Mr Blobby

Cheers. And thanks for the memories. You're right enough in what you were saying.

That is a very good question Robert. You have a valuable and historical document on your hands. Mr Blacklaw went on to finish his final paragraph by saying: "We are hoping that very soon we shall have a football club to match it. Will you help us?" I did write a draft copy for the City Fanzine for Edinburgh City's return to Meadowbank, comparing the Old and the New, with pictures to match. I was just waiting for the drone images to come in. (Permission to fly is still not granted but pending further enquiries to the City of Edinburgh Council). One of the problems with the old 7,500 seater stand at Meadowbank Stadium on matchdays, where most games were played on a Saturday afternoon, was that it was built facing North. The supporters never got any sunshine on their faces. Now there is news of an additional 1441 capacity stand on the opposite side of the ground facing in a southerly direction. This should make for a better matchday experience all-round, for the supporters. As for the "message when the new stadium opens", I guess you'll have to wait for the re-writing of the draft copy to see it in print, now that things are progressing along in a positive manner. No doubt your contribution will be added to the fold Robert, with your permission, and with due credit attached. Cheers! Hope that answers your question?

Reading some of Mickey Lawson's old blogs about Edinburgh City recently and the club's much anticipated return to their traditional home - which turns out will be next season and not last year, as written by some joker on their Wikipedia page, a mistake that caught out the Aberdeen v Edinburgh City Scottish Cup tie retro programme researcher when he misinformed readers that City had already moved back there in 2021 - got me thinking about Meadowbank Stadium again (Now fondly rechristened as Meadowbank Sports Centre by the powers that be). I had planned to send a drone up over the New Meadowbank area to take some pictures for the return of the City Fanzine - Go Tell The Spartans, but got a big knock-back from the contractor's hierarchy at Graham Construction. "You'll have to wait until we handover to Edinburgh City Council", they relied. Meadowbank was said to be the birthplace of football Fanzines and so we thought it only fitting that "Go Tell The Spartans" made a comeback too and City got their Fanzine back. I think I'm right in saying that all the Meadowbank Fanzines eventually got banned by the Meadowbank Thistle board, for one reason or another, and "Go Tell The Spartans" also came close to that same old fate when I felt "The long arm of Ja" tap me on the shoulder one fine afternoon after a Stirling Albion match at Forthbank Stadium in 2017. Apparently the Fanzine was giving out too much information on City's players, tactics and formations. Is that laughable? I don't know but the top dogs at Edinburgh City, at that time, seemed to be under the delusion that the other League Two mangers were actually reading our rag and adjusting their game-plan accordingly. We were getting the blame, by a certain coach, for City's losing streak. Anyway that's all in the past and in the past it must remain, we had hoped to bring Mr Blobby - along with our Fanzine - to City's first league/cup match at Meadowbank Stadium next season. But sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid plans and so we'll have to wait and see about that. *Footnote: The next generation of young City fans, I see, going by Twitter, seem to favour a new unofficial mascot. Pandas! This idea was muted to me in 2017 by a member of the club in an off-the-cuff remark when he was serving me a Pie and Bovril at the old Meadowbank food kiosk. Maybe there was going to be a tie-up with Edinburgh Zoo? St Mirren have Pandas as their mascots and they don't even have a Zoo! So is this the end, as we know it, for Mr Blobby? My recollection is that Mr Blobby brought supporters of all the Scottish League Two clubs together as a sign of camaraderie and he was welcomed by everyone whenever we went to the home or away grounds. There's too little of that mutual respect between some fans these days, as I witnessed at a recent Edinburgh City v Stirling Albion match at Ainslie Park in February. After all is said and done, who doesn't like a selfie with Mr Blobby? Over to you Mickey!

Careful what you wish for... it might just come true...

Christmas Number One...

Revised Edinburgh City Fanzine. Back and Front Cover. Celebrating Joe Mbu (possibly) getting 100 appearances on the pitch for Edinburgh City

It was refreshing to read Mickey Lawson's (for it is he) thoughts on Edinburgh City in his blogs. He'll be getting a tap on the shoulder soon https://mickeylawson.wordpress.com/2017/03/25/when-a-highlights-a-real-highlight/

Thanks for your input TTB (in the nick of time... again). You do realise of course that I still have Page 9 to complete and am already in the process of looking for an image and subtitle to go with the page heading, "The Long Arm of Jah".

That's an old Fanzine Issue from August 2016

I did draft a spoof, Year Two -. Edinburgh City Fanzine for Ainslie Park next season back in January. The working title was "Absent Without Leave - Incorporating Go Tell The Spartans" as opposed to the abomination abbreviation AWOL The AWOL graffiti on the wall is supposed to be on the whitewashed wall outside Meadowbank outside the players and officials entrance. I did take a photograph of the actual wall outside Meadowbank and tried it in the new fanzine design but somehow the one in the picture you see here below, which was taken off the internet and doctored, was just a tad better than the real thing so I went with that. Sadly I won't be joining Edinburgh City on their journey to the promised land - returning to their spiritual home in Pilton after being kicked out of City Park by Edinburgh City Council all those years ago in the 50s (Ainslie Park is just a stone's throw from the ground where City Park used to be, I believe). We're off on our new 'secret shoppers' project next season going under cover at Edinburgh Capitals for a match day fan experience.

Joe Mbu steps out on to the park at Meadowbank on Saturday and it will be his 100th game for Edinburgh City. Joe notched up 99 appearances for City in the match against Annan last Saturday. So.... not trying to pick the team or anything like that but wouldn't it be fitting, with Dougie Gair giving up next season and going to Dubai, letting Joe (The fans' Edinburgh City Player of the Year) have the captain's band and lead out the team at Meadowbank for the final time in a couple of days time. Joe's newly released song has just gone straight in at number one in the Edinburgh City Top 100 songs at Meadowbank. "He's big, he's strong, he's got a hundred going on, Joe Mbu, Joe Mbu". Repeat 20 times after that. (Adds up to Joe's number - 21. Anyone know why 21 by the way?)

While I'm busy working on Pages 8 and 9 of the City Fanzine Review, Ladbrokes did their own Edinburgh City Review of the Year. They had Cowdenbeath's ground down as Station Park before I tweeted them their misteke. .Not the kind of typing error you'd find in The Blue Brazilian I'll have you know "One B in Stobie, There's only one B in Stobie, One B in Stobie, There's only one B in Stobie" Great shot they have of Meadowbank Stadium though. Shame the council have to pull it down really. Maybe we could have another 'Save Meadowbank Campaign' when City move out. It worked in 2007. I'm sure Leith Athletic would jump at the chance to take up the baton. We could even get Colin McPherson to photograph a march when he gets back from being On Her Majesty's Service in Malawi. Ladbrokes have also got the wrong badge for Edinburgh City on their header page too. http://news.ladbrokes.com/spfl/scottish-league-two/5-key-games-which-helped-secure-edinburgh-citys-survival.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=sports&utm_campaign=news_football_They can finally breathe a sigh of relief. We look back at games that were key to_BB

Edinburgh City Fanzine Final Issue. Page 10 and 11