and support this year! COYB!

Believe the authorities do care about improving the game for supporters. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have recently spelled out their strategy to develop the Laws of the Game to improve football – with time-wasting being a key issue. IFAB have debated a wholesale change to timekeeping by employing a stop-start clock, in the manner of sports such as basketball and rugby union. Given that 60 minutes is seen as a good match with respect to the amount of ball-in-play time, halves would become 30 minutes apiece with the clock – clearly displayed within the stadium – stopped whenever there was a break in play. Such a radical change will inevitably never be allowed to oust the longstanding 45-minutes-each-way tradition of the game. A more likely improvement would be persisting with normal length halves, which would continue past 45 and 90 minutes until a separate clock shows that 30 minutes of actual playing time has been attained in the half. Then there would be no point to cynical time-wasting.