Welcome to The City Gent Web Site
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The voice of Bantam Progressivism. The City Gent web site is here to allow readers of The City Gent Magazine to more easily purchase subscriptions, merchandise etc. |
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What is The City Gent Magazine?
Looking back 25 years to the early part of the 1984/85
season The City Gent was very much a part of the revival spirit at Bradford City
that could be traced to the 1983 receivership and which derived a new momentum
after the fire. John Dewhirst’s phrase 'Bantam Progressivism' just about summed
it up. Those very early issues containing 16 pages of the best drivel available
for the princely sum of 20 pence soon grew into 100 pages for 100 pence and
before long The City Gent was gaining a nationwide following and winning
national fanzine awards. '
The City Gent was at the cutting edge, if that’s what you could call it, of the
fanzine movement being one of the very first half dozen or so titles that were
furtively sold on the terraces of football league clubs up and down the land.
Those other early titles such as Terrace Talk (York City) Leyton Orienteer
(Leyton Orient) The Oatcake (Stoke City) have long since ceased publication, but
The City Gent soldiers on, by popular will of those on the Kop, the Main Stand,
the Midland Road, the Bradford End and the many exiled Bradford City fans around
the UK and the rest of the world. Quite rightly The City Gent can rightfully lay
claim to be the longest running football fanzine in the country.
In the early days The City Gent provided news and comment about City at a time
when there were few other options. The original significance of The City Gent
was the spirit of positive thinking about how the club could be rebuilt in the
mid to late eighties. Without a doubt Bradford City - and indeed Bradford -
needs a repeat of that sort of thinking now. Current editor Mike Harrison
fervently hopes that the original spirit of The City Gent lives on in the
current issues. He hopes that there still is a balance of hard hitting comment,
irreverent drivel, nostalgia and humour within The City Gent.
Back issues of The City Gent offer a unique insight into the life of a club that
has been eventful to say the least; especially it would seem in the past 25
years. The City Gent originally represented an imaginative response by Bradford
City supporters to help rebuild their club and sense of community in the
eighties. Now 25 years on, the mass media world of the internet and instantly
available news have undoubtedly been the death knell of many a publication. But
the fact remains that for many fans of Bradford City The City Gent is still a
must buy purchase when attending a game at Valley Parade. Its longevity is
testament not only of the various editors and contributors who have served the
fanzine so well down the years, but also the Bradford City fans that look
forward to each and every new issue going out on sale.
All that can be said is long may The City Gent continue and Long Live Bantam
Progressivism!!!!