SHOOT!

Aged 13 years of age on Saturday 16^th August 1969 I spent a shilling of my ten bob newspaper wage from Baird’s Newsagent’s, Morningside Drive buying a copy of the new ‘SHOOT!’ football magazine that had come out that day.

An added attraction was there was a free gift – I always loved my free gifts and earlier in the decade would queue up early in the morning at Ewart’s Newsagent’s shop much to the amusement of the owner, Ian ewart, to ensure I didn’t miss whatever serendipity was free in this week’s ‘The Hornet’ or similar.

After enjoying reading the first edition I ordered the magazine in from Ewart’s to ensure I’d never miss a copy over the next few years. 

But what a fantastic new development 'SHOOT!' was for me and thousands of other boys the length and breadth of the United Kingdom. I loved the innovation of a proper up-to date football magazine which was chockablock with interesting features, stories and statistics not to mention colour spreads too and it covered Scotland as well as England.

I thought the free football ladders were an innovation but in fact earlier in the 1960s ‘Valiant’ had produced them as a gift as did ‘Tiger’ back in 1956. I suspect they actually go back to the 1930s. And like many other teenagers after the football results had come through I spent part of Saturday evening fiddling with the cards re-arranging them into the small slits to update the football league ladders.