Mundial #36
190 x 260 mm, 100 pages
London, UK
Quarterly
First published 2014
Editor-in-chief: James Bird
Art director: Alex Currie
Our favourite football magazine is back and this time the team are on home soil: ‘At a time when England, Englishness, and the English flag are being co-opted by forces that seek to divide us, we’ve put a magazine together to do the opposite. We’re looking up, down, side-to-side, and celebrating what this country can be at its best. Punching our fists in the air and saying this is who we are when we come together. You know that football can bring people together in a way that nothing else can.’ This is The England Issue!
Kicking off this 36th issue, Davey Brett indulges in some pre-game grub on his way to The Hawthorns, making the most of West Brom’s Desi pubs—a staple of the area and product of the town’s ‘proud cultural diversity’. The power of collective action is celebrated in Becky Taylor-Gill’s account of a 20km walk from Haggerston to Wembley Stadium, organised by her female and non-binary team ‘Goal Diggers F.C.’ in aid of trans rights on the pitch. Elsewhere, Matt O’Connor-Simpson sits down with English football legend Adebayo Akinfenwa; James Bird delves into the history and politics of fan flags; Asad Raza introduces members of Guru Nanak FC, founded by Punjabi students in 1965 and now proudly the largest BAME club in NW Kent; plus, a six-page spread of collaged fan stickers showcases the best of British toilet humour.
On the Journal
At work with editor Dan Sandison: ‘We’d had quite a few offers from weird and wonderful organisations to buy us out over the years, and we’d pretty consistently turned them down. This felt different though, they were publishers and football people. We got on. Fast forward six months and we are working on a magazine for the first time in about three years… It’s been a long time in the making, and we are all made up to be back.’
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