When, as a child, I first started to come to PVR in the late 1970s it didn’t take long for me to feel at home and that Welling United was my team. A huge part of that was the welcoming atmosphere generated by it being a family owned club.

I soon became a regular at home and away games and gradually got to know the Hobbins family. They became an important part of my life. Sure, we often didn’t see eye to eye on certain club issues but I always appreciated that they were willing to discuss things.

Barrie’s passing yesterday brings that chapter to a close. It was a sad day when the Hobbins family sold up and walked away from the club. It hasn’t been the same since and the club feels very different. And not in a good way. But I’ll be forever grateful for what they did give us.

RIP Barrie, and thank you.

DF

Well, due to unforeseen circumstances with our printer, the new issue was regrettably delayed. In fact we’ve been close to consigning it to the bin, but that wouldn’t have been fair to the contributors. So, much like the couple we published in lockdown, we have decided to make this issue a FREE digital one.

This was probably going to be the last issue too, but we can’t go out this way. There will be at least one more issue.

Here you go then. You can access WIE 59 via the link below.

We are also hoping to have a few printed, should our printer be in a position to do so. Do let us know in advance if you are interested in getting one.

…but there’s still plenty of time to submit your content contributions for the next issue. The copy deadline remains Friday 7th October. Please email them to wie_fanzine@yahoo.co.uk as usual.

…is coming soon.

Now that the, ahem, *excitement* over the announcement of the new Tory Party leader and PM has started to dampen we can finally turn our attention to more important things.

Okay, okay. We’re now in a position to announce that the new copy deadline for WIE 59 is Friday 7th October. And we’d really love you to contribute.

If you’ve got something you would like to share with your fellow Wings supporters then here’s your chance. It needn’t be of War and Peace proportions either (mainly because we have the job of editing it).

It really could be anything. We’re looking for articles of course, but shorter pieces are just as welcome as would photos and cartoons/drawings. It really doesn’t matter. Hopefully the recent changes at the club will provide inspiration.

Or how about a new entry or update to our Wingsaurus…

Anyway, please email your contributions to wie_fanzine@yahoo.co.uk and you will forever have our gratitude. Go on, you’ll feel better for it.

As you know, we recently announced that we were delaying the next issue. All being well this delay will be minimal and we’ll be able to set the new copy deadline early next week. Keep ‘em peeled.

That’s it now for match day sales of WIE 58. And we’d like to thank each and every one of you who bought a copy. Sales were good and the feedback we received from some of you was much appreciated. Keep it coming – good and bad – as we’re always looking for ways to improve the fanzine.

We still have a handful of copies left, so you can get your hands on one if you’ve missed out so far. If you bump into us at any of the remaining home games this season we might have a couple of copies on us. But the best way will be to email us at wie_fanzine@yahoo.co.uk for our postal rates. Or you can still download it from the MatchDay Digital app.

That’s it for now. Thanks again and WIE will be back next season, so we’ll see you then. And if you want to contribute keep an eye on our social media feeds for the copy deadline.

Thank you to everyone of you who bought a copy of the new issue either before the Chippenham or Dulwich Hamlet game. And we really appreciate the positive feedback we’ve received so far.

We will be out one more time with this issue before the home game against Hemel Hempstead Town on 26th February. If you won’t be at PVR that day and still want to get a copy there are two options available to you. You can either email us at wie_fanzine@yahoo.co.uk for our postal rates or you can download the digital version via the MatchDay digital app.

Just for once – and thanks mainly to regular contributors Tim and GaryH – we’ve managed to meet our deadline to get a new issue out. If you’re going to PVR today to watch the Wings face Chippenham, then don’t forget to pick up your copy of WIE 58. As usual our seller(s) will be outside the ground and circulating in the bars before the game. It’s an issue that packed with plenty of Wings-related guff and nonsense, including:

• Nigel tells us about his involvement with Radio Wings.
• Tim’s run through the developments he’s witnessed at PVR over the years.
• There’s a photo essay on the current state of our beloved home ground.
• Mark’s back with his usual Danson Ramble column.
• We look at the season so far in numbers… spoiler alert… it isn’t pretty.
• Tim charts our successful and, erm, not so successful seasons.
• There are some more Hall of Shame nominations.
• GaryH run us through some interesting and disturbing examples of football curses.

In WIE 57 we opened up nominations for the Hall of Shame. We know that the concept is very much a fanzine staple, but, frankly, we don’t care. And it seems kinda apt given the current predicament the club finds itself in, both on and off the pitch.

The categories are:

• Opposition player
• Opposition manager
• Welling manager
• Welling player
• Officials

Regular contributor Tim was first up with his nominations. He went with:

• Opposition player – Andy Leach
• Opposition manager – Tommy Warrilow
• Welling manager – Tony Sitford
• Welling player – KSA
• Officials – John Homewood and P Don

That’s strong list, but can almost certainly be beaten. So, let us have your nominations (plus a little bit of supporting text for each please) by 30th January for inclusion in our next issue. And don’t feel you have to provide nominations for each category, or indeed stick to just one nominee per category. Email them to us at wie_fanzine@yahoo.co.uk as usual.