Voice of the Valley will be on sale as usual at The Valley this afternoon but it will be the last issue of the fanzine apart from a farewell one in September.
The VOTV website will continue in operation and will cover important developments. Editor Rick Everitt hopes to produce new publications about Charlton. It is now 30 years since Battle for The Valley was published.
The decision is not a financial one with sales recovering after the pandemic and over 600 copies being posted out to subscribers from the Rickster's Ramsgate base.
It is likely, however, that the demographic of readers is an ageing one. Digital and podcasts have become all important, although they cannot substitute for the files of back issues I have stored on my shelves.
Fanzines played an important role in the development of fan power in the 1980s and VOTV made an important contribution to the return to The Valley campaign, although many contemporary fans were not born then or were very young.
The closure of the Voice means that I am more likely to keep this website going, although I do not have the Rickster's unrivalled network of contacts and in depth understanding of the club.
Pleased to read you are going to keep your postings going Wune,always my first read after matchdays. A reasoned approach in the face of the 2 losses and manager element. I have been going to the Valley since 1946 and only recently failed to renew my season ticket as infirmity has become more influential,hence the importance of your reporting and opinions to me.
ReplyDeleteKeep going.
Regards
Don Nash