ABOUT US

true faith is a Newcastle United fanzine. We were launched in 1999 and work collaboratively with our comrades at The Mag but retain a completely independent editorial position with an entirely separate writing and design team.

This is not an official product of Newcastle United Football Club.

We came later to the fanzine scene than many others but we have lasted longer than many formed in the fanzine boom and believe we have done so because we want to keep true to the ethics and beliefs of the original fanzine movement.

We believe in providing an alternative view regarding Newcastle United to that which you will find in the mainstream media and other publications. It’s probably a bit poncey but we’d like to provide a genuine narrative for supporters’ lives following Newcastle United.

Under no circumstances do we claim to be representatives for Newcastle United supporters. We have no mandate to do so and we don’t seek one.

There is no way we are “super-fans”. That’s all bull-shit. We are ordinary punters who love the club, the city and the North East of England. Just like you do. We have no interest in becoming celebrity Mags and you’ll rarely see us on TV, radio or in the press. We have enough space to express our opinions without forcing our grids at you through the proper media.

We try to provide a fanzine that is original in content and design. Others may be happy to plagiarise and copy … we’ll leave that to them. We’ll do the new stuff.

We have a commitment to improving the fanzine in whatever way we can. We want the best writing we can possibly get, the best design, photos and anything else you think of.

true faith is published 8 times per season. About once every six weeks. It is A5, full colour and 64 pages. It is available on subscription and you can buy one-off copies online from us too.

A few years ago we added the true faith website to our activities. Likewise things like our Facebook, Twitter and Forum have come on stream and we’ve also had an opportunity to add the excellent Taylor & Besty Podcasts to our repertoire as well as our collaboration with SKY Tyne & Wear which brings you the Video-Blog. All of that is absolutely free of charge. The small profit we make from selling the fanzine pays for everything else. We have a lively Letters column (Everybody’s Talkin’) so you can have your letter published online for many thousands of your fellow Mags to read. All e-mails to editor@true-faith.co.uk

We have an open-door policy for contributions. Whatever your age, gender, religion, colour you can join us in producing true faith. We don’t give a toss what you do in your own bedroom. Just so long as you don’t ask us to join in and you put the cat out. We aren’t arsed if you have just walked off the Shields Road with a twang as broad as the Byker Wall or if you are from the other side of the world. Or even Birtley. You don’t have to have held a season ticket at SJP for the last fifty years and have never missed a game home and away since the discovery of the internal combustion engine. We don’t judge people on how they follow our club. Everyone has their own unique set of circumstances. There are no better Black & Whiters. As long as you have a big Newcastle United shaped space in your heart, you’ll do for us. You don’t have to be a published writer or professional to contribute to true faith. You don’t have to hold a Degree in English to write for true faith and you don’t have to be able to recite the reserve team from 1968 backwards either. That’s all weird stuff. People like you contribute to true faith.

We are a bit left-wing. We support a few left-wing causes but its nowt really heavy. We just put it out there.

true faith is almost exclusively a Newcastle United fanzine but we do some stuff on local, non-league football, football from abroad and we have a small section of the fanzine dedicated occasionally to music, film, art and fashion. We especially like to plug local, Geordie musicians who we think are worth getting off our arses to go and see and getting hold of their stuff.

true faith actively supports Newcastle United related good causes: the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, the Newcastle United Foundation and the Alan Shearer Foundation.

true faith supports the aims and objectives of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust, the Football Supporters Federation, Show Racism The Red Card and Let’s Kick Racism Out Of Football. That’s not to say we’ll always follow their lines or pull back from criticising them if we think circumstances warrant it. But hopefully that will be constructive and not personal.

true faith is run entirely on a voluntary basis. We don’t employ anyone and everything you see with regards to the fanzine, website etc has been produced by people with other proper jobs.

We want to have a constructive relationship with Newcastle United. There are some great people who work for the club and a credit to the North East’s biggest and best football club. We respect them for their commitment and professionalism. We want a successful Newcastle United, one that is responsibly run and which is accessible to every part of our Geordie community.

If you have any ideas, suggestions or skills you think would help improve true faith just drop us a line on editor@true-faith.co.uk and we’ll have a bit craic about it.