Hopefully at least a few people might have noticed that all has gone quiet recently in War of the Monster Trucks world. Everyone will appreciate that the biggest contributor to this was Covid. The pandemic of course meant many months of games behind closed doors and even when we were allowed back into games, the idea of selling fanzines on a person-to-person basis didn’t feel like the best thing to be doing until things got a bit calmer infection-wise. However WOTMT has, post-pandemic, found itself at a crossroads and this article is asking for everyone’s thoughts as to where to go from here, and – hopefully – is also asking for some fresh blood to come on board.

So, first off a quick potted history. War of the Monster Trucks was the brainchild of Matt Cooper and David (not-that-one) Richards. They led us through the first 15 editions, but then life-changes intervened, meaning that they couldn’t continue. Afficionados of the All Wednesday film will recall that Nick Riley, Andy Selman and I bought the fanzine from Matt for £1 in the taproom of the New Barracks pub. We then produced issues 16 to 40, being joined halfway along that journey by Steve Walmsley, and with Nick leaving us to live in Spain.

Things came to something of a natural halt after issue 40, and after a bit of a hiatus, we used some of our leftover funds to create the WOTMT website. Our use of the website was probably best described as sporadic - the editorial team by that point consisted of Steve and me - with articles appearing on a semi-regular basis. Things stayed that way until Valentine’s Day in 2018 when Matt Exton put out his email looking for contributions for the planned All Wednesday film. Long story short Steve and I spent a warm Spring evening being filmed in the Barracks by Matt and Sean and becoming a part of that glorious bit of work.

As part of that filming Matt asked whether we would ever consider going back to doing paper copies. After a bit of discussion and consideration we decided that we might just give that a go. That resulted in the two All Wednesday fanzines. These were substantially WOTMT in all but name. The film had been massively well received by Wednesdayites and so we expected some fair sales, but we were gobsmacked at the reaction to the fanzine. We had decided that once our production costs were covered we would donate any profit to charity. The first one – the one with Sam Hutch on the front – raised over £900 for the Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, and the second – with someone looking like Barry Bannan being able to fly – raised £1,285 for John Burkhill’s push to raise £1m for Macmillan.

Encouraged by that reaction Steve and I decided to resurrect the paper WOTMT and issues 41 and 42 were duly brought out and were well received. We were just in the process of planning issue 43 when Covid turned up and scuppered everybody’s plans to do anything.  So now, with things calmer and season 21/22 moving towards its uncertain climax we find ourselves thinking about the future of WOTMT. Steve has decided that now is the right time for him to step away from the fanzine – and its associated Twitter account - and I find myself bringing the Trucks to a crossroads.

One question is whether there is still a market for a paper fanzine. Most fan media now sits within podcasts, with Wednesday having a few decent ones and there is an argument for saying the world has moved beyond fanzines. However there were a lot of people happy to see us back when we did return. Many people loved the idea of having something they could sit and read at the match, in the matchday pub, or on the bus home. Mid-pandemic, when we asked subscribers about the prospect of a virtual edition of WOTMT the reaction was tepid; people wanted something that was part of the matchday experience. So, my gut-reaction is that there is still an appetite for the paper WOTMT being produced and sold on matchdays.

The next question then is who could produce it. With the best will in the world it’s not really a one-person job. Back in the heyday of Wednesday fanzines the likes of Gray Lightfoot and Chris Hogg worked miracles doing one-man productions but they can tell you what a challenge that was. So, if WOTMT is going to hit the streets again for season 22/23 I will need some help. When we got back into producing. we were heartened at the collection of people who offered to help us sell, and hopefully we can corral sellers going forward but what I need is one or two Co-editors to help with pulling together and producing the fanzine, probably two or three times a season. Whilst sitting together in someone’s front room has always been one of the buzzes of fanzine production, the compilation can be done remotely so you don’t have to live in Sheffield.

So what does the person spec. look like for any new Co-editor? Ideally you should be someone who is able to look at the world of Wednesday in a quirky and not-too-serious way. We have never been interested in the more poisonous-bile end of stuff which some online stuff strays into. We have always criticised as we see fit, but we don’t go over the line. One of our staples has always been snipping pictures out of newspapers and adding captions to them, so if you are the sort of person who sees pictures and imagines them in a comedy Wednesday context so much the better. If you are someone who enjoys writing articles about Wednesday then that’s a real help, but not a pre-requisite; being someone who can help encourage others to contribute is just as valuable. An interest in the club’s history as well as the here and now would be helpful. And finally (as well as being happy to start sentences with And) readers will know that WOTMT has always been broadly left-leaning, and no-one who has been part of the fanzine’s history to date would want to see that change.

So, this is a (typically lengthy!) article which wants to test the water about whether WOTMT has a future or has reached the point where it needs to nestle comfortably in the rich collection of Wednesday history. I would like to hear from you about whether you think that we should carry on producing a paper fanzine. And if you do, then I would really like to hear from people who might be interested in being a part of WOTMT’s future, whether as a Co-editor, a contributor, or a seller. Please send your thoughts to our email address (mail@warofthemonstertrucks.com) or by Twitter messages - ideally direct ones - to either @SheffWedWOTMT (which I will be taking over from Steve) or @WOTMTPaul. I look forward to hearing people’s thoughts, and thanks for reading.

Finally, the good news is that Steve will still be making the odd contribution to any future issues of WOTMT. Many readers will know Steve, and what an absolute star of a human being he is. I will really miss having him as a co-driver of the trucks. Huge thanks for all you’ve done mate.