User:Chrisfrean

And Smith Must Score

Birth

And Smith Must Score was a football fanzine launched in 1988 by Chris Frean and Patrick Balchin who had known each other since meeting at Hassocks Infants School in the 1960’s. It focussed on Brighton & Hove Albion but also covered general football subjects as the editors tended to travel far and wide in their enthusiasm for the game. After 13 issues it ceased publication in 1991 when Chris Frean, a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, went to work at the British Embassy in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Balchin felt unable to continue alone. Frean has continued to write for publications in his spare time, including the Guardian, Rough Guides, Bradt Guides and When Saturday Comes. Balchin has remained a season ticket holder of Brighton & Hove Albion to this day and can be found in the West Stand at the Albion’s new Falmer Stadium at most home games, where he sits alongside his septuagenarian mother and occasionally his octogenarian father.

And Smith Must Score (ASMS) was inspired by the fanzine boom of the late 1980’s, in particular the market leader, When Saturday Comes. In March 1988, over pints of Ushers at the founders’ local, The Greyhound, Keymer, West Sussex, Balchin proposed an Albion fanzine, using what he considered to be the most famous quote in the club’s history, “And Smith Must Score”, as the title. These words referred to BBC’s commentator Peter Jones’ commentary during the Extra Time in the 1983 FA Cup Final when, with the score at 2-2, Albion striker Gordon Smith was put through on Manchester Utd goalkeeper Gary Bailey and simply had to lob the ball past him to win the FA Cup. This would have been the club’s first genuine trophy in 73 years history. But Smith scuffed the ball into Bailey’s legs and the rest is history. Manchester Utd won the replay 4-0. Jones did not actually say “And Smith Must Score”; he said “And he must score...and he hasn’t”. Balchin chose to adapt those words and the quote has since become the most famous four words in the history of the club. It also garnered significant publicity at the launch, with Ian Ridley in the Guardian applauding and other fanzines also congratulating the founders.

Between March and October 1988 the founders set about creating the initial issue, which, in true early fanzine tradition, was printed on an office photocopier on A3 paper and then folded and stapled. It was decided that it would be A4 in size. In the 1980’s before the appearance of genuine desk top publishing options, the editors printed articles with a dot-matrix printer and photocopied pages. The first issues were black and white but soon graduated to using colour once a printer, Henry’s of Swindon, had been located.

Issues

The editors aimed to produce eye-catching covers and often used adapted pop song or film titles for article headings. Again this was very much in the style popularised by publications such as When Saturday Comes. Wedding Present song titles were often a favourite, not least because the band’s first drummer, Shaun Charman, went to school with the founders at the Windmills Primary School, Hassocks, West Sussex and even bought an issue on one occasion from the stall at the north-west corner of the ground. Brighton & Hove Albion refused to allow the fanzine to be sold within the ground or in the club shop but the fanzine was stocked at several key locations, including Sportpages bookshop in Charing Cross Road, the Virgin Megastore in Brighton, and the Rough Trade shop in Ladbroke Grove, London. Despite the lack of formal approval, the editors established a good working relationship with the then club Secretary, Steve Rooke, and Frean would often drop in for a pre-match briefing.

Subject matter

One of the founders’ main grumbles was the quality of match reporting in the Brighton newspaper, the Evening Argus, and they chose to devote a chunk of each issue to match reports and a data notesheet – which they termed ”Albfax” - giving info snippets such as player ratings and comments about the referee, etc. This was prior to the days of information overload and the arrival of Opta. This did however mean that to live up to this demand the fanzine was perhaps topheavy with match reports. However, feedback suggested the reports, which were often comprehensive, were well received. Frean or Balchin would attend games and compile the reports. Balchin himself was a trained journalist, having studied at the NCTJ’s Cosham college and then worked at the Bexhill-on-Sea observer in 1985-6. On occasions, when a particular match was not deemed worthy of a report, the Editors would include an explanation, such as an away game to West Bromwich Albion where the Albion lost 0-1 to a heavily disputed goal late in the game, when the West Brom scorer was clearly offside. Frean’s match report consisted of a few dismissive lines, noting that there was little point in writing an extended piece when the game was destroyed by an inept official.

Notable Interviews

The editors wanted to branch out and make genuine interviews rather than written one liner interviews as they had seen in other publications. Among the players and individuals they met and interviewed were Gordon Smith himself; then manager Barry Lloyd, on two occasions; FA Cup Finalist Graeme Pearce; then-striker Mike Small; and then-midfielder Dean Wilkins, although this interview was not used. The editors also established excellent working relationships with then-Secretary Steve Rooke, and engaged in occasional correspondence with Evening Argus’ John Vinicombe and local journalist Tony Millard. Frean also contributed a column to the Brighton & Hove Albion programme for the first few weeks of one season during the fanzine’s existence until the column was terminated, according to Rooke, to “provide more advertising space”. Frean was not paid for this work but did receive a complimentary press photographer’s pass for the season.

Only two people were reluctant to be interviewed; then-TV presenter Desmond Lynam’s PA responded to a request with a one-line letter “wishing you well”; and former defender Gary Stevens did not feel it would be appropriate to take part in a light-hearted “guess the scores” feature. Score predicting has latterly become commonplace.

Other contributors

Frean and Balchin wrote almost all the fanzine themselves, simply because other contributors were thin on the ground. Derek Seymour, a former Worthing resident who had moved to Crewe, became an established contributor. The Southwick poet Attila the Stockbroker contributed a poem to an early issue. Bob Phipps became a regular contributor with match reports. Other fanzine editors were asked to provide a bit of info on their clubs, and did so. Andy Sheppard provided articles. James Small, a Hibernian supporter, also became an early contact, providing a report on his club side’s visit to Szekesfehervar in Hungary for a UEFA Cup game. Frean accidentally printed that particular issue’s masthead in maroon – the colours of Hibs’ rivals, Hearts. Nevertheless Small and he remained in contact, attending the Middlesbrough away game together, even venturing into a cheap local bar which, in Small’s view, was not the place for Frean to open his mouth and speak in a southern accent. Mike Alway, a London based entrepreneur, also asked Frean to assist with his double LP “Flair”, which featured famous football songs. His Brighton & Hove Albion song was the FA Cup song from 1983. The album opens, memorably, with Fisher Athletic’s “Come on the Fish”.

Controversies and failures

One major controversy surrounded an article Frean wrote following a Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion match in 1988/9. Returning on the train, a group of Chelsea thugs rampaged through the train, regardless of the normal people trying to get on with their lives. Frean chose to record this and lambasted Chelsea supporters en masse. At the time Chelsea had a very poor reputation for racist chanting. The old Stamford Bridge was a thoroughly unpleasant place to visit. One subscriber, a programme dealer named Peter Riches, took offence and refused to stock the fanzine as a result. It is not known whether Riches is still in business.

The founders were often accused of not having enough Brighton & Hove Albion material in issues, choosing to focus on real ale or other clubs they had visited. The founders’ response was to ask those criticising to write articles themselves!

The founders tried to revive the Seagull Special cheap train travel group in 1989. Ten fans were needed to get reduced rate fares from London to away grounds. Only one came forward. The idea was swiftly forgotten.

The founders also wanted to introduce t-shirts with players’ names and numbers on the back. However, not being skilled marketeers, or blessed with a budget to order several hundred as required by printers, they advertised the idea in the magazine and waited for interest. A little came. But other unscrupulous individuals saw the idea, funded the shirts, and for a while many fans could be seen sporting shirts emblazoned with John Crumplin’s photograph. Crumplin was a low-standard right back of the era; he tried and won fans’ support but was of limited ability. His most memorable moment came at Blackpool when he put the Albion 3-1 up with a speculative long range shot from the inside right channel. Balchin bought the match video to commemorate the moment, and courted controversy in the Blackpool club shop after the match by asking the shop assistant for “a Siddall”; bemused, the assistant asked for clarification; Balchin explained that he wanted “a mug”.

Circulation and relations with other fanzines

Targetting a fanbase which at the time was around 8,000 maximum attending home games, the initial print run was just 40 copies. The founders were then caught out as Ian Ridley’s reference to the fanzine in the Guardian brought sudden interest. The print run increased substantially to a maximum of 1,200 copies at it’s height for the “Foster’s Larger” issue to mark a home game with the former captain’s new club.

The late 80’s was the fanzine boom. The founders aimed to meet opposite numbers at away games. Among particularly good contacts were the Oatcake (Stoke City), Hull Hell and Happiness, and one from Watford and even Eagle Eye (Crystal Palace).

A sign of things to come was a visit to West Ham when, hoping to swap a copy for one of the local fanzines, “Over Land and Sea”, the founders were greeted by the local saleman with “never ‘eard of it mate” by an individual who was clearly there to earn a fee.

Sponsorship

The founders both made it clear that they would not be taking a profit from the fanzine. This was easy to stick to in the beginning as costs outweighed income. However as time went on the founders were able to sponsor match balls and kits including Perry Digweed and Mark Chamberlain.

Final Issue

In October 1991, Frean, a member of Her Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, was told his next job would be working at the British Embassy in Abidjan, capital of Cote d’Ivoire  (Ivory Coast in English). He would arrive there in April 1992. Over the life of the fanzine, Frean had become the guiding light with Balchin contributing as and when he could. The founders assessed whether the fanzine could continue but concluded that it would be difficult to commit to it, so decided that the 13th issue would be the last. Subscribers were offered reimbursement. Only one asked for his money back.

Legacy

After publicising the quote, “And Smith Must Score” was picked up and used by several other organisations. A video by a comedian called Nick from Stoke pinched the title and showed great footballing howlers. Gordon Smith himself said he did not mind this association. A novel used the title. The quote and sometimes the fanzine are regularly referred to in the media whenever Brighton & Hove Albion’s FA Cup history is looked at. And Smith Must Score has been an answer on Mastermind and The Weakest Link.

Frean was often asked whether the fanzine would make a return. But with his job taking him to Africa, Asia, and latterly South East Europe, he only sees Brighton & Hove Albion rarely and has yet to visit the Falmer Stadium. He only saw them once during the Poyet era. Balchin is a season ticket holder but had a demanding job at the UK government’s Ministry of Culture and a hectic lifestyle which does not allow time for writing. The And Smith Must Score twitter feed has been subsumed into Frean’s own twitter feed, @chrisfrean.