'Why not me?' - The story behind Manchester United Women's first fanzine

Fanzine culture has always been a big part of the Manchester United matchday experience, with sellers for United We Stand, Red News and other publications being heard flogging the latest issue as you walk into Old Trafford. But one fan thought: 'if this is a big part of the men's game, why can't it be part of the women's too?'.

Andy Slater gave up his season ticket in 2017 after 21 years of following United from the terraces of Old Trafford, but since then has fallen in love with the women's game and follows the United Women's team both home and away. In 2021, Andy decided to take it a step further.

"There’s a lot of demand for content in the women’s game but a lot of it is Youtube and that’s fine but it can be a little bit sensationalist and get a bit kneejerk," Andy told Manchester Evening News. "I thought I loved the fanzine for United Men, is there room for one for United Women. I had a look at printing costs and I asked the Supporters Club if they knew anybody that would be interested.

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"And when it became realistic that’s when it really kicked in to think ‘We probably could do this.’ Then I started pushing a few months before May last year. It had been ‘I wish there was one' and it developed into ‘Why not me?’"

And so the Barmy Article was born, United Women's first-ever fanzine. Andy stands outside Leigh Sport's Village every matchday selling issues and chatting with fans.

Andy is now five issues in, though he refers to the first as a 'demo'. He has had interviews with the likes of former United women's manager Casey Stoney and also former players, but where else does he look for contributions and ideas?

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