Subscriptions for 6 months to the FORTNIGHTLY ALTERNATIVE VIEW is £18 (12 issues) which includes p&p.
To subscribe send a cheque or postal order payable to J. McGarry at: Alt View, box 491, 355 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8QZ

Call aV on - 07972575428

Email your letters and written contributions you would like for publication to: altview2@googlemail.com.

The fanzine will be on sale at each home match and in a good number of shops in Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

The article below was written some days after the first issue of aV was published.

A new magazine called "alternative VIEW" and dedicated to Glasgow Celtic Football Club was sold for the first time at the SPL league match against the Huns at Ibrox on the 10th of March 2002. The magazine cost £1.95, is A4 in size has 40 pages (no adverts) and is printed using four-colour process. The editor is Matt McGlone previousely of "Not the View" fanzine and more recently the Celtic Board's View. Similar in looks to the Celtic View, this magazine is being published by Celtic fans for Celtic fans and to give us an alternative to the type of mundane content found in the club's official publications.

Matt McGlone has finally realised that only 'suitable' content will ever be published in the official paper and he has terminated his contract ending his official position at the park. The full story of his times as an employee are included on page 14. It makes quite interesting reading but is spoiled by the fact that he chooses not to name names.

There is an excellent and well thought-out statement on the Contents page that explains the purpose of altview - a kind of mission statement. This statement is reproduced below:

"The Alternative View magazine is an unofficial magazine and has no connection with Celtic Football Club. It is written completely by Celtic fans for Celtic fans. It is here to represent the supporter voice and is free of any corporate and media censorship. We are non-sectarian and have combined humour with objectivity. It's your magazine, so use it!

We back Martin O'Neill and the team unreservedly 100% and will objectively raise issues we consider necessary to protect the best interest of the Celtic Football Club and the support at large. We will call it as you see it, regardless of sensitivities that others regard as boundaries. Our responsibility is to give it to you straight. Enjoy. Hail Hail"

The front cover has a giant picture of the King of Kings as a backdrop to descriptions of the main articles and the heavyweights behind the mag - Matt McGlone and Chic Charnley. Inside, page 2 is a photo of the North Stand taken from above and showing the spaghetti of girders that hold up the roof. Page 3 is the contents page - contents, the mission statement and the editorial team on the right half and a picture of Johan saluting the fans after a goal.

Every article is excellent, everyone is attacked for their anti-Celtic behaviour - the Board, the hacks, SFA, Rob McLean, the Polis, George Douglas, the ex-Hibs manager (not Frank Sauzee), baldy Dick, the fans of every other SPL team (except Livingston), double standards, the Daily Mason etc.

Chick Charnley will be a regular columnist and I found the story of his early years as a Celtic fan interesting and familiar. Chic talks about his earliest memories of going to Celtic Park in the Jock Stein era, arriving early to an empty stadium and watching it fill up with thousands of Tims. He reminisces about the players he saw wearing the famous hoops and about the time he wore them himself in a match against Manchester United at Old Trafford during Mark Hughes testimonial in 1994. He remembers the abuse he took from the Huns throughout his playing career and reveals that he once wipe his nose on the corner flag at Ibrox while the Huns went mad.

From the cradle to the grave is the first of a series of six articles written by David W Potter, Celtic historian and respected author. In it David analyses the history of the club and the routes of it's origin and wrestles with the current direction in relation to these initial reasons for founding it.

The magazine reads as well as the Not the View fanzine used to. It's well-designed, funny, informative, and I just couldn't put it down. Can't wait to get issue 2. You can write to the letters page at the following address - Altview Letters, Suite 323, 98 Woodlands Road, GLASGOW, G3 6HB. You can also send your views by email to editor@altview.com.

It's a great read and the mag is backed up by a Web site (now defunct) at http://www.altview.com/. The site launches on 17th March - St Patrick's day.

Note: at the time of writing this bit (Dec 2003) the aV Web site no longer works and the new email address is:
fitba@btconnect.com

The new snail mail Address for alternative VIEW is:
Alternative View, Office 210, 355 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8QZ.

DETAILS FOR NEW FORTNIGHTLY ALT VIEW

Click here to see every issue of alternative VIEW.

Subscriptions for 6 months to the FORTNIGHTLY ALTERNATIVE VIEW is £18 (12 issues) which includes p&p.
To subscribe send a cheque or postal order payable to J. McGarry at: Alt View, box 491, 355 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8QZ

Call aV on - 07972575428

Email your letters and written contributions you would like for publication to: altview2@googlemail.com.

The fanzine will be on sale at each home match and in a good number of shops in Glasgow and the surrounding areas.