A Brief Resume of Aye Aye Rhubarb Pie!
For the un-initiated, 'Aye Aye Rhubarb Pie!' was the first dedicatedfanzine
to be produced about Bradford Park Avenue since their re-formation. It tried to report on matters not included
in any club publications, and featured articles on players, other clubs, supporters (what a motley crew), etc etc,
and to do it with a sense of humour. It mainly acheived what it set out to do, bringing the club more recognition
(if I do say so myself), not only in the local area but nationwide. It recieved reviews (very favourable) in other
fanzines and was even mentioned on Radio 1, during the fanzine round up on Simon Mayo's breakfast show (whatever
happened to Miss Diane and Rod the weatherman?).
I was unfortunate to miss that moment of glory in my journalistic career as I was delivering poxy business mail
in Sheffield of all places at the time! With the help of many others, mainly supporters, AARP began to flourish
and grew considerably in thickness as each issue came out. Who can forget 'The Memoirs of an old Yard Dog', which
if my memory serves me right, included as many features on railway lines and beer as it did football. And let us
not forget 'KRAP', a vitriolic attack on anything that remotely resembled a referee, which was hilarious. To cut
a tedious story a bit shorter, my other half at the time (now EX) made it her life's goal to see the end of AARP
continuing, and so a chapter came to an end.Fortunately, others soon took up the mantle and we saw the birth of
'Wings of a Sparrow' which carried the flag right up until very recently. A big slap on the back (that's right,
BACK, not head!) must go to Paul Hirst for continuing with WOAS even when contributions to the fanzine started
to dwindle, as it seems they inevetably do from time to time. Paul was one of the original team on AARP, along
with Kevin Mathers, John Thornton, David Hanson, somebody else I can't remember who left and went back to watching
Bradford city (fool) and myself.
So! Aye Aye Rhubarb Pie! is back, albeit only on the World Wide Web, but definitely back.
